EXEMPLARY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Profile of Model Programs

Each description includes the program title and location, contact person and phone number, population served, total staff, cost per participant, and setting. Both a short description of the program and outcome information are included.

Outreach Equity supports the efforts of Brevard County residents pursuing nontraditional occupations (NTO) by taking a proactive approach and offering broader opportunities and choices to men and women in education, training, and careers. At the college, NTO students have access to a variety of associate and certificate programs leading to high-wage occupations, including computer programming and analysis, drafting and design technology, electronics engineering technology, and chemical instrumentation technology. All programs are designed to meet the local demand for highly-skilled workers. Strong program components include student recruitment, community outreach/networking, business partnerships, sex equity training, and student support and placement. The college occupies a prime location on the "Space Coast" of Florida, an area with many high-technology firms and a rapidly growing population.

The program staff identify available jobs through personal contact, surveys of local NTO firms, networking with NTO business partners, and participation in local NTO employer committee meetings. Outreach Equity also assists students in résumé preparation and in building skills for the interview process. Furthermore, Outreach Equity provides a complete support-service package which includes financial assistance, student support groups, counseling, career and education planning, and mentoring by nontraditional role models. For example, during assessment and entry into the program, students are provided with comprehensive career guidance and counseling by the program coordinator and program advisors. Ongoing guidance and counseling is provided periodically through all educational activities and at final job placement. Outreach Equity is a fully developed equity program with positive results, from recruitment to student support to job placement. The program has achieved excellent success in maintaining community involvement, business partnerships, and an overall school system commitment.

Project GRADS was designed to demonstrate the development and success of a replicable model dropout prevention program for rural areas. The project is an adaptation of the Oklahoma Developer Demonstration Project that targeted services to students with mild to severe disabilities. Project GRADS serves junior high school students who are identified as at risk of dropping out. The project is based at the Child Service Development Center and the Central Oklahoma Vocational-Technical School whose goals are to reduce dropout rates, increase retention rates for adolescent at-risk learners, and increase the academic and vocational skills of at-risk high school students in Cushing and Drumright, Oklahoma.

Services provided by the project include the following: (1) a thorough assessment of abilities, achievement levels, and vocational interests; (2) a professionally staffed resource center; (3) extensive counseling services; (4) prescriptive/adaptive services for instructors; (5) effective interventions to improve self-concept and interest in school and to reduce alienation; (6) adaptation of instructional materials for students with low levels of basic skills; (7) multimedia materials for instruction in both basic and vocational skills; and (8) flexible scheduling of students into the center.

The project has been successful in decreasing the dropout rates of at-risk students through an array of vocational education and ancillary services. For students receiving these services, the dropout rate was reduced from 25% in the first year to 6% during the third year in both the vocational-technical school and the feeder schools. In addition, the effectiveness of vocational-technical education for decreasing risk factors was also demonstrated through the project's successful outcome results.

Salt Lake City's Granite School District supports the transition of individuals with disabilities into work and future life through a unique program called the Employment Specialist Program. Paraprofessionals known as "vocational trackers" are placed in each participating high school district to meet placement needs of students and business, monitor student progress, and help build independence on the job. Trackers accomplish program objectives by (1) assisting students to develop job and social skills, (2) gaining access to community-based work sites for their students, and (3) providing job coaching to help ensure success.

Both informal and formal assessments are used to determine vocational interests. The informal assessment contains four major components, including a one-on-one process involving parents, students, and other individuals who provide critical job-related information. Formal assessment instruments help determine students' interests and aptitudes for their desired careers. The program also offers community-based training and job sites at area businesses for students to explore careers and to obtain paid placement.

The program's approach is collaborative, allowing students' needs to be met efficiently and effectively. The trackers provide a link to school and district programs that will help students move toward their identified goals. Within the school, special education instructors, vocational education instructors, counselors, school psychologists, and support staff work together to meet student needs. Partnerships are also formed with outside agencies, support groups, and businesses to provide postsecondary transition training related to student needs.

