1. 1
Vocational Training and Transition for Disabled Adolescents
The efficacy of vocational education for students with disabilities is working
successfully in many school districts and these efforts provide valuable tools in
helping disabled individuals find a job and enjoy a high quality of life. There are
many best practices of transition methods which will be discussed in this analysis,
and they are based on successful programs practiced in schools across the country.
Vocational training includes occupational training skills combined with daily life
skills and socialization practices. These best programs incorporate all three
components, and all are designed for job success in adulthood. This work is
practiced by regular classroom teachers, school psychologists, special education
teachers, rehabilitation counselors, and vocational education teachers. Often these
programs exist independently in a traditional school, but more and more vocational
schools are springing up around the country that have classes in carpentry, car
mechanics, or small engine repair and teach on-the-job training skills in real time.
Besides academic success, the predictors for success for disabled students
transitioning to adulthood are skills training in the field of the student’s choosing,
which includes on-the-job training and role playing with job applications and
preparing for a job interview. In addition, job internships and job shadowing are
also very educational. Teaching of basic skills in English and math along with
problem solving skills are also highly effective and prepare the disabled student for
further education in college or a technical school. The outcome of these combined
efforts are to empower students with disabilities with self determination and
confidence so each student, no matter what their disability, can contribute to
society and live a productive life.
This analysis will discuss the best practices in transition services to students
with disabilities utilized around the country and the skills these young adults are
learning to go forward successfully in life. Vocational education works, but it can
work better. Often specialists is vocational education (called job coaches or
vocational specialists) are hard to recruit and are not paid high salaries, so
turnover can be high. In addition, there are often problems getting all the
components of a transition team together so all appropriate professionals are
operating on the same page to help the student best assist their future progress.
There is still an employment disparity between young adults with disabilities and
those who are not disabled and this problem must be addressed. Likewise there
are still prejudices against students with disabilities and flaws in the transition
system for students that must be explored. How can the educational system and
inter-agency programs further help students find employment and have successful
outcomes for the future? This question will be addressed. There are always
improvements that can be made in any system and those improvements will be
analyzed here in detail. Recommendations will be made for improvement and
summarized.

2. 2
In the past individuals with disabilities were judged based on harmful
stereotypes and biased assumptions. They were widely stigmatized which resulted
in economic and social marginalization and left disabled individuals out of society
at large. Often individuals with disabilities were institutionalized or lived their
entire lives in asylums. Many disabled individuals were objects of ridicule and
performed in carnivals or were objects of curiosity, but mostly disabled people
were invisible and hidden from a derisive and uninformed society. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who had to keep his disability mostly hidden, was elected four times in
war-torn America and brought some understanding to the positive contributions
disabled people could make to society. But still the laws and public perceptions
were slow to change. In the 1940’s and 50’s disabled veterans pressed the
government for vocational education and rehabilitation, but despite some initial
changes, disabled people still did not have access to public transportation to public
buildings, nor could they be considered eligible for meaningful work.
It was not until the civil rights movement in the 1960’s that disabled individuals
started fighting for equal rights. In the 1970’s parents and civil rights advocates for
disabilities marched on Washington and the Rehabilitation act in 1973 gave rights
to employment for all people, including disabled Americans. The Education Act was
passed in 1975 which allowed disabled children assess to public schools. By 1990,
individualized education plans (IEPs) were designed with parental involvement to
help their children get a good education. In 1990, educational advances for
disabled individuals changed for good:
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was renamed in 1990 to the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which further elaborated
on the inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classes, but also
focused on the rights of parents to be involved in the educational decisions
affecting their children. IDEA required that an Individual Education Plan be
designed with parental approval to meet the educational needs of a child
with a disability (Switzer 2003).
The ADA, passed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act, required public
businesses and institutions to provide reasonable access to disabled persons:
Public services could no longer deny services to people with disabilities
(such as public transportation systems), all public accommodations were
expected to have modifications made to be accessible to people with
disabilities, and all telecommunications services were mandated to offer
adaptive services to people with disabilities. With this piece of legislation,
the US government identified the full participation, inclusion and integration
of people with disabilities in all levels of society (Switzer 2003).
From that point, physical and mental disabilities were organized into the
following categories so that individual help could be rendered:

3. 3
a. Serious emotional disturbance
b. Learning disabilities
c. Mental retardation (or ID)
d. Traumatic brain injury
e. Autism
f. Vision and hearing impairments
g. Physical disabilities
h. Other health impairments.
After physical and mental disabilities were diagnosed by the appropriate
professionals, programs such as supported employment was created and serves as
one of the most successful ways for disabled individuals to find employment.
Supported Employment is competitive work in an integrated setting. Support is
provided in an ongoing manner and includes on-the-job training skills, job
modifications, educational support, and transportation to and from a prospective
job. This training provides flexibility and full participation for disabled persons in
the workplace. There are problems with supported employment, however, and
they will be outlined in this analysis.
Michael Harvey states what is expected of disabled adolescents in this day and age
and explains the importance of transition:
The economy of the United States is driven by the production and sales of
goods and services with an emphasis on productivity. Employment and
training of the nation’s workforce is at the core of a strong economy.
This is especially true in today’s climate of high technology, e-commerce,
real time demand, and intense global competition for market share.
Students with disabilities are defined as those identified with one or more of
the 13 disability categories specified in the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) and served by an individualized educational program
(IEP). The central theme in special education transition has been an
emphasis on post-school outcomes, primarily focused in the area of
employment. The interest in transition is multi-faceted, but the most
compelling reason is economic. Being gainfully employed and functionally
independent is the “expected” post school adult outcome in American
society (Harvey 2001).
In “Rehabilitation Counseling, Special Education, and Vocational Special needs
Education: Three Transition Disciplines,” Edna Szymanski, Ceryl Maxwell, and
Susan Asselin explain the three key professions in vocational education who
provide transition and what each one is responsible for. First, there is the
Rehabilitation Counselor, which is a nationally certified position requiring a
master’s degree and provides the following services:

4. 4
The goal of rehabilitation counseling is to optimize the congruence between
individuals and their selected environments (e.g., jobs) by environment-
centered interventions (e.g., job modifications, job restructuring) (Szymanki
et. al, 2009).
Cerified Rehabilitation counselors (CRC) work with students “through a variety of
employment settings, including, but not limited to: school districts, state VR
agencies, rehabilitation facilities, and private rehabilitation companies (Szymanski
et. al, 2009)
Special education teachers, who only need a bachelors degree, work with (1)
curriculum development, (2) basic skills instruction, (3) class management, (4)
professional consultation and communication (5) teacher-parent-student
relationship, (6) student-student relationship, (7) exceptional conditions, (8)
referral, (9) individualized teaching, [and] (10) professional values (Szymanski et.
al., 2009). Certification is determined by each state. There is a shortage of teachers
in this discipline, especially in secondary education, which results in hiring
teachers without the “requisite specialized preparation” (Szymanski et. al., 2009).
Vocational Education teachers work with “special populations (e.g. , students with
disabilities, disadvantaged students) in secondary and postsecondary vocational
programs (Szymanski et. al., 2009) The primary tasks of vocational education
teachers is as follows:
Identification of learning needs, instructional planning, modification of
materials and environments, communication, preparation for employment,
counseling and career planning, and teaching life role skills (Hamilton &
Harrington 1980).
One problem is finding the types of professionals who can provide on-the-job
skills training and also possess the communication skills to work with special
education teachers and Rehabilitation Counselors. In addition, vocational teachers
must work closely with students who have intellectual or physical challenges.
Often, vocational education teacher are professionals highly specialized in one area
of expertise and have not received the requisite education courses they need to
teach disabled youth. Because of this lack of education and information on
individual disabilities, vocational education teachers don’t always understand the
medical or psychological needs of a disabled individual. Because vocational
teachers lack this knowledge it is especially important for these teachers to be in
close contact with the special education instructor and the rehabilitation counselor
so he or she can make modifications or accommodations for the students when
necessary. It is also important that vocational education teachers, not familiar with
education methods and procedures, spend time in in-service programs for disabled
adolescents and learn how to identify and solve problems that may come up with
this population. Some vocational education teachers hold degrees, while some are
professionals with degrees in other fields. In some instances the vocational
education teacher is not degreed and has to work towards certification on the job.

