CAREER PATHWAYS
- Project Title:
- Career Pathways: Businesses, Opportunities, Careers, Exploration,
and Services (BOCES)
- Contact Person:
- Kathy Ashline, Project Coordinator
- Mailing Address:
- Clinton-Essex-Warren-Washington BOCES
Career Pathways
Special Education Department
P. O. Box 455
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
- Telephone #:
- 518-561-0900
- Fax #:
- 516-561-5624
- Project Purpose:
- The major goal of the Career Pathways transition program is to develop employability skills in students with disabilities. This is accomplished through vocational training and community experiences. The anticipated program outcomes are to decrease the number of student dropouts and lower student unemployment. The specific aim of the transition planning process is to match the student's interest and ability with actual job site placement. The Career Pathways transition program provides students, ages 14-21, with first-hand experience relevant to the world of work.
- General Program Overview:
- The Career Pathways transition program is a series of options offered through the school district's center-based programs and community business-supported sites. Students participate in training pathways at an individualized pace. Each studentŐs pathway experience begins with in-house training. As the student completes in-house training he or she will be prepared to work in a community business. All experiences are congruent with student interests and abilities. Transition planning involves the student and all other essential persons. A transition plan is developed with emphasis on maintaining a continuum of support and services that will follow the student when he or she enters the community.
- Unique Program Components:
- In-House: Students receive job experiences through training in the Businesses, Opportunities, Careers, Exploration, and Services (BOCES) special education setting. Students work in a variety of jobs while developing an understanding of employer expectations, skill requirements, payroll deadlines, and the particular community business site where they will be placed. Supervision is conducted by a job placement aide.
- Life Skills: Students develop skills in the area of self-advocacy that includes safety and aid issues, human awareness, budgeting, household management, nutrition, and meal preparation. Instruction in accessing public services prepares students to utilize these services and transportation.
- Career Prep and Awareness: Students receive experience through in-house job training and community job shadowing. Students are exposed to a variety of career options and receive specific instruction to enhance their employability skills.
- Career Exploration: Students receive extensive training in several community job sites. This approach offers students the opportunity to develop relationships with employees without disabilities. It also enables them to meet the expectations of the employer within a real work environment.
- Career Focus: Students are enrolled in an individualized community job training program. At this time, each student will have demonstrated work skills and is ready to focus on a specific career area. Students receive 80% of their training in the business community and 20% in the classroom. The classroom training includes the following curriculum areas: personal development, job skills development, self-assessment, and independent living skills.
- Career Support: Students receive additional support with independent living skills that may include employment, transportation, financial, medical, recreational, and residential. In addition, opportunities for problem solving and intervention are available as needed, and evaluation of skill development is ongoing. Communication between the student, family, school, potential employers, and adult service agencies is also ongoing.
- Taxonomy Practices Identified:
- Student Development
- Life skills instruction
- Employment skills instruction
- Career & vocational assessment
- Structured work experience
- Vocational assessment
- Student-Focused Planning
- IEP development
- Student participation
- Accommodations & planning strategies
- Interagency Collaboration
- Individual-level planning
- Interorganizational framework
- Collaborative service delivery
- Organization-level planning
- Human resource development
- Family Involvement
- Family involvement
- Family empowerment
- Program Structure and Attributes
- Program philosophy
- Program evaluation
- Human resource development
- Targeted Outcomes:
- Increased self-esteem
- Increased self-advocacy skills
- Increased independent living skills
- Increased decision-making skills
- Increased independent travel
- Increased school attendance
- Decreased dropout rates
- Increased participation in community
- Increased postsecondary employment
- Increased employer awareness of and satisfaction with employing individuals with disabilities
- Increased family participation in student transition planning
- Increased interagency collaboration
- Evaluation Description:
- Formative:
(a)Student and parent feedback from questionnaires following each transition meeting.
(b)Staff feedback on student progress from: (a) a prevocational training assessment packet and (b) supervisor work site evaluation forms completed during specific times of training and employment.
(c)Student feedback received from: (a) individual MAPS (Making Action Plans Course), (b) transition planning worksheet, and (c) individual career exploration evaluation forms.
(d)Employer feedback received from a satisfaction questionnaire.
- Summative:
(a)1993-1994 evaluation findings related to the student work experience placements, both in-house and community-based, were written into a final evaluation report.
- Evaluation Findings:
- Number of students completing the various programs were as follows: Career Prep: 12 students, Career I, II, III: 45 students, Career Support: 6 students, the C.L.A.S.S.: 19 students, and the In-House: 41 students.
- Eighty-one percent of the students were successfully employed at the end of their work training program.
- Fifty-nine community businesses were enlisted for training, tours and job shadowing.
- Eighty percent of the students exiting the program were employed.
- Of the current 27 students exiting the program, 41% are engaged in supported employment and 39% are competitively employed.
Back to home page 