Positive expectations have led to some excellent results, including high program completion rates and numerous job placements. Business and agency partnerships have also continued to develop with as many as 300 businesses and a large number of agencies participating. Initially funded through special education grants, the program is now supported through grants from the Job Training and Partnership Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, as well as through local funds.

Initiated in 1984, the Learning Achievement Program for the Learning Disabled (LEAP) annually serves over 125 students with learning disabilities through the New River Community College. LEAP provides academic and personal support services to students with learning disabilities whose abilities qualify them for postsecondary education but whose learning disabilities hinder their chance for success. The LEAP Center is a part of a Regional Interagency Transition Planning Team comprised of local service providers, public school special education departments, and postsecondary education services provided in the college's service region. The team monitors and evaluates student progress to ensure that proper care is taken to develop the full range of services necessary to meet the needs of students with learning disabilities.

LEAP offers a "summer prep" program to provide students with a head start on college life. Additionally, it offers developmental courses and tutoring to help students with weak academic skills. Students learn how to tape lectures, obtain taped textbooks, or arrange for special testing accommodations. They are also helped to understand their problems and their rights in relation to the college community, and to interact appropriately with teachers and others who may not understand their problems. Through assistance from the college's Special Services Program, some of these courses can be offered with smaller student-teacher ratios and with approaches designed to help students with special needs achieve. Additional needs of the students are met by the college job placement office, career counselors, vocational instructors, and student development personnel.

Because the LEAP staff has provided inservice activities to help the faculty and staff understand and teach students with learning disabilities, the entire campus is sensitized to the special needs of such students. All staff take great pride in the accomplishments of students with learning disabilities who have been in the program. LEAP staff also provide inservices to personnel at other Virginia high schools and community colleges throughout the state.

While the Electronic Manufacturing Support Specialist Program is open to all students who attend Lake Washington Technical College, participants can include nontraditional students, students with limited-English proficiency, those who are academically and/or economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities. Because the program uses an entirely individualized, competency-based, open-entry, open-exit format, students work at their own pace. Each student works with the instructor to design a customized training plan. Instruction includes life skills as well as employability skills. The program is aimed at teaching all students the skills necessary for entry-level employment and advancement. With assistance from the counseling staff, students with special needs examine their personal interests and learn to connect themselves with specific careers in demand throughout King County. After interests are determined, students' basic skills are evaluated.

Intra- and interagency collaboration arrangements are cultivated and nurtured by the college staff. The college's Integrated Instructional Support Team combines the efforts of staff charged with remediation, limited-English proficiency, assessment, adult education, and counseling to provide support for students with special needs. Regular meetings encourage the accurate and timely flow of information through these key departments. The result of this collaboration is a coordinated delivery of needed services.

The open-entry, open-exit system of enrollment provides diversity in terms of entry-level, middle, and advanced students being in class at the same time. The program is run like an industry shop with students serving in various roles, including supervisor and lab custodian. Projects are organized around the team or cooperative learning concept, and small groups are designed to encourage this teamwork. Once students grasp basic competencies, they may opt for internships or cooperative work experience programs to gain on-the-job experience. There is a strong network of area employers who serve as models for students, donate funds and equipment to keep the shop up-to-date, and, most importantly, hire program completers.

The ENCORE! program prepares single parents, displaced homemakers, and single pregnant women for high-wage occupations and assists them to become self-sufficient citizens. The program serves as a stepping stone for many women who otherwise would be welfare dependent or employed in low-wage occupations. The administrators, faculty, and staff, as well as the community, actively support the program. Such support enables ENCORE! to offer a comprehensive set of services that include both a six-week curriculum to provide training on career planning, résumé writing, goal-setting, stress management, wardrobing, and job shadowing experiences and a myriad of support services such as child care, transportation, books, tuition, and uniforms (for lab activities). The Charlotte Vocational Technical Center offers participants vocational assessment, individual counseling, and support group interaction.

