Transcript Lets Make Transition Assessment a Success

Identifying Career Development
Mamta Verma
Transition Coordinator
North Forest Independent School District
Did You know?
• Over 1/3 students don’t graduate from high
school
• Approximately 2/3 students don’t receive needed
employment training
• Approximately 3/4 students don’t receive needed
life skills training
• Most are isolated from peers and social groups
after high school
• Between 10-13% students access college and
complete two years
Institute for Educational Leadership National Collaborative on Workforce Development for Youth ;
National Longitudinal Transition Study
Did You know?
• Only three in ten working-age (18-64) persons
with disabilities are employed full or parttime compared with eight in ten persons
without disabilities.
• Notably, most who are not working state they
would prefer to work (www.nod.org).
• Individuals with disabilities are much more
likely to live in poverty.
Institute for Educational Leadership National Collaborative on Workforce Development for Youth ;
National Longitudinal Transition Study
What is Career Development?
• C is for Careers. Have students think about their interests.
Encourage them to be imaginative, then narrow it down.
• A is for Academics. Assist students in determining which
academic programs best suit their career goals.
• R is for Research. Support research of careers that spark their
interests, maximize strengths, and minimize weaknesses.
• EE is for Experiential Education. Support practice of job search
skills. Assist in seeking and participating in opportunities.
• RS is for Relevant Skills. Encourage students learn practical
"real world" skills through on-the-job experience.
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Student/career.htmlDo-it
Career Development
• Career Development is “a continuous life long
process process of development experiences
that focuses on seeking, obtaining and
processing information about self,
occupational education alternatives, life
styles, and role options.”
Hansen, 1976 as citied in Morning Star, 1997, p.315
Influences on Career Development
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Family
Social
Community
Personal
Knowledge of Self
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Values
Preferences
Nature of self concept
Level of self esteem
Abilities
Aptitudes
Temperament
Interests
Career Development
• The stages of career development overlap and are ongoing throughout
one's lifetime. However, it should be determined by the developmental
level than the grade level in school.
• The students with disabilities often require additional preparation when
moving through the stages of career development: awareness,
exploration, preparation, assimilation, advancement and change.
• It is not necessary that the all stages of career development will go in a
particular order, it may be varied as it required for the transition.
• “Since it is often quoted that most individuals will change careers at least
3-4 times in their adult lives, they will necessarily repeat various aspects of
career development many times ( Dedmond, 2006; Savikas, 2006).”
( Dedmond, 2006; Savikas, 2006).”
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Stages of Career Development
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Awareness
Exploration
Preparation
Assimilation/ Placement
Stages of Career Development
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Career Awareness
• Developing a work personality that helps
them perceive themselves as workers;
• Becoming more aware of different jobs;
• Developing work values, attitudes and other
attributes appropriate to their unique abilities
and needs. If students with disabilities cannot
acquire the skills during this stage, then
adolescent and adult programs will need to
give much more attention to them.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Career Exploration
• This stage should be emphasized
• Particularly during the junior high years; although it, too, never really
ends.
• During this stage teams should be given a chance to examine firsthand the
number of occupational groupings such as agricultural work, office work,
home economics, public service jobs, business and industrial positions.
• They should be allowed to obtain various hands-on experiences, and be
given the opportunity to examine their own particular set of abilities and
needs, as related to the world of work, a vocational interests, leisure and
recreational pursuits, and other roles related to their overall career
development
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Career Preparation
• Career preparation represents a third stage of career development.
• This stage occurs usually during the senior high school years and finds the
student beginning to develop and clarify personal, social and occupational
knowledge and skills.
• Specific interests, aptitudes and competencies of the student should be
more clearly delineated in this stage relative to the lifestyle the student
desires.
• Courses should be selected on this basis so a variety of experiences in and
out of the classroom can be provided.
• A substantial experiential component should characterize this stage of
development since many students with disabilities need an extended
period of time to learn specific vocational skills.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Career Placement, Follow-up and
Continuing Education
• This stage of development may require the involvement of
several community agencies to assure the individual of
obtaining satisfactory vocational, leisure and independent
living roles.
• Supported guidance and counseling services will be required.
• All people change at least somewhat in their interests and
goals as they become older.