5. 5
There “is wide variation of hiring criteria across states and work settings”
(Szymanski et. al., 2009) and vocational educators are often hard to find:
Rebecca Evers (1996) states that vocational teachers need more preparation
because they often haven’t taken the education classes needed to teach students:
Of major importance to the service delivery issue is the preservice
preparation of vocational educators, especially those teaching technical
classes or trade skills (e.g., wood, metal, automotive), whose training and
educational backgrounds differ from those of the majority of public school
teachers. Historically, technical and trade-skill teachers do not have
baccalaureates, but earn their teaching certificates from a particular division
of vocational education through their related trade experiences (Cobb &
Neubert, 1992). Most recent data (U.S. Department of Education, 1994b)
indicate that 12% of vocational teachers have not earned baccalaureates:
Six percent hold associate's degrees, 4% have only an occupational license,
and 2% have only a high school diploma.
There are many reasons to improve the recruitment of qualified vocational
education teachers and many reasons why finding appropriate staff is difficult.
Ronald Conley (2003) reported “about 15% of the positions reported by service
providers are vacant,” and schools have trouble keeping staff because of low wages
paid to vocational teachers. Conley states “Over 90% of the service providers
reported that low salaries were the most important factor that interfered with their
ability to recruit or retain employees providing vocational services” and the
average length of employment was three years or less. This is a problem which
must be addressed if we are to build strong vocational programs for disabled
students across the country.
Despite great gains made in vocational transition for disabled adolescents, many
of which will be addressed here, the statistics remain grim for employment for
disabled individuals. According to the National Organization on Disability (2004),
only 35% of people with disabilities are employed, whereas the corresponding
figure for the general population is 78%.” Solutions to this problem are constantly
reflected in the literature and new efforts to reach across the barriers disabled
individuals face are very important in the fields of special and vocational education.
Problems and solutions will be addressed in this analysis.
Several factors of regarding efficacy will be discussed for success in transition
for disabled students including programs that work, problems of race, personality
types who do best with transition and how the type of disability affects the
outcome of successful transition. The problems include a high number of young
adults with disability still living at home, an absence of real job skills being taught,
ineffective vocational transition programs and the lack of postsecondary school
emphasized in vocational education programs.
Proper Assessment is the key and first step:

6. 6
First, how is a transition team formed for each individual student and how do
the professionals in the team work together for the improvement of life skills and
job skills for a student with disabilities? Disabilities include ID, intellectual
disability formally referred to as mental retardation, learning disabilities that affect
the brain’s ability to process information, vision and hearing impairments,
orthopedically disordered, and sensory impairments. Some students might have a
combination of two disorders. After the disability is diagnosed, and a special
education teacher is assigned to attend to academic needs, an individualized plan of
instruction (IEP) must be developed which targets effective educational strategies
for intervention to help the student learn more effectively. More is involved than
just IQ tests; a holistic view of the student’s strengths and weaknesses from all
three professionals on the team are reviewed and actions are taken in all areas the
individual needs help. The IEP is shared with the regular classroom teacher, the
rehabilitation counselor, and the vocational teacher and thus a transition team is
born. The family also participates and are an integral part of the team. First there
are guidelines that must be followed by law:
The law regarding vocational rehabilitation for transition include the following:
Under the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, vocational
rehabilitation services are defined as any service or goods necessary to prepare an
individual with a disability for employment. Services include but are not limited to
the following:
• Assessment for determining eligibility or vocational rehabilitation needs,
including assessment of rehabilitation technology needs if appropriate;
• Counseling and work-related placement services, including assistance with job
search, placement, retention, and any follow-up or follow-along needed to
assist in maintaining, regaining, or advancing in employment;
• Vocational and other training services, including personal and vocational
adjustment, books, or other training materials. Training in higher education
institutions cannot be paid for unless maximum efforts have been made to
obtain grant assistance from other sources;
• Physical and mental restorative services such as corrective surgery, eye glasses,
and diagnosis and treatment for mental and emotional disorders;
• Occupational licenses, equipment, tools, and basic stocks and supplies;
• Transportation needed to participate in any vocational service;
• Technological aids and devices; and,
Supported employment services. (Section 103 a) (Dowdy & Evers 1996)
Luecking and Gramlich (2003) identified the following attributes of a good
transition program for disabled youth:
1. Clear program goals;
2. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for supervisors, mentors, teachers,
support personnel, and other partners;
3. Tailored plans with specific learning goals and outcomes that relate directly
to the individual students’ learning;

7. 7
4. Convenient links between students, schools, and employers;
5. On-the-job learning objectives;
6. Completion of a range of work-based learning opportunities;
7. Mentors at the work site;
8. Clear expectations and feedback to assess progress toward achieving goals;
9. Assessment to identify skills, interests, and support needs at the work site;
10. Reinforcement of work-based learning outside of work; and
11. Appropriate academic, social, and administrative support for students,
employers and partners
In addition, James Koller (1994) argues for situational assessment to “develop
realistic job expectations” for effective transition:
Situational assessment is an ever-evolving dynamic evaluation . . .
Situational assessment is an ever-evolving, dynamic evaluation involving the
placement of an individual directly on a real world job, not in the typical
vocational evaluation or contrived work sample laboratory. As a process, SA
generally consists of four broad phases:
1. Specific Job/Task Analysis. Utilizing the format suggested through the use
of The Revised Handbook for Analyzing Jobs (1991), each job task is
analyzed for potential strengths and weaknesses identified in the
psychoeducational evaluation and the review of school records, including
teacher comments. This allows the evaluator the generation of more
realistic strategies to meet the specific needs encountered by the individual
in real life.
2. Job Teaching. A job coach teaches the job tasks to the person being
evaluated and assesses each task directly as it is performed. When the task
has been determined to be a functional limitation (unable to be performed
the standard way), a strategy or job accommodation is developed and
observed. The most important source of accommodation strategies is the
consumer, while the job coach assists in the generalization of skills to other
areas.
3. Development of Accommodation Strategies. The strategies developed are
taught directly to the consumer for self-implementation to meet job
performance standards. The use of assistive technology, job restructuring,
and adaptive teaching strategies are often found to be beneficial.
4. Empowerment. Through guided and repeated practice coupled with
positive reinforcement, the consumer gains in confidence and his/her
performance on the job can then be video-taped for use by the rehabilitation
counselor, school personnel, employer, and the consumer for continued
vocational planning, job placement, and self-advocacy.

8. 8
Thus, Standardized assessments allows for the establishment of individually
designed strategies to test specific daily vocational job duties found in the
natural environment. By directly placing the individual in a real job, the
opportunity to observe him or her in a real world environment over an
extended period of time provides the best measure of future job success
(Koller, 1994)
With all of the competencies just addressed, a successful IEP must be drawn for
disabled vocational student in transition. The IEP is an important legal document
and specifically addresses the student’s learning needs and exactly what
accommodations and learning strategies will be addressed to meet short and long-
term goals, which are set up. An important part of the IEP for adolescents is to
address what needs the student will encounter after high school in a transition
setting. This is why it is vital, at this point, for the vocational educators, the special
education teachers and the rehabilitation counselors to work closely together to
address post secondary plans of the student. The student will take assessment
tests regarding career interests and will be actively enrolled in vocational
programs to help them develop skills in finding a career. Good vocational
programs will also teach students how to prepare to get a job through a formal job
interview. In addition, skills will also be taught regarding how to fill out job
applications and how to prepare for independent living. Family is very important
in these evaluations. In each IEP, the family has a lot of input and can make
constructive suggestions. The transition stage of an IEP usually starts at age
sixteen to start preparing the student to make plans post high school and learn how
best to achieve the goals of each student.
One program that is growing in popularity in vocational transition are “tech-
prep” programs. Evers (1996) points out that comprehensive tech-prep programs
need to have the following components:
The curriculum is competency based, stressing assessment of the
competencies needed by workers in realistic settings, including (a) basic
skills (e.g., reading, writing, arithmetic, listening, speaking); (b) thinking
skills (e.g., creativity, decision making, problem solving, reasoning, the
ability to visualize abstract information); and (c) personal qualities (e.g.,
responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity).
The legislated Mandates of IDEA the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and
Carl D. Perkins key concepts are important to know in formulating IEPs and include
the following:
1) Vocational teachers need to be present at IEP meetings to represent
their technical training area, address occupational skills, labor market
needs, and program accommodation/modifications

9. 9
2) IEP transitional planning teams are required to explore student’s
interests and preferences concerning post-school transitional goals. In
doing so, programming and services need to be based on realistic
outcomes, especially in employment.
3) Matching student interest, ability, and realistic job opportunities in labor
markets should govern program placements and accommodations as
part of secondary transitional services for students and disabilities
(Wagner 1991)
Transition Programs which are working:
There are countless vocational transition programs that are sheparding disabled
adolescents through school and into the adult working world. Many of those will
be outlined here. The most successful programs get the students involved in either
the direct training of real job skills or role playing how to make a good impression
in an interview or how to fill out a job application. Teaching from a book or
discussing indirect vocational skills is often not helpful to adolescents in transition.
Programs that require students to both learn and practice real life skills they are
interested in is vital. A “hands-on” approach works best and “doing” is the way
students learn, especially in the area of vocational skills. Most of these students
have not worked before and have no idea how to fill out a job application or how to
present themselves at a job interview. Addressing those skills is how vocational
classes can help. Many studies have been made and some of the most successful
programs are clearly outlined in the transition literature. Below are some shining
examples:
Using the Occupational Choice Strategy (OSC) (Roessler & Schriner, 1988),
Farley and Johnson (1999) did a survey on vocational effectiveness sampling 38
students with disabilities enrolled in special education programs in grades 10-12
located in a southwestern state.
Specifically, we hypothesized that students receiving the instructional
program, when compared to students who did not receive that instruction,
would (a) demonstrate better vocational self-awareness, vocational
decision-making confidence, and career decisiveness, and (b) would prevent
themselves better on a job application and in an employment interview
(Farley and Johnson 1999).
In this study, OSC consists of
Small group and individual activities designed to develop (a) self-knowledge
in the area’s of one’s vocational interests, aptitudes, work values, and
personal strengths and limitations; (b) work knowledge, such as
information’s about available jobs, occupational requirements, and labor
market trends; and (c) career planning behavior resulting in vocational