The program is funded by a Perkins state grant and various local grants. Community groups support the program with scholarship money used for items not covered by Perkins funds. Individuals and businesses donate new and used clothing for "Carol's Closet," a corner in Carol Watters' classroom containing an assortment of clothing for students (who often do not have the means to buy clothes) to wear in class and during job interviews. Other community agencies such as the Dream House Board, a program designed to help participants own a home, provide support.

Program success is reflected by a significantly high retention rate of participants and the high level of self-esteem developed by participants. The ENCORE! program is also a recipient of many awards including the Florida Exemplary Program award in 1988 and 1992, and the Florida Excellence in Equity Award in March 1993. ENCORE! works across many areas to uphold excellence in its overall program and for its participants.

The CHOICE program is a joint effort between the Clark County Special Education Cooperative and the business community. The program's goal is to assist students to be as independent and employable as possible by offering them realistic vocational experiences in the school and community environment. The program serves about 260 students each year, ages 13 to 21. These students represent a variety of disabilities, including learning, emotional, physical, and different degrees of mental disabilities.

CHOICE is designed to be a comprehensive program that begins with classroom instruction during the 9th grade in such areas as the development of social, daily living, and employability skills; career exploration; and job training. A variety of teaching techniques are used by instructional staff and may include lecture, group discussion, or role playing. Some of these skills are taught in the community as well as in the classroom. As 9th graders, students learn these skills in the classroom, make field trips to area businesses, and listen to business representatives who very eagerly volunteer their time to share their experiences with the students. During the 11th and 12th grades, the students pursue further vocational training either at school or through a cooperative education program. All these experiences better prepare students to select a vocational course of study that matches their interests and abilities. The ultimate goal of the program is to make each student as independent as possible.

The school's administrative staff provides strong support, both financial and moral. Support services may include job coaching, counseling, career preparation, transportation, and occupational therapy. While much of the funding comes from local, state, and federal sources, community agencies donate or raise funds to buy instructional materials for the students. Area businesses provide students with job shadowing experiences, paid work experiences, and job training and employ students who have completed their training. Excellent outcome results are shown through high retention and completion rates, as well as through the attainment of full-time employment.

The Reentry Transition Program serves displaced homemakers; students who are disadvantaged; single parents who are on welfare or who are divorced, separated, or widowed; and individuals who wish to become self-sufficient through employment or further education. Students receive comprehensive prevocational services in a postsecondary setting. The curriculum covers the following areas: self-development (72 hours), career planning (72 hours), a success skills course (36 hours), and an adventure-based career challenge (e.g., Ropes, 30 hours). Students are provided transportation, child care reimbursement, tuition, fees, and materials. Participants who elect to pursue programs at Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC) are directed into programs that match or surpass MPTC's graduate median wage. MPTC provides services such as assessment, financial aid, counseling, help of support specialists for those with disabilities, peer tutoring, and support groups. Placement and employment services are available through MPTC or the network built by the Reentry program.

The program has strong administrative leadership and support; coordinators and staff who are advocates of the participants; and a stable and diverse funding from local, state, and federal sources. Participants receive services and support throughout their stay in MPTC and after they have completed the Reentry curriculum. Program outcomes reflect excellent success throughout a number of areas, including increased self-esteem and
self-confidence; educational participation in college and university programs; and/or meaningful, productive employment.

Valencia Community College houses the Center for High Tech Training for Individuals with Disabilities (Center). Through the Center, individuals with severe disabilities who were previously unemployed are trained to become computer programmers or computer-assisted design professionals and placed in jobs. The Center operates two programs: (1) Computer Programmer Training and (2) Computer-Assisted Design and Drafting, both designed for individuals with disabilities. The hallmark of the Center's operation is its partnership with businesses in the area. Business representatives serve in three advisory councils that have the following roles: (1) establish standards for trainee selection and interview trainees, (2) advise on appropriate curriculum and training materials, (3) evaluate trainee performance, and (4) assist in job placement by offering special training in interview and job-seeking skills and by identifying potential employers in the community. Business representatives develop and annually review both programs' curricula, which include a technical and professional development dimension. In addition, both programs require the students to pursue a summer internship.

