“To really transform the high school experience, we have to impact student motivation. Kids have to be excited and interested in what they’re studying. They have to see the relevance and meaning in their course work. That’s why we’re doing this.”
Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena
Frequently Asked Questions About Linked Learning
What is Linked Learning?
Students in Linked Learning programs follow a pathway: a multi-year, comprehensive program of study that connects learning in the classroom with real-world applications outside of school. Pathways integrate rigorous academic instruction with a demanding technical curriculum and work-based learning opportunities – all set in the context of one of California's 15 major industry sectors such as biomedicine and health, construction and building design, agriculture and renewable resources, engineering, and arts and media.
Students pursue a pathway from grades nine to twelve and graduate prepared for a full range of post-graduation options: a two- or four-year college or university, an apprenticeship, the military, and formal job training. A well-designed pathway consists of four components:
- An academic component that includes the English, mathematics, science, history, and foreign language courses that prepare students to transition, without remediation, to the state’s community colleges and universities, as well as to apprenticeships and formal employment training programs.
- A technical component of three or more courses that help students gain the knowledge and skills that can give them a head start on a successful career.
- A series of work-based learning opportunities that begin with mentoring and job shadowing and evolve into intensive internships, school-based enterprises, or virtual apprenticeships.
- Support services including counseling and supplemental instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics that help students master the advanced academic and technical component necessary for success in college and career.
Why Linked Learning?
Linked Learning addresses the fundamental challenges currently facing California’s system of high school education. Too often, traditional academic courses are not relevant to the lives and aspirations of many students. At the same time, vocational education often lacks the academic and technical rigor required for success in postsecondary education and high-skilled careers.
The Linked Learning approach is gaining in popularity because it can make schools more competitive and attractive to students. It challenges and inspires students to learn, creating well-rounded, highly skilled individuals with the foundation for lifelong success.
Linked Learning is comprehensive – The Linked Learning approach ensures that students don’t have to choose between academics and technical skills when both are necessary for a complete education and a successful future. In today’s economy, the ability to make a living wage without some form of postsecondary education is rapidly diminishing. Linked Learning prepares high school students for the full range of post-graduation opportunities.
Linked Learning engages youth – The Linked Learning approach engages youth in academically challenging work by demonstrating its relevance to the real world. Linked Learning does not lower expectations about what is taught; rather, it alters how core academic subjects are taught. Students learn to master challenging subjects through curricula that appeal to their interests and introduce them to exciting careers.
Linked Learning is effective – The Linked Learning approach is already transforming the lives of countless youth in California. Studies show that the approach can raise academic achievement, increase earning power, and improve college-going rates. While all the evidence is not yet in, the research supports the case for making Linked Learning a focus of high school reform.
What is an example of a Linked Learning pathway?
Linked Learning is flexible. The approach can be implemented using different models and in various educational settings. Models may include, but are not limited to, California Partnership Academies, career academies, National Academy Foundation schools and small-themed schools. These pathways and school types have distinct characteristics and requirements that may coincide with the core components and guiding principles of Linked Learning.
Click below to view sample course sequences for specific pathways:
Arts, Media, and Entertainment
What is the meaning of integrated curriculum and applied learning?
A Linked Learning approach relies on teachers to increasingly blend academic and technical curriculum in ways that connect theoretical knowledge and real-world applications. Integration can occur in two directions—infusion of appropriate and related academic concepts into technical courses to provide a theoretical foundation, and application of technical skills into academic courses to bring relevance. For example, when a carpentry instructor teaches students how to calculate volume in order to determine how many sacks of cement are needed to lay a foundation of a house, the teacher is reinforcing the geometry standards that students must master. Similarly, when a geometry teacher directs students to study architectural plans to figure out how much sheetrock is needed to line the walls and ceilings of a new home in order to master their understanding of surface area, the teacher makes mathematics more relevant and understandable. Students are able to answer the question, “Why do I need to know this?”
That said, there is no expectation that every academic and technical teacher will integrate 100 percent of the curriculum. Rather, teachers should attempt, in a realistic way, to make connections whenever possible, which may be periodically in their day-to-day lessons or during an end-of-term project. Curricular integration is difficult and time-consuming. It relies on teacher training and a willingness on the part of academic and technical teachers to collaborate.
Does Linked Learning promote “college preparatory” curriculum?
Yes. By design, a pathway should ensure students access to and encourage them to complete the courses they need for admissions eligibility to the state’s colleges and universities. As such, courses that make up the academic core of a pathway should meet the eligibility requirements for admission to UC and CSU. Although only a percentage of high school students will enroll in UC and CSU, it is desirable for students to complete the minimum eligibility requirements to leave that option open. Doing so also better prepares students for coursework at the California community colleges, other training options, and the workforce.
