Identifying Career Development Mamta Verma Transition Coordinator North Forest Independent School District.

Identifying Career Development

Mamta VermaTransition 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

• Only three in ten working-age (18-64) persons with disabilities are employed full or part-time 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

Did You know?

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

• Family• Social • Community • Personal

Knowledge of Self

• 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

• Awareness• Exploration• Preparation• Assimilation/ Placement

Stages of Career Development


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.


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


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.


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.


Transition Continuum


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.


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 ?

• 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

• 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

• 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.


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.


Let’s Identify

• Work Values• Self Awareness• Self Worth• Work Personality

Let’s Identify

• Personality• Values• Skills• Career Interests• Knowledge of Learning Style

Let’s Identify

• Career Trends• Information Search• Information Interviews• Job shadowing• Gaining Experience

Let’s Identify

• Career Objectives• Personal Objectives• Life long Learning• Goal Setting

Let’s Identify

• Work Search• Resumes• Recommendation letters• Preparation for Interviews

Let’s Identify

• Accepting job offers• Success at work

Thank you!

QUESTIONS?

Mamta [email protected]

[email protected]

Identifying Career Development Mamta Verma Transition Coordinator North Forest Independent School District.

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