10. 10
decisions relating to choosing a career goal and developing a plan to achieve
that goal. The second program component, focusing on job acquisition, was
designed to promote the development of effective self-presentation skills on
a job application form and in a job interview. Instructional activities were
based on two curricula: Job Application Training (JAT; Mean 1989) and
Getting Employment through Interview Training (GET-IT Roessler, Hinman,
& Lewis 1986).
JAT was devised to help students fill out neat, easy to read job applications and role
plays a prospective employer’s reaction to “sloppy, incomplete, hard-to-read Job
application forms.” In contrast it shows the students employer experiences “to
sloppy, incomplete, hard-to-read, and other unsatisfactory JAFs or job application
forms (Farley & Johnson 1999).
The GET-IT is described as follows:
GET-IT involves 10 lessons requiring approx 24 instructional hours. In
Lessons 1 through 3, students are oriented to the job interview, informed of
its purpose and typical content, and taught effective social and self-
presentation behavior. Lessons 4 through 8 are devoted to steps in a typical
job interview (ie., starting the interview, describing work-related
experiences, presenting education and work history; discussing disability,
salary, fringe benefits, and advancement; and closing the interview. Specific
guidelines and examples are provided for performing target behaviors
through video modeling demonstrations and role-play exercises. Lesson 9 in
entitled “What if you were not asked?” and covers how to bring up topics
that present one in a positive way if not asked. Lesson 10 presents the
complete job interview with a practice session for performing all targeted
behaviors. (Farley and Johnson 1999)
The special education and vocational instructors had the students simulate job
interviews and focused on technical and interpersonal skills. Their findings were
significant. While Vocational self-awareness didn’t change, career decisiveness, job
application and job interview performance was significantly better. This is a
success story and there needs to be more like this one. The instructors here taught
skills the students would need in order to find a job they desire. Presentation skills
were taught as well and how to neatly and competently fill out a job application are
covered. The interventions used with JAT and GET-IT should be used in all
transition settings.
Another vocational transition program that works is in LBUSD (Long Beach
United School District) in Long Beach California. The program for transitioning
youth has been tested and proven:
Participants of 81 graduates between 2004-2007 schools years Long Beach
United School District (LBUSD) were taken and it was found that Vocational
Education (VE) significantly improved student experiences with transition
and employment “The primary objective of this program was to assist

11. 11
students with disabilities to perform on an equal basis with their non-
disabled peers in an integrated setting. The questions asked before the
study were the following:
1. What is the job acquisition rate of students who received Vocational
Education Program intervention after high school graduation?
2. What is the job retention rate of students who received Vocational
Education Program Intervention after high school graduation? (Ofoegbu
& Azarmsa 2010)
Transition included “employment, postsecondary education participation,
maintaining a living accommodation, being positively involved in the community
and experiencing satisfactory interpersonal relationships” (Ofoegbu, Azarmsa
2010). At Long Beach, the Career Transition specialists (CRT) have the following
duties:
a. Provision of career education curriculum ideas to special education
teachers
b. Assisting Special education, Regional Occupation Program (ROP) and
Vocational education (VOC ED teachers to modify their lessons with
other instructors to help disabled students)
c. Provision of an hour per week of modified related assignments to
work experience for SDC students (special day class).
d. Provision of vocational skills instructions to students on –campus
e. Training and supervising Para-educators and college aides to work
with Voc Ed students.
f. Conducting assessments and monitoring students who are enrolled
in ROP and Vocational education classes and writing reports about
their progress
g. Connecting students to outside agencies such as the Department of
Rehabilitation, Regional center, Social security administration, local
colleges, and job corps.
h. Referring students to the LBUSD Adult Community Transition
program Options (Ofoegbu & Azarmsa 2010)
Long Beach started the Department of Rehabilitation Transition Partnership
Program (TPP), which serves the adolescent community transition students in
their final year who desire to enter the competitive workforce after exiting LBUSD.
The focus of this program was to train the student for competitive employment and
orchestrate a smooth transition from school to the world of work by the time the
student exits high school. Each student “is assigned to a job developer who helps
them find a job matching their skill level and area of interest. The student may
access follow-up services for two years. Parental participation is a needed criterion
for success” (Ofoegbu & Azarmsa 2010)
Data was collected through oral interview, questionnaire and student’s job
acquisition records. Results were mostly positive: “The participants from the

12. 12
2005/2006 school year, which is two years after high school graduation, thirteen
participants (67%), were able to retain employment, while eight participants
(33%) were not able to retain employment. (Ofoegbu & Azarmsa 2010). The study
questioned the students as to what had helped them find a job:
When the adults with disabilities were questioned whether the Vocational
Education Programs helped them get a job, 12 participants (15%)
responded as ?N/A (which could have because of higher education or other
unknown factors) 62 participants (78%) responded with a YES, while 6
participants (8%) responded as a NO” (Ofoegbu & Azarmsa, 2010).
An important transition tool would be to find out why the 8% of the students
responded NO as to whether their vocational program helped them, and what could
be done to accommodate them and further serve their interests and goals? In
addition it would be helpful to find out why the 33% did not retain employment.
That is still a sizable number of students not being served by the transition staff
and programs can always be made stronger and reach more students. Each student
unable to retain employment should be interviewed and assistance and
accommodation should be rendered as needed. Failure is part of being an adult
and an early negative job experience could be a learning experience. It is important
the student not become depressed or despondent over an early failure and keep
trying. What new skills does the student need to learn to do better next time? How
can they improve their performance on an interview or filling out a neat and
detailed job application? Does the transitioning student need to learn more skills
or relearn skills they did not grasp the first time? Does the student need skills
training that was never taught to begin with? Re-teaching certain skills or teaching
them for the first time can be educational for both the student and the teacher, and
makes for invigorating and interesting, vocational transition programs.
Another group of researchers, Estrada, Hernandez, Wadsworth, Nietuoski, Warth
& Winslow (2008), found that in their studies vocational counseling was very
beneficial and students reported that going through the transition program made it
easier to find a job and to choose a career they were comfortable with. This survey
was done with seniors in high school and was conducted by “The Super Senior
Staff”:
Job match information was collected to assess the participants’ perception
of the degree to which their choices of a career choice was measured
through a survey of high school students conducted by the Super Senior
staff as part of the students’ participation in the super Senior transition
project. The majority of the students in this study (50.4%) indicated that
their vocational interests strongly matched their final job placement. The
top three were Food service and preparation, Clerical, and Sales; the last
three were factory worker, security guard, and dog groomer.

13. 13
The authors suggest, however, that quick career choices often made during
transition may lead to lower paying jobs. They suggest early career exploration
may lead to more desirable outcomes:
…the process of interest and ability exploration leading to potential
employment choices often does not occur simultaneously with the provision
of transition services to students. Early exploration of careers may be the
key to connecting interests and experiences that lead to employment and
economic success in secondary education or transition programs. For the
students with disabilities who participated in this study, it appears that
their experiences may have been limited, because they developed
employment expectations by the time they exited secondary education and
began their transition program. Consequently many of these participants
may have entered the transition program with expectations of occupations
often characterized by lower wages and requirements regarding knowledge
or skills development. Exploring employment expectations “earlier” in the
transition process may allow students with disabilities to identify
occupational areas that, in later stages of development, will provide them
with both desirable employment and greater economic outcomes (20)
Low wages for students who have transitioned into jobs is a problem and will be
addressed again.
Another successful study involved Debra Colley and Doris Jameson (1998), who
interviewed a total of 720 former special education students from 150 school
districts across New York spread evenly across urban, suburban, and rural areas.
They found that “47% were working..the majority of those in paid, competitive
jobs” and roughly “19% of the sample were seeking work. The most frequently
reported reasons why these participants were unemployed included their inability
to find a job (37%), transportation problems (13%), and insufficient training
(10%). In addition “The types of employment most frequently reported included
restaurant and food service positions (17%); janitorial, housekeeping, maintenance
(13%); construction trades (9%); and retail sales (8%).(Colley & Jameson 1998)
Colley and Jameson reported that “Most respondents reported their special
education teacher (46%), regular vocational education (26%), and mainstream
academics and related courses (20%) as critical to their work success. A sizable
portion (13%) wished that they had taken more math and computer classes to
prepare for work.
Sheryl Burgstahler and Scott Belman investigated a transition program
sponsored by DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology)
and they make the vital point, reiterated over and over in the literature, that
students with disabilities do very well with internships, receiving job skills and on-
the-job training during their transition. Burgstahler and Belman point out that
“Students are often unaware of the high value put on employers on practical
experience.” It has been shown over and over that when transition students are

