Experiential learning is widely recognized as a powerful approach to building knowledge and career readiness. However, some schools struggle to move past one-time or symbolic experiences, such as guest speakers or brief job-shadowing opportunities, that spark interest without connecting learning to workplace experiences. Without intentional design, these experiences may drift from instruction, vary in quality, or reach only a subset of students.

This brief from WestEd and the Career Academy Network of Public Schools (CANOPS) describes how schools can design rigorous, standards-based experiences that connect academic content to authentic problems, career pathways, reflective practice, iterative improvement, and public demonstrations of learning. The brief provides program designers and practitioners with classroom examples, practical guidance, implementation considerations, and indicators for assessing whether these experiences promote transferable and visible learning.