NEXT S.T.E.P.
Eugene, Oregon
Contact:
Andrew S. Halpern
Professor
University of Oregon
175 College of Education
Eugene, Oregon 97403-5260
Phone: 541-346-1409
Fax: 541-346-1411
Email: halpern@oregon.uoregon.edu
Mission
The NEXT S.T.E.P. Curriculum is designed to teach adolescents, ages 14 to 21, the skills that they need to participate successfully in a self-directed transition planning process. The curriculum has been designed to work for students with and without disabilities, and is effective for all except for those with severe cognitive disabilities. Within the curriculum, students learn to define their hopes and dreams, engage in self-evaluation, set goals and plan activities that will help them accomplish these goals. Toward the end of the curriculum, students lead their own transition planning meetings and work toward accomplishing their goals.
Organization
Organization Type: Community college or two-year college; Education Agency - School
Geographical Area: National
Primary Setting: High School, Community college, Private school, Regular education class, Residential school or facility, Resource room, Self-contained class in public school
Funding: No special external funding source
Consumers
Target Population: Postsecondary education students with and without disabilities, Secondary education students with and without disabilities, Teachers or faculty - Secondary education, Postsecondary education; Parents; Teachers or trainers; Other youth - Adjudicated and At-risk of dropping out
Disability Areas: All disabilities
NTA Framework Categories
Description
The NEXT S.T.E.P. Curriculum and instructional program is designed to teach students how to engage successfully in self-directed transition planning. The acronym "S.T.E.P." stands for Student Transition and Educational Planning. The curriculum has been developed over a five-year period and is now entering a research phase to evaluate systematically the impact of the program. The developmental phase included extensive formative evaluation involving 300 teachers and 5,000 student/family combinations in four states: Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and New York. After numerous revisions guided extensively by consumer feedback from teachers, parent, and students, the curriculum is now published and available from the Pro-Ed Corporation. Since its publication, we have provided in-service training on the curriculum to 1,300 teachers in 14 other states.
The instructional program is designed to be presented to students, with or without disabilities, in a classroom setting. Both regular and special education classes participated as the curriculum was being developed. Both regular and special education teachers served as instructors, sometimes alone and sometimes as team teachers. Parents are actively involved throughout the program in supporting roles to their students.
The curriculum includes 19 lessons and requires a minimum of 3 months to complete, but preferably continues for a least one year. The recommended frequency of instruction is two times per week, although teacher circumstances have produced substantial variation in frequency. The curriculum is always embedded within some other class that is already part of the teacher’s normal schedule. Many different types of classes have participated within our developmental sample, including resource rooms, self-contained special education classes, and a variety of regular education classes. The main focus of the classes has ranged from closely related content, such as a class in career education, to seemingly unrelated content, such as a class in remedial English. We have found that our curriculum works well within all of these variations.
The scope and sequence of our instructional program involves the following main units: (1) overview of transition planning, (2) self-evaluation, (3) goal development, (4) goal implementation, and (5) student direction of his/her transition planning meeting. The lesson format varies from large group instruction to one-on-one instruction, depending on the nature of the tasks being addressed. As one outcome of the program, each student creates and begins implementation of a unique transition plan addressing four areas: (1) education and training, (2) jobs, (3) personal life, and (4) living on your own. Each special education student, to the extent of his/her capabilities, also directs his/her transition planning IEP meeting. Regular education students often engage in a similar process, even though it is not required by law.
Documentation of student progress occurs in several forms throughout the curriculum. It begins with student self-evaluation of both interests and skills, and includes parent and teacher evaluation of student skills on the same instrument that the students use. Students are taught how to interpret this information, including any discrepancies that may emerge from a comparison of student, teacher, and parent evaluations. Students also document their progress through the curriculum and the precise components of the transition plans that they develop. During plan implementation, students document their progress in achieving their goals, and they learn how to make adjustments when parts of their plans don’t succeed.
Evidence of Success
Success Story
Mike, a high school student with a learning disability wasn’t going to college. Mike was going to be a mill worker. "Money was money", he said and he was going to do any job to survive. Mike viewed school as "not the greatest experience." He felt that teachers and counselors pushed him into classes that he didn’t need or want.
One of the first things that the NEXT S.T.E.P. program had led him to do was to develop hopes and dreams for the future. No one at school had ever asked him what he wanted to do. Through exploring his likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams, and strengths and weaknesses, Mike decided that he wanted to pursue a long-time passion of his—to become a weight lifting coach. Mike developed a plan to go to college to get his coaching license. Mike applied to a local college and was accepted.
Mike said that NEXT S.T.E.P. taught him how to take more control of his life. Mike said that he thinks that every student should go through this program. "A lot of kids don’t know what they want to do after they are out of high school." NEXT S.T.E.P. made him aware that is takes time to get the "ball rolling" to achieve one’s goals, and he feels closer to being what he wants to be now than before participating in the program.
Products
NEXT S.T.E.P. Complete Kit (3f8400) • $139.00
Instructor’s Manual (38401) • $39.00
Student Workbooks (5) (#8402) • $25.00
Brochures (50) (#8404) • $9.00
Video (#8404) • $79.00
PRO-ED Catalog (39999B) • Free
"Teachers Talking to Teachers" Guide • TBA