Course Description
Course Description: This course provides a thorough examination of the legal and safety issues that affect work-based and community-based learning programs and experiences. Participants will develop a comprehensive understanding of federal and Vermont law and safety requirements and be able to provide effective systems that ensure safe and legal student experiences.
The course is aligned to and uses as a guiding framework Standard 7 of the Vermont Agency of Education’s Work-Based Learning Standards (VT AOE’s WBL Standard #7). The course will provide a comprehensive exploration of relevant federal and state labor, employment, civil rights, and education laws; safety requirements; insurance and liability considerations; and the legal, safety, and ethical issues that should inform effective work-based learning agreements and placements. The course will also explore how to effectively educate students about their own rights, safety, behavior, and responsibilities in the workplace.
Audience: Those seeking the Work-Based Learning Coordinator endorsement, currently licensed work-based learning coordinators, and teachers and administrators with an interest in work-based learning law and safety issues.
Session Information
● Saturday, September 19 9:00 am – 1:00 pm synchronous Zoom session
● Saturday, November 14 9:00 am – 1:00 pm synchronous Zoom session
● Wednesday, December 9 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm synchronous Zoom session
● Asynchronous online assignments and class discussions throughout the semester
Instructors
Ruth Durkee, J.D.
Ruth Durkee, J.D.
Ruth Durkee is the State Director of Career Technical Education at the Vermont Agency of Education. For fifteen years, she was a technical center administrator in Vermont; before that, she served as the Civil Rights Coordinator for the Vermont Department of Education. Ruth has taught at the college and graduate level since 2010. An attorney by training and an educator at heart, Ruth’s goal in all of her courses is to help educators understand how the law applies to the work that they do in order to inform and enhance their professional practice. Ruth received her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, her B.A. from the College of Wooster, and certification as a mediator through Woodbury College. She is licensed as a Career and Technical Center Director and Assistant Director for Adult Education in Vermont.
Additional Content Area
Course Goals: Participants will have the skills and dispositions to:
1. Engage in close examination of laws and legal guidance as they apply to school work-based learning programs.
2. Review, identify, and discuss appropriate resolutions to challenging situations and issues that arise in creating and supporting legal and safe work-based learning programs and placements.
3. Review and understand the range of safety resources and assessments that are available for use in school work-based learning programs.
4. Learn and apply skills needed to assure that school work-based learning programs comply with relevant state and federal laws and regulations.
5. Mitigate risk in work-based learning environments to reduce school/district liability and support student learning and employer and community partner engagement.