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Vocational Options Project: Chapter 1
The most recent reauthorization of The Education for Handicapped Children Act occurred during the 101st Congress. P.L. 101-476 became law in September of 1990 and is now known as The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). P.L. 101-476 defined "transition services" as follows:
"A coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome oriented process, which promotes movement fromschool to post school activities, includes postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated employment, (including supported employment), continuing adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the individual student's needs taking into account the student's preferences and interests and shall include instruction, community experiences, development of employment and other postschool adult living objectives, and when appropriate acquisition of daily living
skills and functional vocational evaluation" (PL 101, 20 U.S.C. 1401
[a][19]).
Prior to this legislation, transition had been described within the special education process, but it had never been defined in terms of who should participate, when they should participate, and who would provide the services. P.L. 101-476 mandated transition services for students with
severe disabilities to include "community experiences, the development of employment, and other post-school adult living objectives." In addition, a transition plan must be developed for a
student no later than age 16 and, in some cases, at age 14 or younger. Interagency responsibilities and linkages also must be included before the student graduates.
IDEA resulted from the increased focus on efforts to facilitate the successful movement of youth with disabilities from school to adult settings. The IDEA requires local education agencies to include transition planning and implementation in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process for all students with disabilities. Thus, for the first time, legislation spells out a requirement for providing "transition services" to support youth in their movement into post school settings.
Another important piece of legislation that impacts the transition of students from school to work is The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992
(P.L 102-569). The definition of transition services that is included in
P.L. 102-569 duplicates the one found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Amendments recognize that many students with the most severe disabilities will exit school systems requiring rehabilitation services. Consequently, the new regulations mandate a state plan requiring that the state rehabilitation agency address the development of policies that will assure coordination between the rehabilitation agencies and state education agencies. The outcome is to assure that students exiting the schools who require rehabilitation services receive those services with no break in service (Button, 1992; Inge, 1993; Inge & Brooke, 1993).
It is also important for teachers to know that the new Amendments are guided by the presumption of ability. A person with a disability, regardless of the severity of the disability, can achieve employment and other rehabilitation goals, if the appropriate services and supports are made available.
- Assist the individual with a disability to make informed choices about potential employment outcomes that result in integration and inclusionin the community.
- Develop an individualized rehabilitation program with the full participationof the person with a disability.
- Match the needs and interests reflected in the individualized programs with the appropriate services and supports including rehabilitation technology, supported employment, and others.
- Proactively foster cooperative working relationships with other agencies and programs, including local education authorities, to unify the service system.
- Emphasize the quality of services and the accountability that service
representatives have to honor the dignity, participation, and growth of persons with disabilities as their employment interests develop over time. (Revell, 1993)
The transition provisions added to the Act do not shift the burden for
transition planning from education to rehabilitation. Instead, they promote coordination and collaboration between the two systems so there will be no gap in service for eligible students. The state plan requirements for transition under P.L. 102-569 include the following:
Goals and Public Education. Each state plan must:
. . . contain plans, policies, and procedures to be followed ( including
entering into a formal interagency cooperative agreement. . . witheducation officials responsible for the provision of a free appropriate public education to students who are individuals with disabilities) that are designed to:
A) facilitate the development and accomplishment of
- long term rehabilitation goals;
- intermediate rehabilitation objectives; and
- goals and objectives related to enabling a student to live independently before the student leaves a school setting, to the extent the goals and objectives described in clause (1) through (3) are included
in an individualized education program of the student, including the specification of plans for coordination with the educational agencies in
the provision of transition services;
of an educational agency to the provision of vocational rehabilitation services under the responsibility of the designated State unit, including
the specification of plans for coordination with educational agencies in
the provision of transition services authorized under section 103(a)(14)
to an individual, consistent with the individualized written rehabilitation program of the individual; and
C) provide that such plans, policies, and procedures
will address
- provisions for determingin State lead agencies and qualified personnel responsible for transition services;
- procedures for outreach to and identification of youth in need of such services; and
- a timeframe for evaluation and follow-up of youth who have received such services (Sec. 101(a)(24)).
