Externship Program

BEST PRACTICES

Mary deManbey, Program Manager CBIA Education Foundation Mary.demanbey@cbia.com

COT-Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing

What is an externship?

A work place experience at least 80 hours)where a teacher

works at a company relative to His/her skills to gain

experience around current workplace practices and

technologies which are then shared with their students.

RCNGM externship includes a required work-based curriculum

project based on the teacher’s externship experience.

RCNGM externships are 160 hours or 4 weeks in the

summer.

Externships are not a job shadow.

Let your teacher know what an externship is (and isn’t)

Why do an externship?

Current workplace practices and technologies;

Every company uses different methods;

Stepping outside of academic environment;

Business professionals gain greater understanding of educators;

Business professionals can let you know what their needs are.

Let your teachers know what they can gain…….

Why do an externship? (continued)

Professional skills – what employers are looking for;

Career opportunities for students;

Help students connect what they are learning with real world

practices;

Greater partnerships = job shadows, visits, internships ;

Possibility of equipment donations.

Let your teachers know what they can gain….

Why do an externship?

Gain educator perspectives;

Helping to increase their pool of potential talent;

Sharing ideas – generates ideas;

Host companies ‘ self assessment can lead to greater productivity;

Opportunity to help teacher develop curriculum

based on their business needs.

Let your teachers know what their host company can gain

Keys to a successful

externship

Connect with a company closely aligned with what you are teaching ;

Be clear about what you want to learn;

Think about what you can do to sustain your externship knowledge;

(i.e. share with your students and other teachers)

Meet with your employer host prior to the externship (important);

Confirm arrangements a few days before your first day.

Let your teachers know how they can have a

successful Externship….

Keys to a successful

externship (continued)

Know your employer host can learn from you;

Give your employer host feedback on what you’ve learned;

Try partnering with other schools to create collaborative

work-based learning;

Projects for students;

Follow up with a thank-you note to your host organization.

Let your teachers know how they can have a successful

Externship….

RCNGM Externship Program

Application proposal announced in February.

Proposals reviewed early April.

Teacher externs selected in 2nd week of April.

Letter of Agreement issued.

Externs work with CBIA to find an appropriate company match.

Externs do a preliminary meeting with potential extern host.

Process….

RCNGM Externship Program

Externs set summer schedule for 4 week or 160 hour externship;

Externship on-site completed by September 1;

Employer host survey ;

Externship Curriculum Project Report due September 31;

Project implemented by December 31;

Externship summary report due by December 31.

Process….continued

Finished………

1st Step: How to select &

recruit teachers?

What the extern hopes to learn;

What specific job responsibilities they are interested in;

Previous work experience;

Connection to a potential host company;

How the externship will impact their students;

How the externship experience will be disseminated;

Must be math, science, technology , engineering or

manufacturing high school or college educator.

Application, judged according to :

1st Step: How to select &

recruit teachers? (continued)

Distributed to tech high school manufacturing, CAD teachers;

Distributed to tech high school math/science teachers;

Distributed to community college manufacturing professors;

Distributed to COT college and university professors.

Spreading the word……..

On RCNGM website;

Statewide technology teachers

(CT State Dept. of Education);

2nd step: How to select &

recruit host companies

Start with the teacher extern (what is his/her goal, does the

teacher have a preference for where they want to be, is location

an issue.

Research companies that might be compatible with the

teacher’s goals.

Start with the human resources manager (If a company with more

than 50 employees, if under, start with the

president or CEO, operations managers,

engineering dept. heads.

2nd step: How to select &

recruit host companies (continued)

Most will not want to pay. Let them know if the teachers are being

paid from another source.

Confidentiality Agreements and Waivers of Responsibility

Let them know what’s in it for them.

2nd step: How to select & recruit host companies

(continued)

Identify three specific areas of work for the extern;

Specific problem-solving project;

Consecutive hours or spread out;

Any prerequisite skills required;

What time constraints, company policies should the extern

know about;

Any concerns/recommendations.

Questions for companies to consider before committing

A National Science Foundation Center of Excellence

3rd step: The Planning Meeting

Questions the company host might ask…

Why are you interested in working at our company?

What is your impression of the current workplace?

Have you participated in externships before?

Do you have concerns about spending time at our organization?

What do you hope to learn?