14. 14
taught “actual skills” instead of the concepts of vocational education, they do much
better.
DO-IT has the following characteristics:
1. Participants are active in their own career choices
2. Technology is used as an empowering tool
3. DO-IT staff members develop and sustain in-person, telephone, and online
communication between students with disabilities, their parents, educators,
employers and community organizations.
4. Intern training and support is tailored to students, by relating job duties and
knowledge-acquisition directly to their areas of study. Supervisors identify
student skills and interests at the work site.
5. Working professionals with and without disabilities serve as mentor. Topics
include disability disclosure for employment, accommodation strategies,
interviewing, successful cover letter and resume writing, job search
techniques, job retention strategies, and other employment-related issues.
High marks were given by students for DO-IT stratagems. Data was collected from
2003-2008 in the State of Washington from 60 participants, Twenty respondents
were in high school and forty were in college at the time of their internships.
Respondent disabilities included mobility impairments (35%), learning disabilities
(28%), hearing impairments (10%), visual impairments (10%), health impairments
(5%), traumatic brain injuries (5%) ADD (3%), mental health impairments (3%),
speech impairments (3%) and other disabilities (2%) and have reported the
following skills learned in transition:
1. I have learned the skills I need to effectively work with my supervisors
2. I have learned strategies I need to effectively work with my co-workers.
3. I am more motivated to study and work towards a career.
4. I have learned the skills I need to succeed in specific tasks.
6. My knowledge of my career interest has increased.
5. I have learned about disability-related accommodations I may need at work.
(Burgstahler & Bellman 2009)
The research here included no job employment statistics, but did include student’s
feelings on inclusivity and comfort with their transition team. Students who feel
better about their workplace and learn the proper skills will thrive. In this study
student felt comfortable with authority, always an important skill to teach young
adults. They also learned how to work effectively with their co-workers, and
effective communication among fellow workers in an invaluable skill. In addition,
the students learned more about the specific skills they needed for the job of their
choice and have also learned how to take advantage of accommodations needed for
their specific disability. Participants of this study were asked to describe what they
gained most from their work-based experiences:

15. 15
The most common responses involved communication and problem-solving
skills, understanding the operations of the organization, and building self
confidence ( Burgstahler & Bellman 2009)
What follows are reports from professionals who have seen that teaching student’s
specific skills in real time is one of the most effective transition methods:
Wagner (1991) also found that vocational education was only truly successful
when the program included job specific training:
Vocational education has been reported to make a significant difference in
post school employment for students with disabilities when it was
occupationally specific and directed at labor market needs. Although
general vocational education was of some value educationally, it appeared
to have less impact concerning employment outcomes for students with
disabilities (8)
Once again, just learning about vocations is not the same as doing them and
learning about the labor market, what professions are needed and which
professions make more money, students’ can effectively plan for their futures and
get to the task, through an effective vocational program, how to specifically
perform important skills and apply them in the workplace.
Mary Morningstar (1997) concluded in her review of vocational programs that
“Only on-the-job training appeared to enhance employment and outcome rates.
Once again, on-the-job training is the most effective transition strategy to prepare
for successful outcomes in the job market. Students learn by doing.
In vocational schools which teach students real skills, be that carpentry or car
mechanics, students have a chance to see what they like and are good at and can
actually “practice” and learn the skill as opposed to reading about it. These types of
vocational transitions work best:
Students with disabilities should benefit from job tryouts or internship-type
experiences that provide them with career experiences and choices. In these
types of activities, the individual learns firsthand what it is like to perform
certain job tasks before formally committing time or resources on that job.
(Hernandez, Wadworth, Nietupski, Warth, Winslow 2008).
By trying on jobs through internships and even job shadowing, students can learn
exactly what they want in a job and what they do not. That way the disabled
students aren’t forced to take any job they can get.
Ofoegbu & Azarmsa (2010) concur that transition programs that “locate and utilize
other supplemental curriculum that focuses more on real life skill acquisition”

16. 16
work the best for transitioning students going from school to work. “Students
should be able to generalize and apply the acquired skills in the real world, such as
in the work place, educational pursuits and independent living endeavors”
(Ofoegbu, Azarmsa, 2010).
Data from the NLSY97, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, also agree and
postulate that “Job shadowing, mentoring, cooperative education, school sponsored
enterprise, technical preparation, internships and career major (Shandra, Hogan,
2008), are highly effective for students in transition to employment. Colley &
Jamison (1998) state: there was a consistently higher level of employment for
those former students who had paid or unpaid work experiences in high school, as
measured by higher wages, longer hours, and more continuous employment,” while
Mary Morningstar (1997) stated “preparation appeared to be work-study model of
training students for a specific job rather than focusing on ongoing career
development.”
Michael Harvey (2012) found that vocational education helps all students:
All respondent groups had significantly higher levels of employment
compared to the reference category (students without disabilities who took
no vocational education in high school).
In addition Harvey concluded the following about disabled youth in transition:
“Students with disabilities who took mainstreamed vocational education
programming and received special education services in a resource room
had 9% higher employment rates compared to students with a disability
served in resource rooms that did not participate in vocational education.”
The types of occupations found included “service occupations, laborers,
clerical and sales positions, agricultural and farming, construction, and
manufacturing jobs. Service occupations were reported were reported by
28-39% of respondents and laborer positions were identified by 27-39% of
respondents as their primary occupation (Harvey 2001)
Michael Harvey postulated on the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS)
and observed: “Students who took occupationally oriented vocational courses had
significant lower absenteeism from school and a significantly lower probability of
dropping out of school.” This is an important observation made through a national
study. It is known that disabled students are more prone, because of negative
educational experiences, to drop out of school, and if the disabled student can
discover an interest in a specific career they can excel in, this keeps students who
have challenges in school actively involved in the transition process and lessens the
burden to society. A smooth and successful transition process also contributes to
happiness and self determination.
Sarah Wassner (2002) discusses an exceptional program in New Jersey where a
vocational education teacher teaches his carpentry students in transition real-time

17. 17
skills. In addition, he has started a business where his students make and sell
Adirondack chairs for $75 dollars, thus teaching students job skills and business
skills at the same time. Wassner praises the teacher, Jim Quinlan, who uses the
“silent treatment” as an effective way to motivate his disabled students to
participate in class:
In an industrial arts classroom filled with chatty high schoolers, Jim Quinlan
begins to teach but does not say a word. Upon gathering the necessary tools
for the day's woodwork-ing project, he dons his safety goggles and starts to
measure, drill, and file. Soon, intrigued by the teacher's craftiness, the class
is silent and intently following the lesson.
‘That's ‘the silent treatment,’” explains Paul Rolando, a student of Quinlan's
for two years. “Works every time.”
The silent treatment is just one of many unconventional teaching methods
that Quinlan, a woodshop instructor at Vernon Township High School in
New Jersey, has tweaked to perfection in his 26 years at the school. Quinlan
trains students who have a variety of mental and physical disabilities.
“Unlike most teachers, I don't prepare my students for college because
generally that's not where they're headed,” he says. “Rather, I try to provide
the skills necessary to survive in the workplace—like punctuality, honesty,
pride, and responsibility. (Wassner, 2002).
This goal inspired the teacher to create the Roaring Lion Chair Co. about 10 years
ago. Technically it's a class, but Quinlan runs the endeavor as if it were a bona fide
small business: Students manufacture and sell $75 Adirondack chairs, investing any
profit in new equipment or special activities such as the annual “company picnic” at
an amusement park. Roaring Lion students also contribute some of the 50 or so
chairs they produce each year to school and community fund-raisers. And they've
presented their chairs to prominent figures such as George Bush, who keeps one at
his home in Kennebunkport, Maine. But, stresses Quinlan, Roaring Lion—named by
a former student with a fondness for the king of the beasts—is not about money or
fame.
“Our profits are not measured in terms of dollars but in terms of personal growth,”
he says. And the many tasks involved in a business venture give the teacher ample
opportunity to tailor activities to individuals' capabilities and goals. “I offer an
array of jobs—from foreman to filing clerk and everything in between—so
everyone can participate,” Quinlan explains. All students are required to follow
written directions, keep records, and correspond with customers.
Rolando, a 2002 graduate, praises Quinlan for sharing these real-world skills—
knowledge he's finding useful as he adjusts to life after high school. “He made work
interesting but, at the same time, taught us that we can't fool around on the job,”
the former student says. “I will never forget that.”(Wassner, 2002).

18. 18
The creation of the Roaring Lion Chair Company is truly an invaluable experience
for transitioning students who wish to make their careers in woodworking and
even for those who don’t. Mr. Quinlan is teaching the students the best lessons they
could possibly learn in a vocational transition program. First the students are
learning a specific skill in real time and they get the chance to perfect that skill.
Then the students sell their products, learning about business, customer service,
how to keep accounts and business ledgers and an array of other duties needed to
run a business. In addition, Mr. Quinlan teaches the students to value good work,
value their time, value their customers, and learn keep a successful business
running. Some of these students may be interested one day in opening their own
business as the economy is very service oriented and Mr. Quinlan’s class teaches
the disabled students how to make a real difference in their lives and the lives of
their customers. The skills Mr. Quinlan teaches promotes self esteem and
competency, two skills every adult needs to succeed in the workplace. There needs
to be more programs like Mr. Quinlan’s in vocational transition for disabled
students. The program works and that kind of "hands-on" learning will prove to be
invaluable.
Rebecca Evers (1996) points out Tech-Prep classes offer students the best of both
worlds in that they receive both academic and real-life occupational education and
experience:
The emerging trends in the field of vocational education include the school
reform programs known as the Tech-Prep Act and School-To-Work
Opportunities Act, both of which will be discussed below with particular
focus on their impact on youth with learning disabilities.
Tech-Prep Act. The Tech-Prep Act came about when Congress amended the
Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act in 1990.
Implementation of the Tech-Prep Act requires an extensive reorganization
of present vocational programs. Of primary importance is the requirement
that vocational programs deliver academic and job-related information to
students in curricula that are clearly related to the workplace. In other
words, class work must be occupationally oriented. In addition, the
secondary phase of Tech-Prep includes a core of required competencies in
mathematics, science, communication, and technology.
Cimera, Burgess & Bedesem (2014) found that if vocational students get early
intervention, by age 14, they are much more likely to be employed than if they wait
until they are 16 (Chimera) 58.8 % compared with 45.6 % from the later transition
states.
The literature is mixed on early identification. Most schools agree with Cimera and
associates that the earlier the better identification of career choices is made for
vocational students with disabilities. Other advocates like Mary Morningstar argue