Eligibility
Prior to the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992, an individual had to have evaluations to determine his/her "rehab. potential"
and the "feasibility" for "employability." Often these evaluations concluded that persons with the most severe disabilities were
not eligible for services. However, since advances in technology and supported employment, disability can no longer be equated with an inability to work (Button, 1992; Inge & Brooke, 1993). In assuming that people with disabilities can work, several critical changes will occur.
- The notion of feasibility is removed.
- The rehabilitation counselor must demonstrate that no employment outcome is possible in order to determine a person ineligible.
- The burden of proof for accessing the system shifts from the individual to the rehabilitation system.
A two part process essentially determines a person's eligibility for rehabilitation services. First, does the person have a disability? Second, does he/she require assistance from the vocational rehabilitation
system to achieve an employment outcome? Presumption of ability changes the "old way" of an "evaluation of rehabilitation
potential", to an assessment of eligibility and rehabilitation needs.
Eligibility determinations must now focus first on the use of existing
data, particularly on information provided by the individual with a disability, his/her family, or advocates. Other sources may include education agencies, social security agencies, the individual's personal physi- cian, previous or current employer(s), community organizations such as UCP affiliates, and any organization or person referring the individual. The use of existing data for determining eligibility for rehabilitation services has major implications for school systems. If students participate in school programs that provide community-based vocational training and paid work experiences prior to graduation, data will be available to establish eligibility for rehabilitation services post graduation. Students will have developed resumes and references from previous and/or current employers to demonstrate the feasibility of employment outcomes. In conclusion, teachers should get to know their vocational rehabilitation counselor(s) and make sure that this person is a member of their students' transition teams. The remainder of this chapter outlines the steps for setting up a community-based vocational program.
Designing A Community-Based Vocational Program
Vocational training must reflect a community's local economy in order to prepare students with severe disabilities for paid jobs by the time of graduation (Bates, 1989; Moon, Inge, Wehman, Brooke, & Barcus, 1990a; Moon & Inge, 1993; Renzaglia & Hutchins, 1988). Each school system's vocational curriculum will be different based on the community in which the students reside. Development of the curriculum will entail continual assessment of the local labor market to determine the major employers in the community, the types of employment most commonly available, and the type of employment that has been obtained by
individuals with disabilities (Moon et al., 1990a).
School systems are cautioned to carefully analyze the types of training experiences selected. For instance, it may be easy to develop a horticultural program on the school grounds or obtain collating work from
the school office for vocational training purposes. However, if these training experiences do not reflect future job possibilities, the students may have difficulty with their transition from school to work. In addition, teachers should limit simulated work in the classroom setting, since this does not provide the needed coworker/social integration training that is critical for job success. Work experiences on the school grounds should be for younger students under 14 when community-based training is not an option (Moon, Kiernan, & Halloran,
1990; Renzaglia & Hutchins, 1988). Finally, as students near graduation, time in real job settings should increase until the majority
of the school day is spent in the community (Brown et al., 1991; Sailor et al., 1986; Wehman, Moon, Everson, Wood, Barcus, 1988; Wehman, 1993).
Establishing Community-Based Training Sites
The steps in developing community-based training sites include: 1.) conducting a job market analysis; 2.) identifying businesses with the targeted jobs and contacting the personnel director or employer; 3.) selecting and analyzing appropriate jobs for community-based training; 4.) scheduling community-based vocational instruction; and 5.) designing
individualized instructional programs. Teachers may want to first contact
adult service agencies within their communities to determine the location
of supported employment placements. These sites may not be appropriate for community-based vocational training experiences, since the presence of unpaid students could confuse the employers and result in inappropriate work expectations and labor law violations (Moon & Inge, 1993). A detailed listing of the steps and activities involved in developing community-based training sites is provided in Table 1 which is
located in the appendix of this chapter.