Does Linked Learning promote Career and Technical Education (CTE)?
Absolutely. A technical core of at least four year-long standards-aligned technical courses is a key component of each pathway, and authentic, industry-focused problem-based learning is also featured prominently in the academic core. A pathway also adopts the best traditions of work-based learning, which includes mentoring, job shadowing, internships, school-based enterprise and virtual apprenticeships. Additionally, pathways promote participation in related student organizations such as Skills USA, Future Farmers of America, Health Occupations Students of America, or DECA. Linked Learning reinforces the value of real-world learning for all students.
Is there time for students to complete both an academic and technical core of courses?
For students on a standard schedule of six periods a day, it is possible, albeit challenging, for them to complete both. Doing the math, pathway students are encouraged to complete:
- UC/CSU eligibility requirements—15 courses
- Technical sequence—4 courses
- Other state-mandated graduation requirements—2.5 courses (physical education and additional social studies course)
These courses total 21.5 units of the 24 typically available for students on a 6-period day schedule, leaving 2.5 courses for other electives. This assumes that the student enters high school performing at grade level, without needing to take remedial courses. However, a growing number of high schools have adopted more flexible schedules, such as a 4x4 block, that allow students to take up to 8 courses per year. Other schools use a “modified” block schedule or offer students 7- or 8-period days. With these schedule alternatives, any challenge to squeeze these requirements into the 4-year high school educational program disappears.
With Linked Learning, is there an expectation that all students will go to a 4-year college?
No. Linked Learning prepares students for any of a full range of postsecondary options—2- or 4-year college or university, an apprenticeship or formal employment training. To keep all of these options open for students, a pathway program of study should include the courses needed to be eligible for admission to the state’s public universities. It also ensures that students learn about key elements expected for success in particular postsecondary opportunities such as the additional courses (technical as well as academic), certifications, test scores and extracurricular activities. Linked Learning is also appropriate for students who do not pursue any formal post-secondary education immediately following high school. Nevertheless, by design, Linked Learning prepares students to pursue further education after high school, recognizing that few of today’s young people are likely to enjoy lasting career success with just a high school diploma.
Is it expected that all CTE courses gain a–g approval?
No. High-quality, standards-based CTE courses have inherent value whether or not they have gained a–g approval from UC (as meeting faculty expectations for content and rigor). Furthermore, it is neither appropriate nor desirable for all CTE courses to strive for a–g certification. Linked Learning is designed to help students master a wide range of knowledge and skills—academics, industry-related knowledge, occupational skills, authentic “hands-on” experience, and multi-faceted problem solving, to name just a few. Some CTE courses, with the strong academic and theoretical focus sought by UC and CSU, should be eligible for a–g approval; others should not. But all CTE courses, provided they are grounded in state-approved industry and academic/technical standards, play a central role in student learning.
Is the Linked Learning approach another form of tracking?
On the contrary, the Linked Learning strategy rejects the practice of tracking that has negatively affected students who are predominantly low-income, Latino and African-American. Linked Learning recognizes that students will pursue a variety of options after high school. However, unlike traditional tracking in which judgments are made early in high school (often based on highly suspect criteria) about which students should be prepared for different postsecondary options, the Linked Learning approach preserves the full range of postsecondary and career options for all students. And it allows students to select their own future directions after high school graduation. To be specific, the Linked Learning pathway does not offer a remedial, general and college preparatory mathematics class. All students are offered the college preparatory class.
Isn’t it unrealistic, and even wrong, to expect students to choose a career as early as the 9th grade?
Yes, it is both unrealistic and wrong, and choosing a career path is not the objective for students enrolling in an industry-focused pathway of academic and technical study. Rather each pathway adopts an industry theme to offer students a real-world context for better understanding the academic and technical foundation they will need to succeed in whatever future postsecondary option or career path they choose. And, precisely because mastering the broad foundation of academic and technical knowledge is the primary objective of each pathway, students can easily switch pathways should they decide that another industry focus is more attractive. Nothing about a Linked Learning approach should cause students to feel “locked in.” That said, for students who do have a strong sense of what they want to do—in both career and further education—Linked Learning offers the opportunity to pursue that interest in depth. Students not only will develop a deeper understanding of the academic and technical knowledge relevant to their career choice, but also will have the opportunity to develop more specific occupational skills that will give them a leg up in the labor market.
