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Internships Help Students Prepare for Workplace

Job shadowing also a tactic schools use for career readiness

Internships and job shadowing offer a close-up look at life in the workplace, yet some high school students are so focused on academics that they pass up the opportunity, or they are uncertain about their interests and don't know where to start.

But the push to improve college and career readiness and produce a better-prepared workforce is increasing the pressure on schools to build partnerships with businesses. What's more, educators realize that students are motivated when they see the relevance of what they are learning.

"The central goal is to get students out of the classroom and into the real world so they can feel and see the entire work process," said Randy McPherson, the director of counseling services and college preparation for the Memphis, Tenn., schools and the American School Counselor Association's counselor of the year in 2011. "Otherwise, they don't really grasp what a day looks like or...