{"id":2973,"date":"2014-03-11T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/graftonblog.com\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2015-04-02T13:10:36","modified_gmt":"2015-04-02T17:10:36","slug":"developing-a-tool-for-meaningful-employment-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grafton.org\/developing-a-tool-for-meaningful-employment-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing a Tool for Meaningful Employment Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Individuals with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups seeking employment in today\u2019s marketplace. One crucial step to their success lies in assessing their readiness for supported or competitive employment, but there is currently no broadly available tool to help public educators make this kind of evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>Grafton first approached the challenge on behalf of its own clients in 2008,when its education administration team began to search for anassessment tool that would evaluate the career and technical skills of individuals across the disability spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out, the tool did not currently exist, so the team decided to create one.They would design it to support individualized education program (IEP) development, provide a clear vision for transition planning, and provide a comprehensive overview of a client\u2019s strengths, needs, and preferences.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grafton.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Meaningful-work.jpg\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The first draft of the assessment focused primarily on work skills and behaviors.Grafton stakeholders then provided feedback on the draft, which informed a series of revisions. The process resulted in the Career and Technical Education Assessment (CTEA).<\/p>\n<p>Today, the CTEA has six major sections, including \u201cCurrent Career and Technical Experience,\u201d \u201cMarketable Skills,\u201d \u2018Who Is the Person in the Career World? ,\u201d \u201cAssessments Administered,\u201d \u201cSkills and Needs,\u201d and \u201cRecommendations for Career and Technical Planning.\u201d Each section includes several sub\u2013domains, which highlight clients\u2019 strengths, needs, and preferences in the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>The logistics of collecting data for the CTEA involves three important methods:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Formal. <\/b>These assessments cater to individuals across the disability spectrum, including readers and non-readers, and helpevaluate overall achievement, while comparing a student\u2019s performance with others at his or her age or grade level. They include the <i>Brigance Transition Skills Inventory, <\/i>the <i>Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory,<\/i> and <i>Choose and Take Action<\/i>.<b><\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>\u00a0<\/b><b>Informal.<\/b>These assessments include student observation, teacher and parent interviews, and performance checklists. They help obtain information that can be used to make observations about behavior, time on task, environmental preferences, and productivity rates.<\/li>\n<li><b>Situational.<\/b>This type of assessment plays an important role in collecting authentic data, as formal and informal assessment tools often paint only half the picture of a client\u2019sbehavioral and performance needs.In 2010, Grafton\u2019s CTE Education staff developed the CTE Situational Assessment Task Sheet for teachers for classroom or in-vivo business(i.e., clients in work training programs) use.Through task analysis methods, this tool pinpoints how well clients perform real-life tasks in real-life settings. A client is given three opportunities to perform a specific task in a work setting. The data then gathered reflect thestudents\u2019 behavior, work performance, motor and employability skills, interests, and task completion times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Once data are gathered through these various means, each section of the CTEA is completed.<\/p>\n<p>The information obtained in the CTEA gives the Grafton team a better idea of where to place clients in the specialty area classrooms on campus, as well as matching clients to appropriatebusiness settings and helping ensure they experience successful transitions.<\/p>\n<p>For example, one client was scheduled to leave the Grafton program in February of last year.He had received some job training in the areas of stocking, food preparation, and vending operations.Although this particular client had some behavioral issues in the beginning of his transition, making use of the CTEA and connections at theDepartment of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) led him to competitive employment at a local recycling center.<\/p>\n<p>As clients prepare to exit the Grafton program, external stakeholders such as DARS and Community Services Board workers have the pertinent information they need to transition our clients into competitive, supported, or enclave employment.<\/p>\n<p>The number of CTEAs administered has increased over the years, and undergoing the assessment has become standard procedure for all students of transition age (typically ages 14-22). To date, over 100 CTEAs have been completed.<\/p>\n<p>We hope that public educators will see the value of the tool and eventually adapt it for their own use.As one DARS member recently commented at an IEP meeting, \u201cI wish the public schools had a document as detailed as this is.The information is exactly what we need to place clients in employment settings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Grafton would like to thank the following business partners for providing meaningful career employment opportunities for our clients:<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Within Winchester, Virginia and surrounding areas:\u00a0 Anthony\u2019s Pizza,\u00a0 Bowman Library, Cici\u2019s Pizza, Congregational Community Action Project (CCAP), Early Intervention, Elm Street Maintenance, Food Lion, Living Faith Church- Soup kitchen, Magic Mountain Farm, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Spring Arbor, Walgreens and USA Produce &amp; Seafood.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><i>In Richmond, Virginia:\u00a0 American Red Cross, Caritas, Chadwick &amp; Son\u2019s, Children\u2019s Museum of Richmond, Cici\u2019s Pizza, Department of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Domino\u2019s Pizza, Grafton\u2019s ABA Program, Josh\u2019s Rehab &amp; Repair, Jubilant Gardens, Marshalls, Manchester Rescue, Miller\u2019s Auto Center, Pocahontas State Park, Richmond Animal League, Richmond Entrepreneurs Assistance Program, Richmond Multisports, Ten Thousand Villages, Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation and Walgreens.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Individuals with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups seeking employment in today\u2019s marketplace. One crucial step to their success lies in assessing their readiness for supported or competitive employment, but there is currently no broadly available tool to help public educators make this kind of evaluation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,30,31,32,34,36],"tags":[46,55,80,139],"class_list":["post-2973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism","category-behavioral","category-behavioral-healthcare","category-evidence-based-best-practices","category-innovation","category-outcomes","tag-assessments","tag-career-and-technical-education","tag-employment","tag-vocational"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Developing a Tool for Meaningful Employment Opportunities - Grafton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grafton.org\/developing-a-tool-for-meaningful-employment-opportunities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Developing a Tool for Meaningful Employment Opportunities - Grafton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Individuals with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups seeking employment in today\u2019s marketplace. 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