19. 19
for a later “consider the entire life-span” of the disabled student approach. Either
way, as long as the student is receiving consistent support from a variety of
professionals, successful transition is possible.
Studies of schools with mixed success:
Some studies of schools or programs had mixed success. One lagging indicator
were the living arrangements of disabled individuals after they enter the adult
world of employment or post secondary education. Of course in the economy that
has existed for the last two decades or more, more and students and young adults
stay at home for longer periods of time. This problem is worse for disabled
adolescents and young adults. Navigating the world in all its intricacies is more
difficult and often, as was previously stated, early wages are not high for the entry-
level jobs disabled individuals often take and moving away from home is very
difficult.
Luftig and Muthert (2005) observed “Another under-investigated area of inquiry is
the extent that inclusionary vocational high school training not only prepares
special needs students for jobs but also contributes to their independent living and
normalization activities. They studied the following students:
This study 36 (21 males and 15 females) with special needs who had
graduated from a full time program in a Vocational/Technology Center
operated by a county board of education in South-West Ohio” All students
had been enrolled full-time in school in programs for students with special
needs and had received educational services through their local school
systems. All possesses an individual education plan (IEP). Upon transition
to high school, they had enrolled during the last two years of high school to
the Vocational/Technology Center and attended school primarily at that
facility” (Luftig & Muthert 2005)
The instrument in the study consisted of a 16-item questionnaire. The
questionnaire was designed to assess a number of employment and independent
living questions often faced by adults with mild disabilities” (Luftig & Muthert
2005)
1. Are you employed
2. Where are you currently employed?
3. What type of work do you do?
4. How long have you been at your job?
5. What is your rate of pay?
6. Do you have benefits? Health Insurance? Paid vacation?
7. How many hours per week do you work?
8. Have you had other jobs since leaving school? What kinds?
9. What were your reasons for leaving or losing those jobs?

20. 20
10. Are you or have you been married?
11. Do you have any children? How many?
12. Where do you live? With whom?
13. Do you own a car?
14. How do you get to work?
15. What do you do in your spare time for fun?
16. Are you a registered voter?
The employment results were very promising. The hourly wages were not high,
which is still a problem, but employability was high. However rating for students
with ID (mental retardation) scored lower in employment:
Overall, almost 81% of the responders were employed. However, while
94% of the students with specific learning disabilities were employed, only
68% of individuals with developmental disabilities were employed.” (321)
Most were in the Service Industry, factory jobs, and welding “Overall, the
mean rate of pay for those working was $9.00 per hour while the median
rate of pay was $8.90 per hour.” (Luftig & Muthert 2005)
In addition there were some independent living variables to consider and again the
researchers emphasize the difference between learning disabled students and
students with Mental Retardation or ID (intellectually developmental) disabilities.
For individuals with learning disabilities, 94% reported owning their own
car while only 26% of respondents with mental retardation owned an
automobile. All the LD had voted, 63% of the MR had voted. Luftig &
Muthert 2005
The author pointed out that large numbers of the respondents were still living at
home with their parents and these results were also reliant on disability type:
Almost 95% of the individuals with mental retardation live with their parents as
compared to approximately 53% for respondents with a learning disability (Luftig
& Muthert 2005).
Lindstrom and Benz formulated three types of vocational instruction taught to
transition students in vocational school. They included unsettled, exploratory and
focused. Once again, the authors found that it was beneficial that less time be spent
on the unsettled and exploratory methods of instruction and that more time be
spent focused, career driven “real skills,” important for obtaining a job:
It may be that an inclusionary high school program that focuses on
vocational training and preparation help students move quicker through the
first two phases of career development and spend relatively more time in
the third phase (focused) which prepares the student for the specialized
roles and tasks that the student will need in his/her particular job cluster”
(Luftig, Muthert 2005)

21. 21
Papay and Bambara (2014) outline the best practices for transition for young
adults with disabilities into jobs:
1, Youth involvement in transition planning
2. Family involvement in transition planning
3. IEP’s
4. Preparation for employment
5. Inclusion with peers without disabilities (supported employment,
integrated employment)
6. Interagency involvement
“The purpose of the present study was to examine whether use of the best practices
predicted successful postschool outcomes for youth with intellectual disabilities
above and beyond the effect of unalterable factors such as individual, family, and
school characteristics using data from the NLTS2. The highest indicators of success
were “Parent expects employment 57.61, received family involvement, interagency
involvement, high functional experiences, and high family income” (Papay and
bambara 2014).
These researchers found that family influence was the biggest predictor of future
job success and this was true in study after study in transition training (when
parents becoming involved) as well as general family income. When there were
high expectations from the family, the adolescents in transition produced results.
“Family involvement was found to be a significant predictor of two
outcomes, and an important predictor of one additional outcome. Youth
who had experienced family involvement were 41 times more likely to have
attended postsecondary education between 2 and 4 years out of high school
than youth whose families were not involved and were also 6 times more
likely to report enjoying life between 2 and 4 years out of high school
(Papay & Bambara 2014).
Supported Employment: The positive view:
Supported employment is a very important tool to utilize for disabled youth in
transition. SE, Supported Employment “was initially conceived as an employment
support service for people with severe IDD, many of whom were spending their
days in sheltered workshops and day activity centers” (Wehman, Chan, Ditchman,
& Kang 2014). Supported employment was set up for the most disabled individuals
in transition to be set up in paid jobs while receiving support from members of the
transitional team including the job coach, mental health professionals, special
education teachers and rehabilitation counselors. (Wehman, et, al., 2014) state the
following:

22. 22
“The transition from school to adult life represents a critical and exciting
phase of an individual’s life. Yet, for many young adults with intellectual and
development disabilities (IDD), the reality of securing fulfilling and
meaningful postschool experiences seldom materializes as high
unemployment rates continue to pose a significant challenge for people with
disabilities. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The U.S. State-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) program determines
“eligibility and job placement, ” but the authors state that few studies on the
efficacy of supported employment (SE) for transition age youth with IDD
(intellectually disabled). This study was to determine if ‘SE is in fact an effective
mechanism of change for young adults with IDD who were served by state VR
agencies” Wehman, et. al., 2014)
The sample for this study “consisted of 23, 298 youth with IDD aged between 16
and 25 years old t the time of application and whose cases were closed in the fiscal
year of 2009” (Wehman, et. al., 2014)
The authors posed two questions in the study:
1. Is SE an effective intervention for enhancing VR outcomes for transition age
youth with IDD?
2. What are the characteristics of youth with IDD who can benefit the most
from SE intervention?
Of the respondents, roughly 6,200 individuals were in special education with
11,300 High School Dropouts, 4600 High school graduates, and 981 youth people
post Secondary education (Wehman, et. al., 2014)
First, our findings provide a clear support for the effectiveness of SE as a VR
service for promoting successful employment closures for young adults with
IDD.” Across all of these subgroups, employment rates for individuals who
received SE were consistently higher than for individuals who did not receive
SE” (Wehman et. al., 2014).
In addition Wehman and associates found higher rates of employment for Social
Security beneficiaries who were also special education graduates:
Our findings also suggest that this effect is especially prominent for Social
Security beneficiaries who are special education graduates or young adults
with intellectual disability or autism who graduated from high school” (20%
difference in those who received SE and those who did not (Wehman et. al.,
2014).
Of concern was the lack of students who had dropped out of school who received
social security benefits who did not receive supported employment (Wehman et,
al., 2014).