Operated by a staff of ten professionals, the programs use the latest facilities, equipment, and software to familiarize the students with all the tools they will use when employed. The programs are also administered in a business-oriented, professional manner. Thus, students are required to dress professionally and communicate both orally and in writing.

Success of the program is evident through an average job completion rate of over 90%. The college's lengthy involvement in providing services to students with disabilities has resulted in highly positive attitudes on the part of instructional, administrative, and support personnel. The Center successfully enables its participants to work and live as productive members of the community.

The Assessment Program of the Mission Trails Regional Occupational Program provides career assessment and guidance to youth and adults so that they can develop a realistic career plan and obtain the assistance needed to carry it out. The program serves youth and adults from the Salinas Union High School District, a majority of whom are members of special populations. These individuals include those who are disadvantaged, persons with disabilities, single and teen parents, and those with limited-English proficiency.

Mission Trails ensures that students who are members of special populations have equal access to vocational programs by offering career exploration, assessment, guidance, and follow-up support services. The program offers a variety of formal and informal assessment activities designed to generate information for staff and students' use in vocational program planning and career guidance. Additional services include the Exploratorium (introduces middle school students to vocational opportunities using hands-on career exploration activities) and WorkAbility (assists youth and adults with disabilities in transitioning to the world of work through referrals to related agencies, job readiness training, and job placement). Observable outcomes of this program include completion of a high school education, attainment of part- or full-time work, and/or advancement to higher level training or education.

In 1983, this program was selected as a model site for vocational assessment by the California State Department of Education and has been a leader in the development of the California Career/Vocational Assessment Model. From 1987 through 1990, the Assessment Program was selected as a demonstration site in California for the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment program in the area of vocational assessment.

The Supermarket Careers program, a successful collaborative undertaking between education and industry, prepares students to transition from school to work. The program targets secondary students in the district, including those with disabilities, and postsecondary students recommended by support agencies. It is designed to demonstrate that individuals who are members of special populations can be successfully trained and employed in the supermarket industry. The major goals of this program are training and the smooth transition from school to work.

Funded by Perkins dollars and other local funds, the program offers specialized classroom training, community-based education, and a four-week internship at participating local grocery stores. Students receive classroom instruction on reading and math, safety, sanitation, résumé and cover letter writing, how to fill out job application forms, interview techniques, and human relations. Through daily hands-on training in a mini-mart classroom setting, students develop skills relating to all facets of the supermarket industry (e.g., pricing, stocking, inventory, advertising, and maintenance). In addition to mastering supermarket skills, students learn the significance of teamwork, positive work ethics, and interpersonal skills. Participating business establishments like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, National Foods, Krogers, and other local stores provide students with job shadowing experience and job training and employ successful graduates.

Blackhawk Technical College's Nontraditional Options Project is designed to enhance students'--particularly women's--awareness of nontraditional trades and offer them the opportunity to enter high-paying nontraditional occupations (NTOs). The project stresses recruitment, retention, and placement assistance. Activities include a nine-day nontraditional options career exploration workshop, a four-day career challenge workshop, and several pre-tech workshops.

In each career exploration workshop, the staff use hands-on approaches that expose students to nontraditional careers, including robotics; mechanical design; electronics; welding; machining; auto mechanics; and apprenticeable trades such as plumbing, electrical trades, and carpentry. Students actually (1) operate a computer for product design, (2) test electrical circuits, (3) repair a copy machine, (4) use a lathe to make a metal part, and
(5) weld steel components. The career challenge workshop features activities that encourage trust-building, goal-setting, problem-solving, effective communication, risk-taking, self-confidence, and teamwork. Pre-tech workshops familiarize women with basic and advance math, tools, measuring devices, and the vocabulary of their chosen field. Topics on assertiveness, time management, study skills, and how to deal with harassment are also covered.