Step 1: Conduct a Job Market Analysis. Initially, a school system may want to identify a task force of teachers to develop procedures for completing a community job market analysis (Pumpian, Shepard, & West, 1988). In some instances,
the task force may appoint the transition coordinator to complete business contacts, or a special education teacher at the secondary level
may take the lead. In any case, a plan of action should be developed to prevent duplication of effort. Figures 1 and 2 are sample forms in the appendix of this chapter that can be used to keep track of which employers have been contacted or interviewed when developing a community-based vocational training program.
Once school personnel have been identified to complete the market analysis, they may begin by surveying their local Chamber of Commerce and/or Economic Development Office, looking in the telephone directory, reading the newspaper want ads, interviewing potential employers, completing follow-up contacts with school graduates, and contacting adult
service agencies and supported employment programs to determine job placements for individuals with severe disabilities. A list of contacts might include the following:
- State Economic Development Office
- State Employment Commission
- Chamber of Commerce
- Trade Associations
- Better Business Bureau
- City and County Employment Offices
- Dept. of Labor
- Telephone Book/Newspaper Classifieds
- Business Newsletters
- Voc Rehab Agencies
- Supported Employment Providers
- Civic Clubs and Organizations
- Friends and Associates
Once a list of businesses has been generated, the school representative(s) should initiate contacts with a sample of employers to
identify jobs that would be available to students upon graduation. Renzaglia and Hutchins (1988) suggest generating a list of local businesses and categorizing them by job types (e.g. clerical, food service, janitorial, industrial, etc.). After a general job market analysis has been completed, teachers are ready to contact specific employers regarding the use of their businesses for vocational training.
Step 2: Identify businesses with the targeted jobs and contact the personnel director / employer. Once the local economy has been assessed to determine the possible job types for students with severe disabilities, the teacher(s) must determine where instruction will occur. Each student should have the opportunity to experience a variety of jobs in a number of different settings to assist the student in developing a work history, determine his or her job preferences, identify future training needs, and determine skill characteristics for future job matching. The task force that completed the community job market analysis should also identify the individual(s) who will approach employers regarding use of their businesses for community-based training sites.
Initial information to identify potential jobs within a business can be obtained from the personnel director or employer. Often this individual will be able to provide written job descriptions that can be useful in identifying job types, however, observation of the actual work sites usually is more beneficial for job identification (Moon et al., 1990a). When selecting nonpaid work experiences, the teacher must be careful not
to displace a worker within the job site in order to meet labor law requirements (Inge, Simon, Halloran, & Moon, 1993). Therefore the tasks targeted should provide enough space for the student and teacher to
work alongside the regular employee.
Another issue to consider is the number of tasks that should be identified for instruction. There is some debate regarding whether a student should be given experiences with a number of tasks or limited to
one or two choices (Sowers & Powers, 1991). Obviously this decision should be made based on the characteristics of specific students being placed on the training site, however, in general it seems appropriate to
limit the number of tasks for students with severe disabilities. Sowers & Powers (1991) suggest that providing instruction on a number of different tasks or moving students from task to task before skill learning may not allow them to experience a sense of accomplishment. Certainly, students with more severe disabilities will be performing jobs
with a minimal number of task change requirements when they become employed (Moon et al., 1990a) Therefore, it seems most reasonable to provide them with training experiences that are similar in task requirements to future expectations.
Contact the Personnel Director/employer: Contacts with the personnel director or a company manager can be made by phone or letter to
set up an appointment to discuss the school's program in detail. Additional methods for initial contacts may include visits to local business association meetings, employer breakfasts, visits to regional business offices, etc. (Pumpian et al., 1988). "Dropping in" on
employers without an appointment is not recommended.
Contacts by letter should always be followed with telephone communication. The content of the letter or phone conversation could include a brief description of the school program, identification of potential job types available in the business, and possible times for an
appointment to visit. During the initial site visit, the teacher can discuss the responsibilities of the school trainer, student, and employer/coworkers. In addition, the teacher must explain to the employer
the labor law requirements that need to be met regarding unpaid work experiences. Labor law regulations for nonpaid work experiences are described in detail in Chapter 2 of this monograph.