23. 23
The problem Wehman and associates identified was that “closure” (when a
transition student is considered to be successfully employed and stops receiving
support) occurs too early, after only 90 days, and hence there are no long term
studies to see how students who were closed fared in the long term.
Our study is limited in that successful rehabilitation closure occurs after 90
days of employment, and does not provide longer-term tracking to monitor
job retention. Moreover, employment closure does not take into
consideration the consumer’s satisfaction with the employment outcome.
Future research should extend beyond this 90 day mark and access more
information about the long term supports and outcomes of these youth who
are employed. (Wehman et. al., 2014)
Over and over in the literature of transitioning youth are personality factors. Some
experts use the well known Myers- Briggs Personality Test to test for introversion,
extroversion and other personality factors that pertain to employment and life.
Personality Traits matter in successful transition as Strauser and Wong (2012)
point out:
With continued lower employment rates for persons with disabilities,
researchers are focusing more on barriers to employment that reach beyond
functional impairment. Personality and self efficacy have consistently been
important factors when considering employment outcomes for persons
without disability; less is known about these factors as they relate to job
tenure in samples of people with disabilities.” (156)
The five factor model these authors propose are “openness, conscientiousness,
extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism” and how these personality traits
figure into transition for disabled adolescents. They found that openness (which
translated to being intellectually curious) and conscientiousness (following
through on work tasks) to be very important. These traits provide successful
outcomes in all adolescent youth but may be particularly important for disabled
youth:
The overall results of this exploratory study provide continued evidence for
the robust relationship among personality, efficacy, and work outcomes, and
the importance of considering both stable personality traits and more
contextual work states when evaluating and exploring intervention options
for those at risk of unemployment (161)
Negative personality traits, such as neurotic tendencies, led students to have poor
outcomes in work experiences:
…people who reported higher levels of neuroticism (operationalized as the
tendency to be emotionally instable or reactive) reported lower confidence
performing work behaviors” (161) True for people w/o disabilities…it is
also possible that personality is the moderating efficacy’s impact on length

24. 24
of prior employment. Openess as a predictor was a surprise given the
limited support for this trait in the literature…this finding indicates that
individuals who are intellectually curious, creative, and attentive to their
inner feelings reported longer periods of employment (162)
Problems seen with Vocational Transition for Disabled Students:
There were many areas of improvement needed in vocational programs as
indicated by the literature. The needed improvements consisted of poor
teachers, ineffective coordination of services between student’s various
providers, lack of vocational staff and the difficulty in hiring vocational
personnel, mis-direction of federal funds, program weaknesses, and lingering
discrimination against disabled transition young adults in the workplace.
Carter, Trainor, Cakiroglu, Cole, Sweeden, Ditchman, & Owen (2009) report
career development and work experiences “remain elusive.” According to their
report, the problem is discrimination and a lack of positive attitudes towards
helping those disabled students who wish to transition into a good job and lack
the opportunities. This study was undertaken from” representatives" from 122
chambers of commerce and 13 other employer networks (e.g., business
associations, community advancement or development organizations in a
Midwestern state,” and they found an almost total absence of programs when
the questionnaire referred to “disabled youth.” “Across every activity, average
ratings were higher for the organizations whose surveys referenced youth
versus those whose surveys referenced youth with disabilities” (Carter, et al
2009).
Specifically, when activities focused on youth with disabilities, respondents
consistently considered the activities to be less feasible.” The study of the
authors reached out to the multitude of organizations inquiring if there
were any job mentoring programs or if the company would be willing to
start one. The authors concluded “when youth with disabilities were
referenced as the focus of those activities, fewer than 20% of organizations
reported having implemented any of these findings. The authors find this
disparagement partly to be one of ignorance…[The} fact that activity
involvement was particularly limited for youth with disabilities suggests
that these organizations may perceive they lack the information, support,
resources, and/or time needed to effectively meet the needs of this
particular segment of the high school population” (Carter, et. al, 2009).
The authors remain upbeat and espouse that that vocational providers reach out to
business to secure job opportunities for students with disabilities in transition:
Special educators, vocational educators, and other transition staff should consider
exploring new avenues for involving employer networks more actively in their
career development efforts (Carter, et. al, 2009)

25. 25
Mary Morningstar conducted a survey asking the following questions: “(a) What
types of visions for the future do students with disabilities possess? (b) What are
the current experiences of students with disabilities related to transition training?
And (c) What methods of planning and services do students with disabilities view
as most helpful in assisting them to achieve an inclusive and valued adult life.
Morningstar put much of the blame on poor vocational programs:
Often an ineffective vocational education problem influences students trying
to transition in a negative way. A striking finding among the focus group
participants was that relatively few students identified their school-based
vocational training experiences as having a significant impact on career
aspiration. In some instances, this lack of connection between vocational
experiences and career aspirations apparently resulted from an ineffective
vocational program. (Morningstar 1997)
One group of students specifically criticized their vocational program as ineffectual
because instead of on-the-job training or real skills education, the students just
read out of a book and answered corresponding questions that was of no personal
relevance to them:
At the beginning of the year she said that we were going to do all this job
stuff, but all we do every day is read a book. Go out and learn all this stuff,
that’s why I wanted to go to the class, but instead of having jobs…all we do is
read the same thing out of the book every day and answer the same
questions at the end of the chapter. It’s like she expects us to know it, but
she doesn’t go out and show us what to do and how to do it.” (Morningstar
1997)
Evers (1996) pointed out the lack of innovation often present in vocational classes:
Evers and Bursuck (1993, 1994) conducted survey and follow-up interview
studies to assess the instructional and setting demands of secondary
technical classes. They found that vocational teachers tended to teach to
whole-class groups in both classroom and workshop settings. The teachers
lectured for 20 to 30 minutes at least twice each week, and most of them
expected students to take notes (but they did not monitor student note
taking). Vocational teachers also did not use advance organizers or graphic
organizers when lecturing. Further, vocational teachers used textbooks and
accompanying workbooks extensively, often for independent seatwork
without teacher supervision or guided practice. These textual materials
were estimated by most vocational educators to be around the 9th- to 10th-
grade reading level. All vocational teachers reported using "no particular"
method to teach new vocabulary words. Other basic skill demands included
the basic four math computations, rudimentary geometry, and manipulation
of fractions, primarily for measuring purposes. The majority of teachers

26. 26
gave homework that counted for up to 20% of the final grade. All vocational
teachers reported using tests and quizzes that accounted for 20% to 30% of
a student's total grade. Teachers preferred multiple-choice, true/false, and
fill-in-the-blank formats.
Morningstar goes on to state:
Clearly, school vocational experiences did not play a large role in these
students’ career aspirations. Interestingly, one fourth of the students did
not have any specific career aspirations, either because they were delaying
this decision until after postsecondary education and training or because
they just could not make up their minds about possible future careers.
(Morningstar 1997)
Morningstar found that “Approximately one fourth of all students did not have a
specific idea about what type of future career they would like. For some of these
students, however, their lack of career direction appeared to be related to plans for
postsecondary education. (Morningstar 1997)
Morningstar has the following suggestions:
*Recommendation 1: Consider the Developmental Nature of Career
Preparation Across the life Span:
Instead of encouraging students to have an immediate job when graduating
from high school is to encourage career planning skills that span long past
high school because of lack of maturity. “Up to 25% of the students did not
have a clear career direction, and those who were able to articulate specific
careers often had vague or incomplete knowledge about these careers.
Perhaps the best experiences that career and vocational educators can
provide to high school students with disabilities are those that develop skills
the students will need to continue their career development after leaving
high school. (Morningstar 1997).
* Recommendation 2: Provide Opportunities for Students with Disabilities to
Develop the Skills Necessary for Career Maturity.
1. Understand self-help students to identify their values, needs, interests,
abilities, aptitudes, skills, and temperaments.
2. Understand the world of work and other relevant environments-expand
the focus of career education to include the influence of family, culture,
and society, as well as work and occupational information

27. 27
3. Understand the decision-making process-discuss with students how
career decisions are made, as well as possible outcomes.
4. Implement career and educational decisions-focus on the total person to
plan a career.
5. Adjust ad adapt to the world of work and school-provide ongoing
opportunities to assist the student with adjustment and adaptation in all
areas of adult life. (Salomone 1996)
*Recommendation 3: Provide Meaningful Work Experiences
1. In work experience (whether school-sponsored programs or jobs
students obtain on their own) should focus on how students can
translate this experience into career self-knowledge that is broader than
the actual job
2. Develop vocational experiences that include socialization with co-
workers, adult role models and mentors, feedback, and meaningful work
roles (Silberman 1974). These indicators of student satisfaction may
have an impact on the success of integrated work experience.
3. (a) Emphasize the importance of advance planning and problem solving;
(b) encourage student motivation through opportunities for success; (c)
teach goal setting and action planning; (d) develop skills for positive
reframing of one’s challenges, including making students accountable,
using role models, and participating in peer support groups; (e) support
persistence and perseverance through risk taking; (f) provide career
awareness early; (g) develop the skills for learned creativity and
brainstorming for solutions; (h) enhance students’ social networks
4. Help students to acquire basic skills, certify their competencies in areas
applicable to the job market, and document student achievement in a
variety of skill area (Drier & Ciccone, 1988)
One big criticism of transition teams is that very few vocational professionals
advocate for disabled students to attend college nor do they push any type of
continued education. This is of great importance because disabled young adults fall
dangerously near the poverty line in terms of low earnings because they often do
not pursue jobs that pay well or have benefits.
“In particular, K-12 based transition plans and accommodations for
disabilities in schools are not sufficient to ensure or even to anticipate the
likelihood of the student making it into post secondary education. Instead,
traditional predictors of college going (e.g. parent education, socioeconomic
background) are as, if not more, important determinants of college
attendance (Fleming, Fairweather 2012)
In another study, Grigal, Hart, & Migliore (2012) gathered information collected
from multiple sources at multiple points in time-waves. Parents’and guardians
were surveyed five times, every 2 years; staff and teachers in schools were

