The purpose of this single descriptive case study was to describe how an externship program in the central United States impacts K-8 teachers' investment in and integration of work-based learning (WBL) practices in the classroom. The need to investigate how best to encourage teachers to buy into WBL is driven by misalignment among teacher…

Thanks to a student teacher's efforts, a fourth-grade class in Montgomery County, Maryland, spent half a day touring Bell Atlantic's facilities. Each student's most treasured memory was lunching with a Bell Atlantic employee "buddy" and visiting his or her work station. Children's thank you letters expressed their gratitude for…