Teachers should emphasize career development activities and provide foundation skills, which help prepare students for transition to work and further education. Teachers should participate in the planning of work-based learning programs. Teachers should work with employers to develop the learning potential of each worksite. The workplace mentor should instruct, critique, and challenge the student across broad aspects of the industry. The workplace mentor should evaluate the student's work performance and should communicate with the school and the employer.
Adequate planning is an essential first step in implementing any work-based learning program.
All partners in the implementation process should have a thorough understanding of the time, effort, and cost involved in implementing a program. If this foundation is lacking, further problems may result. Students may be inadequately prepared to enter the program. Student outcomes may be misunderstood, and there may be no support for postsecondary education options. State and federal child labor laws may be incongruent, labor market needs may be ignored, and the roles and tasks of partners may be unclear.