The contact person also should be prepared to discuss insurance coverage by the school system and liability issues, as well as the development of a training agreement with the business. The students participating in the Vocational Options Project were covered by the school's liability insurance policy. Prior to the implementation of training, the school lawyer reviewed the insurance policy and ensured that students were covered if an accident occurred on a job site (considered an extension of the school building). In addition, each parent agreed to take out a school sponsored policy at a nominal charge that would cover medical expenses in the case of an emergency.
Step 3: Select and Analyze Appropriate Jobs for Community-Based Training. Often, the initial contact made with a business is with an employer or management level individual who will not be able to specifically assist the teacher in identifying jobs for training. He/she will be referred to a supervisor who in turn will be
the actual contact person for community programming. For instance, one job site identified by the Vocational Options project was a hotel. Initial meetings were conducted with the hotel manager, however actual identification of job tasks occurred when the teacher met with the housekeeping supervisor.
Activities during this phase of setting up a community-based training site include observing the coworkers performing the job duties available,
selecting tasks that are appropriate to the students who will be receiving training, and actually working the selected job duties. A tentative schedule of the activities that the student(s) will be performing should
be developed, as well as task analyses for skills targeted. Both of these
may need modification once specific students are assigned to the work site. Finally, the teacher should negotiate times for the student(s) to be on site and a start date. The following information outlines the steps
for designing a job duty schedule and writing task analyses.
Job Duty Schedule: A job duty schedule outlines the specific work tasks that will be performed by the students, as well as the time that they will be performed. The following is a sample job schedule for a community-based training site.
Community-Based Training Site: Discount Clothing Store - Stock Room
Area Supervisor: Mrs. Mary Miller
Teacher Completing Form: Stacy D.
__ Daily
(Training tasks remain the
same from day to day)
__ Varies day to day
(If checked here, complete a separate
form for each day's schedule)
If above spaceis checked, indicate day
for which this form is completed:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
Vocational Training Tasks Approximate Time
1:00 pm - 1:15 pm Punch in, set up work area
1:15 pm - 1:30 pm Open clothing boxes
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Put clothes on hangers
2:00 p.m. - 2:15 pm Break in employee lounge
2:15 pm - 3:00 pm Unpack boxes, fold items, put on
shelves in stock room
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Punch out - Go to McDonald's -
Return to School
Comments: Students should wear dark blue pants and a white shirt for this training site. Report to Mrs. Miller upon arrival. If she is not
in the stock room, call ext. 75 and report to security. Students will work with Bill and Laura (coworkers) on all tasks.
SIGNATURE/TITLE:
DATE:
In addition to the job duty schedule, the teacher/trainer needs to determine if there are any special requirements that the employer has for
the student(s) on the job site. Answers to the following sample questions
should be determined (Moon & Inge, 1993).
- Does the employer/supervisor want the student(s) to wear a uniform or specific clothing (e.g. white shirt with black pants)?
- What entrance should be used?
- Is it important to report to the supervisor or a coworker upon arrival?
- Do employees have assigned lockers and can one be available to the student(s)?
- Is there an identified break area and employee bathroom?
- Are there specific break times for employees?
- Are there any company benefits that may be available to the students (e.g. free lunch or soda)?
- Are there any restricted (hazardous) areas or activities that can be identified?
- Is there a company policy or procedure for reporting accidents on the
job?
All of this information should be recorded and placed in a file that can be accessed by all school personnel. This would be particularly important during teacher absences when another school employee must supervise the site.
Task Analysis: Whatever activities are included in the job duty
schedule, the teacher needs to complete a thorough task analysis of each activity prior to bringing the student(s) to the work site. He/she should
observe the coworkers performing the task, identify each step that is completed, and then perform the job modifying the steps as necessary. Finally, the teacher should check with the supervisor to ensure that the
task is being performed correctly.