• Thus, career education is an important need of adults with
disabilities as they redefine their priorities and needs.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Transition Continuum
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Transition Summary
• The intent of transition is to gradually move students from
activities that are initiated early [around age 14] in the
awareness process through the continuum of exploration and
preparation and finally into career placement and/or
continuing education [age 18-21].
• Career placement and continuing education are the
responsibility of adult service agencies.
• The arrow designates the usual time for students to begin
formal linkages with the appropriate agencies.
• Each student should have opportunities for career awareness,
exploration preparation and agency linkages.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
IDEA 2004
• IDEA 2004 states that “Beginning not later than the first
IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if
• determined appropriate by the IEP Team, and updated
annually, thereafter, the IEP must include—
– Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age
appropriate transition assessments related to training,
education, employment, and, where appropriate,
independent living skills” [§300.320 (b)
Connection
• Training
• Education
• Employment
Transition Assessment versus Career
Development
• “…ongoing process of collecting data on the
individual’s needs, preferences, and interests as they
relate to the demands of current and future
working, educational, living, and personal and
social environments. Assessment data serve as the
common thread in the transition process and form
the basis for defining goals and services to be
included in the Individualized Education Program
(IEP)”
(Sitlington, Neubert, & Leconte, 1997, p. 70-71.
Questions to start with ?
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Who am I ?
What are my future goals?
What are my strengths?
What are my limitations?
Who will help me in school?
Who will assist me after school in achieving my goals?
Areas
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Postsecondary education,
Vocational training,
Employment,
Daily living and independent living
Career Development/Transition
Assessments
• Assessments may be formal or informal and are
determined by student need.
• Assessments may also overlap in providing information
relevant to more than one area required for transition
planning.
• Review with colleagues what assessments may already
be used in your school.
• Some assessments can be repeated and used for
progress monitoring.
Cont.
• Provide relevant information about the student in
relation to key areas for transition planning
• Provide information about the student’s current levels
of functional performance
• Indicate appropriate accommodations to support
student success
• Provide a basis for measurable postsecondary goals
• Provide a basis for measurable annual goals
How Do I Select Assessment Instruments?
• Become familiar with the different types of transition
assessments and their characteristics.
• It is recommended that you use multiple assessments
on an on-going basis.
Factors to Consider
• Select approaches that are appropriate for your
students in terms of cognitive, cultural sensitivity, and
language comfort.
• Always interpret and explain assessment results in
formats that students and families can understand
easily.
• Methods must incorporate assistive technology or
accommodations that allow an individual to
demonstrate his or her abilities and potential
Factors to Consider
• Methods must occur in environments that resemble
actual education/ training, employment, independent
living, or community environments.
• Methods must produce outcomes that contribute to
ongoing development, planning, and implementation
of “next steps” in an individual’s transition process.
• Methods must be varied and include a sequence of
activities that sample an individual’s behavior and skills
over time.
Benefits to Students
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Self knowledge
Empowerment
Preferences
Strengths
Self determination
Limitations
Interests/ Talents
Not jobs but meaningful employment
The Process of Progression in Career
Development
• Career development is a process just like learning to
walk and talk. The stages of career development
overlap and are ongoing throughout one’s lifetime.
The appropriate time for initiating each of the stages
of career development for students with disabilities
will depend more upon the developmental level vs.
the student’s grade level. There are certain stages
that should be addressed at Elementary, at Middle
School, and High School and beyond.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Remember
• The stages of career development overlap and
are ongoing throughout one's lifetime.
• The appropriate time for initiating each of the
stages of career development for students
with disabilities will depend more upon the
developmental level than on the grade level in
school.
Palmer and Hotchkiss, CDE 1999
Let’s Identify
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Work Values
Self Awareness
Self Worth
Work Personality
Let’s Identify
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Personality
Values
Skills
Career Interests
Knowledge of Learning Style
Let’s Identify
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Career Trends
Information Search
Information Interviews
Job shadowing
Gaining Experience
Let’s Identify
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Career Objectives
Personal Objectives
Life long Learning
Goal Setting
Let’s Identify
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Work Search
Resumes
Recommendation letters
Preparation for Interviews
Let’s Identify
• Accepting job offers
• Success at work
Thank you!
QUESTIONS?
Mamta Verma
[email protected]
[email protected]