What skills/background that would help our business?

How do you intend to pass on what

you’ve learned to your students?

A National Science Foundation Center of Excellence

3rd step: The Planning meeting (cont.)

Questions the teacher extern might ask…..

What was your initial reaction to hosting a teacher in an externship?

Have you worked with teachers before?

What is your understanding of the school system and how

we prepare students?

What information do you need from me to plan this externship?

In what way can I contribute to your operations?

What do I need to know about the work environment at this site?

When is a good time to schedule this externship?

4th step: On-site

Questions teacher externs might ask DURING

the externship…

Do I understand how a typical work day might be?

Do I understand what this job requires and where it fits into the

overall operations of the company?

Am I involved in a project I can bring back to the classroom?

Am I understanding the technologies being used?

Do I understand what skills, background

needed to succeed on the job?

Has the job changed in recent years?

4th step: On-site (continued)

Questions teacher externs might ask DURING

the externship….

What obstacles are there in producing the work?

What career progressions exist in these careers?

What kind of personality traits are desirable?

What is the working environment like?

How can I partner with my employer host?

Is the employer host being responsive to my needs?

5th step: On-site completion

Did educator accomplish his/her goal?

Was the timeframe appropriate?

What were your expectations?

Did the externship meet your expectations

What were the benefits to your company?

Were there any issues?

Would you support the externship in the future

How has the externship influenced you re: educators?

Employer Feedback (survey)

6th step: Curriculum Report

Work-based learning project for students

What did you do during your externship?

What did you learn?

How will you incorporate?

How will you share with colleagues

Title/discipline

What was your criteria and how does it relate

to your externship?

Student work

Task Abstract

Task Objectives

Essential Understandings

6th step: Curriculum Report (continued)

Work-based learning project for students

Task description

Resources required

Prior learning required

Context within which the work was produced

Individual or group

Special needs

Educator comments,

reflections, suggestions

7th Step: Summary Report

Most useful learning component?

Most challenging component?

Meet your expectations?

Company host assist?

What impact on your curriculum?

What have you done to share with peers?

What will you do to sustain your externship activities?

Forms You Might Need

Proposal/application

Employer Expectations

Extern Expectations

Extern Completion Form

Curriculum Report Template

Summary Report Template

Employer Survey Template

(…only kidding…)

Encouraging your Peers

PP presentation during an in-service

Invite colleagues to work on a project with you

Partner with another school or district

Introduce your colleagues to your host company

Specify with other educators what you learned.

Externship Longitudinal

Report (based on data from 2005-2009)

Ideas/experiences were mutually beneficial to

teachers and employers.

Externships promote interest in the trades.

Teachers learned new skills and gained a greater

understanding of current manufacturing

practices.

PROS

Employers new to the program were surprised

at the benefits to the company.

Externship Longitudinal

Report

Employers’ concern – funding needed from outside source.

Difficulty in finding a project that can be done during time allotted.

Challenge in finding the right match – i.e. teacher’s abilities and

skills that contribute to the employer’s project.

Difficulty in offering externships during times of

high unemployment (concerned about

employee perceptions).

CONS

Externship Employer

Surveys

Majority reported that the program reached its goals.

Reported that teachers were engaged in their projects.

Exposure to manufacturing very positive for them.

Externs helped them problem-solve & with workloads.

Externship Employer

Surveys (continued)

Additional capacity to work on lean manufacturing

processes.

Split opinions regarding length of time (just right, too short,

not long enough).

Experience gained, would participate again (if funding, time,

projects available).

Program was valuable and needed (“long over due”).

Extern Comments (2009, 2010)

“I think the most useful learning component was how Lean Manufacturing is the difference between failure and success of any company. “ -Dave Langdon, Oliver Wolcott Tech HS

“The most useful component was seeing how interrelated all aspects of manufacturing are. - Chris Petersen, Bacon Academy

“The most useful component was the opportunity to train on the exact piece of equipment that I have in my room at school. Everything learned during my four week experience can be put to practice with my students in my school because of this.” - Tom Zelek , Glastonbury HS

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For more information

Go to: www.nextgenmfg.org www.cbia.com/edf

Contact: Mary L. deManbey

CBIA Education Foundation

350 Church Street

Hartford, CT 06103

mary.demanbey@ cbia.com

(860)244-1975