Each step of a task analysis should consist of one observable behavior
that can be taught individually (Barcus, Brooke, Inge, Moon, Goodall, 1987; Moon et al., 1990a; Moon & Inge, 1993). It is also helpful to word steps in the second person so they may be used as verbal prompts during instruction (e.g., "Wipe the lid of the toilet"), as well as making references to things that are observable (e.g., "Push the green button"). A good task analysis assists the teacher in organizing instruction, providing consistent training, and evaluating the student's
performance. The following is a sample task analysis for cleaning a toilet.
- Put toilet brush in bucket.
- Pick up cleanser.
- Push bucket to first toilet.
- Squirt cleanser in toilet.
- Set down cleanser.
- Pick up brush.
- Tap brush 2x's on side of bucket.
- Brush top of toilet.
- Brush sides of toilet.
- Brush front of toilet.
- Dip brush in bucket.
- Tap brush 2x's on side of bucket.
- Brush seat of toilet.
- Raise seat of toilet.
- Brush inside seat of toilet.
- Dip brush in bucket.
- Tap brush 2x's on side of bucket.
- Dip brush inside toilet.
- Brush inside of toilet 4x's.
- Tap brush 2x's on seat.
- Put toilet brush in bucket.
- Pick up the cleanser.
- Push bucket to next toilet.
There are several tips for developing and individualizing task analyses for vocational instruction in order to facilitate a student's skill acquisition and quality performance. First, the teacher should analyze a
job to determine if discrimination is part of the task and,
if so, how can this be "built" into the task analysis. For instance, many individuals with severe disabilities may be unable to distinguish clean vs. dirty. In the above task analysis, the teacher could analyze cleaning the toilet and determine a pattern that must be followed to wipe the top, sides, seat, and inside of the toilet which would always result in a clean surface. These steps would then be broken
down into smaller steps for instruction. For a student with discrimination difficulties, a sample step in the above task analysis may
be further analyzed in the following fashion. The information placed in parentheses serves as a cue to the trainer for consistency of prompting but is not used as a verbal cue to the student.
8. Brush top of toilet. (Student wipes top one time, always working left to right.)
- Place brush at back corner.
- Move brush across top of toilet.
- Place brush at front corner.
- Move brush across top.
Another area that the teacher has addressed in the task analysis for cleaning the toilet is chaining of activities or work tasks. For instance, the last three steps of the task are the first three steps of cleaning the next toilet. In this manner, the teacher can write all of a student's
task analyses to interconnect in order to sequence the work activities. This will help him/her learn to move from one task to another and ultimately be independent on the job site.
Efficiency should also be considered when writing a task analysis. For instance, students with severe disabilities may avoid reaching across the midline of their body, using two hands together, or using one hand consistently. The teacher should observe the student and determine the most efficient way to complete the task based on his or her
physical abilities. For instance, if there are no physical limitations that prohibit using both hands to complete a task, the task analysis should require the student to do so (e.g., picking up an armful of laundry with both arms vs. using one hand only). Systematic instruction then can be implemented to teach the student the physical requirements of
the activity.
The use of natural cues or material prompts could also be built
into the task analysis to facilitate skill acquisition. For instance, the student could be taught to use work supplies as a cue for task completion or assistance in moving from one step or work duty to another.
An example might be putting the "pink" cleanser in all toilets
that need to be cleaned as the first step in the task analysis. The presence of cleanser in the toilet would provide a cue that a bathroom stall has not been cleaned.
Completing a job to production standards / speed often will be
an issue when teaching students with severe disabilities. Initial consideration when designing a task analysis can assist in eliminating this problem. For instance, students may continue to perform a step in a
task even though it is not necessary (e.g., cleaning the inside of a toilet, scrubbing a pot, etc.) Observation of the student may reveal that
he/she is perseverating on steps in the task. In the above task analy
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