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surveyed two times during the first half of the implementation of the study;
students were assessed once during the first part of the study; and school
characteristics were surveyed at the onset of the study. They noted the following
about post secondary education, supported education, and sheltered employment
for transition closure:
The transition goal of attending a 2- or 4-year college was reported less
often for students with ID than for students with other types of disability
(11% vs 58%)…In contrast, supported employment was reported as a
transitional goal more frequently for students with ID compared to students
with other disabilities (45% vs 7%). Finally, transition planning for
students with ID was more likely to include the goal of sheltered
employment (33% vs. 8%) and less likely to include the goals of
postsecondary vocational training (25% vs. 46%) and competitive
employment (46% and 60%) compared to students with other types of
disabilities. (Grigal, Meg, Hart, Debra, Migliore, Alberto 6)
The authors went on to say:
The involvement of higher education representatives in transition planning
{for ID and all other disabilities) was also extremely low. This low level of
participation is an issue that may be reflective of a larger problem, the lack
of coordination and communication between K-12 and higher education
personnel. Students with ID are often presumed not to have skills and
abilities needed to access or benefit from attending college (Grigal et. al.,
2012)
The authors had the following suggestion:
It seems logical that most, if not all, students regardless of their disability
would be best served by including a goal of accessing further education. The
present findings demonstrate that this is not the case. The employment
findings also demonstrate more positive outcomes for students with other
disabilities.
All stakeholders need to promote and support post-school employment
opportunities for students with disabilities as they transition to competitive
employment and adult life (Wagner 1991)
Morningstar found “only a small number of jobs (8 TO 14%) are obtained through
vocational training but these jobs “more varied and diverse than those that they
were finding on their own or with the help of their families” this was especially
true with “office/clerical positions” (Morningstar 1997)
“This finding suggests that students involved in vocational programs are more
likely to gain a well-rounded set of vocational experiences, yet these experiences

29. 29
still do not seem to relate directly to their future career aspirations. (Morningstar
1997)
Rebecca Evers (1996) noted that “not all students with learning disabilities are
successful at entering to vocational programs. Benz and Halpern (1993) continued
their investigations with a 3-year follow-along study of students with disabilities in
transition from secondary to postsecondary settings. These authors reported that
students with learning disabilities in their sample were not receiving adequate
vocational and transitional services during their last year of high school. In fact, one
quarter of the students with learning disabilities received no vocational instruction
or work experience during their last year of school. Only one third of the students
identified received both instruction and experience during their high school
education.
Harvey (2012) shows concerns regarding the low wages of disability students
through information accessed through the National Education Longitudinal Study
(NELS).
“While NELS respondents with disabilities who participated in VE while in
HS earned more wages than their peers with did who did not participate in
VE, [they had] a relatively low employment rates in a decade of high
employment-“Thus the annual wage earnings of NELS respondents raise
continued concerns about the quality of life, ability to earn a living wage,
and the ability to achieve independence. Job satisfaction ratings also seem
to support these concerns (Harvey 2012)
Harvey made the following suggestions:
Vocational training should be designed to maximize a student’s potential to
compete in the labor market, earn a living wage, and have focused career
opportunities. Such programming needs to be designed in a partnership
between vocational and special educators with realistic and specific student
outcomes in mind. A major focus in attaining this goal is to assist persons
with disabilities in finding employment that provides for personal
development and sustains a satisfactory quality of life. (Harvey 2012)
There is also a problem with employability of Black and Hispanic youth. Hasnain, &
Balcazar (2009) discuss the difference in employment rate between white disabled
youth and African Americans and Latinos. “The employment rate continues to be
higher for White youth (62%), compared with African Americans (42%), and
Latinos (36%). Whites were far more likely than Blacks and Latinos to have jobs
soon after graduation. Specifically, 63.4% of Whites had found community-based
employment, compared to 36.5% of Blacks and 32.8% of Latinos.”

30. 30
The problems of minority employment holds true even for those adolescents
without disabilities and the argument fits into poverty levels of the adolescents
involved.
“A notable difference could be seen in socio-economic levels: 70.7% of Whites
compared with 44.5% of Blacks and 42.2% of Latinos lived above the national
poverty level”
There is also a problem providing work services to those disabled individuals who
live in very small towns or remote areas. While cities have much more employment
and public transportation (if needed) to those jobs, vocational training in small
towns remains a challenge:
Collet-Klingenberg, & Kolb, (2011) reported that Teachers lamented that, in their
rural communities, there was a lack of available work sites in which students could
gain real life work experience.
There are very few options for individuals with disabilities. Students must move to
a larger town in order to get specialized services and that means leaving their
families and friends. The only other option is living with family or in a nursing
home.
Findings from this study identified three primary barriers, as perceived by
rural special educators, to implementation of effective transition programs.
These barriers are a lack of transportation, funding for staff and programs,
and community options for students. One suggestion for rural schools and
communities experiencing deficits in any or all of these areas is to partner
with other schools and communities to pool resources. For example, in
regard to a lack of transportation, two schools could combine funds to
provide a yearly trip for students to visit area technical colleges to learn
about post-secondary options. Another way that schools can meet needs
with limited resources is to involve businesses in nearby communities. For
example, creating an employment advisory board with business persons
from the home community of the school, as well as neighboring
communities is a good way to develop community buy-in to generate career
exploration opportunities (such as an employment night at the local high
school where various employers come to share about opportunities), as well
as to begin development of work experience opportunities with nearby
businesses.
Murphy and Rogan (1991) cite problems applying the supported employment to
the federal laws. First what are the federal laws for supported employment? “The
underlying principles of supported employment include four primary ingredients:
Integrated work settings, ongoing support, and priority service provision to people
with the most severe disabilities (Rehabilitation Act Amendments 1986; Federal
Register, 1987).

31. 31
“Populations suitable for supported employment have labels such as
moderate, severe, or profound mental retardation, autism, severe physical
or sensory disabilities, severe traumatic head injury, and/or psychiatric
disabilities. (Murphy & Rogan 1991)
Since federal and state money is at stake, these authors believe the screening
process only targets those who are easily employable and will not need much
support. The authors argue doing this violated the original intention of the bill:
Pressure is on services providers to select people whom they feel very
confident will not exceed the arbitrary financial and temporal restrictions
which are contained in the state guidelines. Thus, providers must attempt
to accurately predict the supported employability of people with severe
disabilities. The tendency will be to screen people quite conservatively so
that any “mistake” (e.g., a person who requires more support than if allotted
financially or temporally) will not be made on the expensive side. Within
such at atmosphere there exist obvious disincentives for selecting persons
who are the most severely disabled.” (Murphy & Rogan 1991)
The authors suggest that all disabled levels be included for supported employment.
Through thorough intervention of a good vocational program, their employability
is indeed feasible, not easy, but feasible. In other words, the severely disabled must
be given a fair chance and be included in state supported employment plans:
In order to combat exclusionary practices, VR must adopt a policy of
unconditional inclusion. In order to receive services, individuals must be
evaluated and declared eligible and employable, or feasible. To be eligible
means a person is declared to have a recognized disability which constitutes
a vocational handicap. Employability (or feasibility is VR terms) means that
an individual must have a reasonable expectation for successfully achieving
supported employment as a result of VR intervention. [O]ften times, the
people considered easiest are placed first. Even when people with severe
disabilities have been the focus of placement efforts, providers often get side
tracked as job leads arise by filling jobs with more highly skilled individuals.
Instead of being the last to be placed in supportive employment, people with
severe disabilities and intensive support needs must received priority status
as was initially intended by the federal government. (Murphy & Rogan
1991)
Mary Morningstar explains why it is so important for vocational professionals to
reach out and embrace supported employment:
Incentives must be provided to encourage the development of supported
employment programs. Current disincentives center upon the lack of
adequate funding. …In the provision of sheltered services, large amounts of

32. 32
money are spent to maintain people in workshops and day activity centers
year after year. To be fair, such amounts should allocated to “follow”
individuals in order to purchase the necessary supports for those who seek
integrated employment.
Chan, Keegan, Ditchman, Gonzalez., & Zheng. (2011) identify another transition
problem, namely, fear and discrimination. These authors state that discrimination
is still a big part of why it is so difficult for disabled people to find jobs:
…fear was significantly associated with willingness to help find a job. Based
on the model of dangerousness, one can surmise that the general public,
employers, and counselors tend to perceive people with mental disabilities
as more dangerous, leading to more avoidance behavior and subsequently
higher unemployment rates for VR consumers.
Research indicates that many students are not receiving the instruction they need
in school to facilitate employment preparation and effective career development.
Studies continue to cite the lack of curricula that meet the unique needs of youth
with disabilities as one of the barriers to effective employment preparation.
Vocational self-awareness, decision-making confidence, career decisiveness, and
skills in effective self-presentation in job-seeking situations, such as job application
and in employment interview, are variable associated with career exploration and
job acquisition. Material and programs have been developed and demonstrated to
be effective in impacting these variables. (Farley and Johnson 1999)
The persistence of disappointing outcomes for youth and young adults with
disabilities highlights the need for both innovation and imagination in the field of
transition research and practice. Research across the board calls for further
exploration of partnerships among schools, employers, and other community
members as a critical employment experiences of youth with disabilities” (Carter,
et al., 2009).
Fleming & Fairweather (2012) do not believe vocational education is of any more
importance to disabled students as it is to students without a disability when it
comes to college. This is a problem and is identified in the literature over and over.
In order to obtain good wages and achieve a higher quality of life, post secondary
study is a recognized gateway to progress and higher paying jobs. These authors
find the traditional predictors of college are the same for both types of students:
The “Traditional predictors of college going, parental education, economic
resources, and academic achievement, these are more important that
disability factors. This finding suggests that postsecondary education for
many youth with disabilities is the crucial first step to eventual employment
because many of these youth lack prior work experience. Predictors are

