Discusses a study undertaken to evaluate the influence of two community learning programs on the adolescent participants. Topics discussed include differences in staff roles in the programs, program characteristics, learning outcomes, and participant attitudes. Findings indicated that, in general, youth liked the community programs and learned a…

The article describes a model career exploration program, the Professional Career Exploration Program for Minority and/or Low Income Gifted and Talented Students, which was created as a tenth-grade community exploration program. Sections address the multistage process used to identify disadvantaged gifted students, the inclass seminars for student…

The study reports on a data-based work experience model for secondary students with autism. The objectives were to increase competency and independence, provide a variety of experiences to assess skills and preferences, and modify interfering behaviors. Five autistic students, aged 16-20, were sent to community work sites providing a variety of…

This handbook provides guidance to schools operating Community-based Vocational Education (CBVE) programs for students with disabilities and encourages the adoption of CBVE programs by schools not presently using this approach. By following the information and examples contained in this handbook, schools can proceed with confidence to operate…

The Community Observation Project in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) has helped more than 100 secondary students with disabilities to learn prevocational skills and behaviors through observation and hands-on experience at 20 local businesses. Details of program implementation, including recordkeeping forms, are provided. (DB)

Age appropriate training programs in natural environments for deaf-blind adolescents help to develop functional skills, with the ultimate goal of independent living and work placement. Other approaches to the education of handicapped children entail activity for the sake of activity, or babysitting and fun activities. The actual training of a…

The Community-Based Services Work Adjustment Program provides vocational assessment, work adjustment training, social adjustment training, extended sheltered employment, transitional/supported employment, and competitive job training and placement through on-the-job training at natural community work sites. The program serves mentally retarded,…

This module provides information on supported employment as outlined in the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986, P.L. 99-506. It discusses models of supported employment; the roles of vocational rehabilitation counselors, school district personnel, and job coaches; and what school district personnel can do to prepare students for supported…

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…

This paper describes a three-phase program which places students with disabilities into job sites in strip malls, enclosed malls, industrial parks, and individual businesses to prepare them for their transition to independent living. The paper explains that in phase 1 of the program students train at a different site each day; in phase 2, students…

This report describes the summer occupational/vocational programs held in each of three vocational school districts and it compiles activities in the regular school districts in Delaware for fiscal year 1991. The three vocational-technical school district programs profiled are those of Kent County, Sussex County, and New Castle County. For each…

Designed to assist local education agency representatives and prime sponsors of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs in initiating and implementing awarding of academic credit for work experience, this report reviews the issues evolving from the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977. Three major sections…

This report surveys the vocational education system, work experience programs, and job training programs for youths in Chicago. The report is organized in five sections. It begins with a brief review of the socioeconomic context that affects youth employment in the city of Chicago. Section 2 examines vocational training in the Chicago public…