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Internship

Levels of Learning
Standard / Honors / Gifted and Talented

Guidelines for Differentiating Internship Experiences
Internships may be offered through a variety of courses as listed in the most recent Baltimore County Master Course File. The internship experience can be an independent course, embedded within a course, or serve as a culminating activity in a career completer program. Stand alone courses include the Math/Science/Engineering Internship, the Arts/Humanities Internship, the Business/Finance/Computer Science Internship, and the Health, Human, and Public Services Internship. Internship experiences can also be part of a Career Completer program such as the Child Care Services program. The internship experience can also be part of a Magnet program such as Environmental Science or Law and Public Policy.

These internship experiences are offered at three levels of learning: standard, honors, and gifted and talented education. The following criteria can be used to determine the type of learning experience applicable for each student's internship.

Standard Education Credit
This internship experience focuses on career exploration. It serves to provide specialized training and/or skill development. The internship can serve as a bridge to further education at the two-or four-year college and/or private training institution. This internship requires that the student:

• focuses on skill development within a given career
• identifies resources to obtain career specific information
  
• collects and applies career specific information
  
• organizes and presents career exploration findings
  
• maintains a journal of the career exploration
  
• demonstrates a knowledge of the methods and materials used by the
• professional in the field of study
  
• demonstrates problem-solving skills
  
• makes a positive impact on others
  
• demonstrates work-readiness skills

Honors Education Credit
This internship experience focuses on identification of issues in a professional career. It engages students in a guided field investigation that requires the use of a highly specialized body of knowledge. This internship can serve as a bridge to higher education or specialized training. The internship requires that the student

• focuses on identification of issues and searches to resolve them
  
• identifies and uses two or more resources
  
• collects and applies data appropriately
  
• organizes and presents findings of internship experiences along with
• recommendations for future involvement of other students
  
• maintains a journal that demonstrates insight, perception, and reflection
• that includes conclusions and implications
  
• implements the guidelines as assessed by persons knowledgeable in the
• area in a manner that demonstrates a knowledge of the methods and
• materials used by professionals in the field of study
  
• demonstrates creative problem-solving skills
  
• makes a positive impact on others
  
• demonstrates work-readiness skills

Gifted and Talented Education Credit
Goal: The GT internship program requires that the student becomes a creative producer in an area of worthy endeavor

Criteria: Focus the internship on the manageable, action-oriented investigation of an issue, topic, or question.

• identifies the data needed to investigate the issue, topic, or question upon which the internship is focused
  
• identifies the multiple and various primary and secondary data sources
  
• determines an appropriate process for collecting data
  
• collects specific data from multiple, relevant sources
  Use appropriate statistics to analyze data qualitatively and quantitatively for discernible patterns, trends.
  
• organizes and present findings of the investigation together with recommendations for students' future involvement in this type of internship
  
• creates a product valued by persons knowledgeable in the area of the student's investigation that uses multiple types and levels of resources
  
• incorporates the elements of creativity
  
• uses methods and materials used by professionals in the field of investigation
  
• applies the creative problem-solving process
  
• makes a positive impact on others
  
• demonstrates work-readiness skills

The Gifted and Talented (G/T) education credit is characterized by the following

1. Knowledge (Content): is neither predicted nor prescribed, but sought by the students as they need it.
2. Student: is a first-hand inquirer in charge of his/her own investigation who seeks knowledge as he/she needs it.
3. Supervisor: serves as coach, not disseminator of knowledge, encouraging, supporting, and facilitating the student's investigation, opening up avenues of possibility for the student.
4. Creativity: applies as a discipline to the solving of real-world problems. Fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration are used consistently. The student uses creativity to make novel connections between/among ideas.
5. The internship selected for G/T Education credit is rigorous; demands the student's energy, commitment, and resources; is action-oriented; and accepts only the highest-quality products for credit.
   
   (Developed by Gifted and Talented Education Office, 1997)