The School-to-Work Opportunities Act (1994) was designed to provide grants to states and local school districts aiming to help all students explore careers and create work-based-learning opportunities linked to academic course work. This article underlines the need for parent support and describes several districts' implementation efforts. (MLH)

While the majority of adults who take the General Educational Development (GED) test do so in order to continue their education, few go on to enter postsecondary education. Yet, these same adults stand to make substantial economic and personal gains when they use their adult secondary credential to move from the ranks of high school dropout to…

This report, part of a 3-year follow-along study of 422 Oregon and Nevada students with disabilities who are transitioning from school to adult life, examines experiences of students who had worked on a job while still in school, methods of finding jobs, hours worked, and wages earned. Implications for policy development are outlined. (JDD)

This newsletter issue reviews the research and literature on issues and best practices in programs to facilitate the transition of students with disabilities to adult life. First, the definition of transition services under the 1997 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is presented and explained. Next, a…

Preparing disabled students for transition to productive adult lives involves careful planning between sending and receiving agencies. The article describes state and school district transition programs, emphasizing interagency planning teams (Oregon), cross-agency coordination and ninth grade vocational assessments (Minnesota), and field-testing…

This paper describes the vocational programs and transition planning services needed and received by 553 students with and without disabilities during their last year of high school in Oregon and Nevada. Results are discussed in terms of regular and specialized vocational instruction, school-sponsored work experience, vocational skills…

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…

Designed for practitioners, this book provides ideas and strategies for designing, developing, and implementing the Youth Transition Program (YTP) for students with disabilities and special needs in Oregon. Chapter 1 describes the following: background and need for collaborative school-to-work (STW) programs; STW program purposes and components,…

In 1992, the U.S. Department of Labor and Council of Chief State School Officers awarded grants for the development of statewide systems to enhance school-to-work transition (SWT) through youth apprenticeship in eight states: California, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In June 1993, the programs were…