33. 33
gender, socioeconomic background, race, parental education, grades
reported by classroom teachers.
The results show that students with the most severe disabilities were significantly
less likely to attend a 4-year institution. It was the only significant predictor among
the disability-related measures for that outcome. …Even more strongly related
were high school grades and high school graduation, both significant. In particular,
K-12 based transition plans and accommodations for disabilities in schools are not
sufficient to ensure or even to anticipate the likelihood of the student making it into
post secondary education. Instead, traditional predictors of college going (e.g.
parent education, socioeconomic background) are as, if not more, important
determinants of college attendance.
One project assisting disabled students to go to college was described by Dolyniuk,
Kamens, Corman, DiNardo, Totaro & Rockoff (2002). These authors reveal a pilot
project whereby disabled students are mentored by college students “to foster a
positive outcome of possible college attendance during transition”:
A pilot project that brought transitioning young adults with disabilities to a
college campus for job-sampling. Seventeen high school students with
developmental disabilities participated in this program and were mentored
by 23 college students attending a small, private university in suburban New
Jersey, some of whom were planning to become teachers. In total, students
with and without disabilities spent 9 hours together. Preliminary data
included university students' journals, special education students' journals,
college faculty field notes, and questionnaires and anecdotal data collected
from the college community and the local school district. Data indicated that
this project had benefits for young adults with and without disabilities and
supported the use of a community-based service-learning model. This study
holds implications for prospective special education teachers and the
college community.
The intention of the pilot study were clear and very encouraging for disabled
students:
Our intentions were not only to teach students functional skills and train
them for future vocations but also, and more important, to provide students
with valuable opportunities to interact with college students so that they
might practice and develop appropriate social skills. Philosophically, we
believed that such a program would assist students in retaining jobs by
promoting their social acceptance and encouraging perspective-taking, self-
advocacy, and self-determination. We also hoped that such an experience
would have benefits for the college students involved, particularly as many
of them planned on becoming special education teachers.
The results were very positive:
In general, impressions of the program were positive. For the students with

34. 34
special needs, the project taught functional skills in a college setting. In
addition, it allowed an opportunity for them to practice social skills with
age-level peers. Survey data were gathered when the students returned to
the high school after job-sampling at the university. Two students could not
answer survey questions and were not included in the quantitative analysis.
After the surveys were completed, the teacher, job coach, and classroom
assistant condensed the information. Percentages were calculated based on
a mean average of four visits, although the number of visits actually ranged
between two and five. In total, 15 students' responses were included in our
quantitative analysis. Ten of 15 students could correctly identify job location
100% of the time, 2 students could identify job location 75% of the time, and
3 students could identify job location 50% of the time. When asked to
identify the university support person (college student) they worked with
on a particular day, only 2 students could identify the individual accurately
on every occasion, 1 student could identify the individual 75% of the time,
and 4 students could identify them 50% of the time. The remaining 7
students identified university students less than half of the time. When
asked whether they enjoyed the job on any given day, 11 out of 15 students
enjoyed the job on every occasion. All transition students said they wanted
to return to our campus for future job-sampling experiences. Anecdotal data
gathered from the high school students' journals and from conversations
with teachers suggested that the students enjoyed the job-sampling
experience. Furthermore, each student with special needs was able to
describe his or her favorite job at the university and had basic knowledge of
the skills necessary to complete those jobs.
One campus worker described the experience in the following way:
I feel the job-sampling was a very good idea. I also feel it was a very positive
experience for the students as well as the people in the different offices at
Rider University. The disabled students were able to see different job
opportunities, a chance to meet new people, and also to allow them the
freedom to choose an occupation they like by trying it. As for the workers at
Rider, it gave us a chance to interact with the students and to see the
abilities these students do have. (Dolyniuk, et. al., 2002).
Obviously college is not a realistic goal for every disabled individual. But there are
plenty of people in college who do not perform at genius level, and thus for mild
developmental problems or students with manageable learning disabilities, college
should always be considered and written into individual IEPs. College leads to
higher pay, possibly more job satisfaction, and consequently a better quality of life.
This said, a disabled student working successfully in carpentry, or car mechanics
after transition (or any number of professional positions) can achieve job
satisfaction through competitive wages and higher job satisfaction. For the
orthopedically disabled there are now access ramps to college buildings and
accommodations can be made for seating. For the visually and hearing impaired,

35. 35
there are accomodations as well. Many visually impaired students have service
dogs who help them navigate the world a great deal, and for students with hearing
difficulties, often coaches are employed to sign directions and lectures occurring in
class. What is important is that students in transition with disabilities advocate for
themselves and be aware of the support that is available for them to attend college
and obtain a satisfactory job with chances for advancement.
Conclusion and further suggestions:
Vocational education does work for disabled students transitioning into the adult
world of college and professional jobs, and many positive examples have been
offered. The problems of ineffective programs, lack of adequate vocational staff,
low wages and student’s living with their parents far past maturity have been
identified as areas to work on. The problem of the lack of post secondary education
being offered as an option for disabled students in their IEP has also been
discussed and modifications have been suggested. Mary Morningstar recommends
that vocational professionals consider the following recommendations for
improving their vocational programs:
1. Consider the developmental nature of career preparation across the life span”-
sometimes individuals don’t decide until their late 20’s or early 30’s-will “need
to continue their career development after leaving high school.
2. Provide Opportunities for students with disabilities to develop the skills
necessary for career maturity-“they also did not seem to recognize that they
could alter their current situations and often did not know how to identify
multiple solutions to their problems. The less successful young adults were
passive, quit easily, blamed others for their failures, and did not know how to
alleviate stressors in their lives. In addition, they had neither the skills
necessary to develop and act upon career goals nor the knowledge of how to
develop or use their support systems.
3. Provide Meaningful Work Experiences community-based work experience is an
important component of career development and employment preparation.
4. Encourage the Participation of families in career development.
“the influence of families is a neglected aspect of the school vocational
curriculum. Rarely do career or vocational classes or interest inventories focus
on family careers.”
5. Encourage Student involvement in career development, “[it is] essential that
career education programs include activities and opportunities for students to
dream about their futures (317)-The essential element is keying into the
enthusiasm that a student with disabilities has for a dream rather than
dismissing this vision as unrealistic” (317)”In other words, they may have

36. 36
eliminated a particular career because of their vocational experiences.
(Morningstar 1997)
Morningstar goes on to say that “career educators..”need to look outside of their
“disability lens” to consider research, experiences, and advice from the career
counseling field.” (Morningstar 1997)
Two important questions need to be asked. “Does a student’s skill level and
disability label, by necessity, limit them to goals such as sheltered employment and
day habitation? Or are these low expectations placed on them because of
limitations in existing structures and available services that preclude access to
more integrated options?” (Gajar. Et, al, 1993). This is a chicken or egg question,
but remains a serious question that must be considered. The second question is
how do we improve vocational problems for disabled youth across the board so
that all vocational programs promise successful outcomes to all disabled students.
Employment among the disabled is still low: The US Commission on Civil Rights
(1983) found unemployment among persons with disabilities to be between 50%
to 75% as compared to only 7% among persons who were nondisabled Gajar,
Goodman, & McAfee (1993). Ohler and Levinson 1996) state the following
components to be vital for all transition services for adolescents regardless of the
disability:
Secondary special education services which are designed to facilitate the
transition from high school to college of adolescents with learning
disabilities should include the following components: 1) multidimensional
vocational assessment, including an assessment of intellectual ability,
academic skills, personality, interests, and career maturity; 2) guided
awareness and exploratory career activities, including reading,
informational interviewing, shadowing, and job simulation; 3) individual
academic and career counseling to develop a plan of study appropriate to
the student's goals and assets; 4) hands-on work experience (experiential
learning) in the form of part-time or summer jobs, volunteer, supervised
credit-bearing internships or cooperative education; 5) participation in
social skills training with emphasis on interpersonal communication, self
awareness, self advocacy, and job-keeping skills; 6) shared monitoring of
career development needs and progress by postsecondary service
providers, parents (if applicable), and rehabilitation agency personnel; 7)
proactive faculty consultation and inservice regarding the nature of learning
disabilities and impact on academic and vocational potential; and 8)
appropriate placement assistance including job development, instruction in
job-seeking skills, and follow-up to facilitate successful transition to both
college and the world of work (Ohler, Levinson, 1996)
The vocational programs for disabled students in transition that work combine
academic training with specific on-the-job training of “real time” vocational skills,

37. 37
along with job shadowing, and college mentoring as suggested in this analysis.
These skills include teaching job interviewing skills and filling out job applications
for professional advancement. Also important is coordination among the
professionals on each disabled individual’s transition team including the job coach,
the special education teacher and the rehabilitation counselor. When a transition
program works, disabled youth can be successfully placed in competitive jobs or be
referred to college or technology schools to further a student’s goals towards a high
quality of life. This goal is very attainable in this day and age and should be a part of
every transition program available in high school. There is still a lack of
understanding towards disabled adilescents, and much work needs to be done on
individual transition programs throughout the country, but much progress had
been made and will continue to be made as disabled students beat the odds and
become fully functioning adults who make valuable contributions to society.

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