Participants also receive an array of support services, including financial assistance for texts and tools, tutorial support, individual counseling, mentoring, placement agency referrals, and job referrals for students who choose to pursue NTOs. Successful program graduates become ambassadors for the program by becoming NTO role models and making presentations during workshops.

Pinellas Technical Education Center at Clearwater (PTEC-Clearwater), through the Network of Services and Transformations (NST), is dedicated to providing assistance to students who are members of special populations. Using a variety of funding resources, NST offers numerous programs and services, including a community involvement program, a teen parent career program, an English for Speakers of Other Languages program, and a System for Applied Individualized Learning program. This network of services was intended to catch students from all areas of special populations who need extra help. These students include individuals with disabilities, those who are educationally and economically disadvantaged (including foster children), dropouts, single and teen parents, immigrants, and individuals in correctional institutions.

PTEC-Clearwater provides these students with the technical training to secure and maintain employment, enabling them to be economically self-sufficient, to adapt to an evolving workplace, and to be willing lifelong learners. More specifically, it provides
(1) training that ensures that participants will receive employment and high wages,
(2) workshops about the rights of adults with disabilities, (3) technical assistance in implementing the Individual Handicapped Adult Education Plan, and (4) on-the-job training for adults with disabilities.

NST staff consists of specialized personnel, including a vocational resource educator, a financial aid specialist, an interpreter for the hearing impaired, and a variety of counselors. Coordinators monitor each program's progress on an ongoing basis. They record and analyze data needed to meet stated goals. The network is officially evaluated on a monthly basis to determine the number of students who are served and the effectiveness of these services. A follow-up is made to determine alternative measures when present services are not working.

Parrott Creek Ranch, Inc. (PCR) is a nonprofit, residential treatment facility for 14- to 21-year-old males who would otherwise be placed in the state training school. These youth have been removed from their communities by order of the juvenile courts. They live at the facility for an average of six months and participate in the Partnership for Professional Technical Education Services program designed to help them successfully reintegrate into the community. The program provides (1) family, individual, and group counseling; (2) social skills building; (3) recreation; (4) drug and alcohol rehabilitation services; (5) court liaison services; (6) casework services; (7) employment opportunity; and (8) academic and vocational education. When clients leave PCR, they receive an additional four to six months of post-residential counseling and support services.

Nearly all of the youth placed at PCR lack skills to become successful community members. A critical element of their treatment is to provide rehabilitative opportunities, including professional technical education programs and job placement services in conjunction with individual and family counseling. Through the Youth Employment Service (YES) component of PCR, students in this program receive pre-employment training, vocational instruction, community college technical education, on-campus and off-campus work experience, as well as job placement and follow-up services.

This innovative program features a low per student cost, high completion rate, and low recidivism rate. It makes wide use of volunteers and collaborates extensively with various county and state agencies, businesses, and a community college in the area. The YES component has been recognized by the county and the JTPA Private Industry Council for exemplary service.

The Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development provides vocational education for students from 36 school districts in southwestern Ohio. Giving specific consideration to the needs and goals of high school youth, out-of-school youth, and adults, Great Oaks provides instructional programs and related services necessary to help these individuals achieve their goals. Students, including those who are members of special populations, choose from seventy inclusive vocational programs and may participate in either half-day or full-day vocational programs. A majority of the programs are offered in inclusive settings; three specialized programs are offered for only students with disabilities. All programs prepare students for many occupational fields. The mission is to prepare youth and adults for entry-level positions and/or postsecondary education.

Services for students with developmental disabilities are provided through the Occupational Development Program in a variety of methods. Vocational assessment, job training, supplemental instructional support services, job coaching, and specialized job development and placement services are offered to ensure that these students will be successful in education and employment.