This research identifies the soft (employability) skills that key stakeholders view as essential for young people with intellectual disability (ID) to gain and maintain open employment. The study subsequently examined the work experience opportunities for young people with ID to develop these soft skills during their school years. Qualitative data…

This three-article dissertation analyzes the question of how to best prepare students transitioning from secondary education to post-secondary life. The first article examines the theories of self-determination, the self-advocacy skills needed for its success, and how the two relate to students with learning disabilities. The second article…

Presents the Competitive Employment through Vocational Experiences (CETVE) model of transition from school to work for youth with mild disabilities. Discusses identification and screening of participants, placement in work experience, training, and follow-up. Also covers such issues as interagency cooperation, transportation, liability, and…

This information brief explains the Transition Service Integration Model, an approach to integrating service systems at the point of transition for youth with significant disabilities. It explains that the Transition Services Integration Model is designed to combine the resources of school and postschool systems in sharing the costs of a…

This guide is based on the principles and methods used at Rise, Incorporated, a sheltered workshop providing successful industry-integrated programs for handicapped persons. It is intended to serve as a model both for existing service providers who are interested in retooling their program in the direction of industrial work services and other…

Project COMPETE (Community-based Model for Public School Exit and Transition to Employment) was a federally funded service demonstration project to investigate new procedures for secondary education and transition services for youth with moderate, severe, and profound mental retardation. The goal of Project COMPETE was to develop and validate a…

Project COMPETE (Community-based Model for Public School Exit and Transition to Employment) was a model demonstration project designed to develop linkages between public schools and community rehabilitation agencies, in order to provide work training to severely handicapped youth, aged 16-22. The schools took on responsibility for providing…

Special educators from rural and remote school districts in eastern Oregon surveyed local employers and designed a school-to-work site-based work-experience program for students with disabilities in an area with limited employment resources. Components of the six-year program (grades 7-12) and the outcome of enhancing associated work skills are…

This report is a synthesis of presentations and break-out sessions at a 1997 national conference (held in Cincinnati, Ohio) on sustaining school-to-career systems for urban youth. Nine state-urban partnerships comprised of 68 participants attended the conference. Conference discussion and activities focused on three major themes: (1) building…

Although the disappointing results of earlier ex-offender programs convinced many that "nothing works so let's just keep prisoners incarcerated longer," research in the 1980s and 1990s has shown that intensive pre-release employment training and post-release employment programs and support can cut the rate of recidivism. Current initiatives…

A study examined the impacts of different education and training (E&T) assignments in Ohio's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Program on the employment and earnings of Aid to Families with Dependent Children recipients who became mandatory JOBS clients in 1989 or 1990. Data on the JOBS assignments and earnings and employment…

The Continental Project is a school-to-work transition program for students with disabilities. The 6-year old program, which is located at a country club and golf course, serves more than 20 students per year and has successfully transitioned 45 young adults with moderate to severe handicaps into the workforce. The program is a cooperative effort…

This document profiles the Lansing Area Manufacturing Partnership (LAMP), which is a model school-to-career initiative featuring an innovative integrated, employer-driven curriculum that was designed, developed, and implemented through the joint efforts of the Ingham Intermediate School District in Lansing, Michigan, the United Auto Workers (UAW),…

One strategy to increase participation in vocational education and training (VET) by Australians with a disability involves intervention at the secondary school level to reduce early school leaving by providing structured VET learning and work placement opportunities. The Enterprise Career Education Foundation's Lighthouse initiative, which was…

This document presents tools and guidelines to help practitioners transform their high schools into institutions facilitating community-connected learning. The approach underpinning the tools and guidelines is based on the following principles: academic rigor and relevance; personalized learning; self-passage to adulthood; and productive learning…