Career/Transition Services

The IDEA Special Education Law puts new demands on all aspects of Education.  The Transition Services legislation requires by the age of 16 the development of “appropriate measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living skills.”  The law further requires the creation of “transition services (including course of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.” The law also requires that goals be established for students with disabilities that align with state content standards.

Many educators feel that complying with these requirements is the most difficult part of the new law.  Tools provided by the Alternative Learning Lane offer the educator research based data consisting of pre and post assessments that meet the requirements of the IDEA 2004 law.

IDEA Law Requires:

I.    Set and meet appropriate goals

A.)  Appropriate measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment and where appropriate independent living skills.

B.) The transition services (including course of study) needed to assist the student in reaching those goals.

II. Assist in development of self-advocacy and self-determination skills and social/emotional learning.

III. Creation of appropriate, measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment and where appropriate, independent living skills.

IV. Teach functional life, social literacy and work skills.

 

At the Alternative Learning Lane we have the career/transition tools that exceed the requirements of the IDEA legislation are delivered via laptop making the programs mobile and accessible from any location.  Administrative reports are delivered to the student’s family, school district or agency.

 

MECA Management System

MECA is an age appropriate transition assessment system to help create measurable post-secondary goals as required by the current IDEA legislation.  It is an age-appropriate transition, career exploration, career assessment and vocational assessment system related to training, education and employment.

 

The MECA program includes:

Interest Indicator - Identifies Interest of the individual

Learning Assessment Programs - Assesses academic/basic skills for the workplace

Career Planner - Creates post-secondary goals

Work Samples - Assesses interests and aptitudes of the individual

Results from all programs can be used to create a Summary of Performance.

Interest Indicator

The Interest Indicator is an assessment of interests based upon personal likes and dislikes of general everyday activities.

 

Features of the Interest Indicator include:

• Assesses individual career interest

• Uses multimedia technology

• Can be used managed or unmanaged

• Places users into areas of interest in the MECA/LAPS/Career Planning Systems

• Can be used by individuals with limited reading skills

• Can be used by individuals with little or no work experience

• Links to Guide for Occupational Exploration (G.O.E.) and John Holland Scales for access to O*Net and other occupational information systems

 

Learning Assessment Programs

LAPs (Learning Assessment Programs) are a variety of job-specific basic skills learning assessments related to successful job performance. They were created to help identify one's ability in job-specific math, communication, science, and problem solving skills.

IDEA 2004–Transition Services legislation requires by the age of 16 the development of “appropriate measurable post-secondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living skills.” The law further requires the creation of “transition services (including course of study) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.” The law also requires that goals be established for students with disabilities that align with state content standards.  Many educators feel that complying with these requirements is the most difficult part of the new law.

Learning Assessment Programs (LAPs) are a system of skill enhancements related to successful post-secondary performance. The LAPs are correlated to the state content standards of all fifty states.

 

Features of the Learning Assessment Program include:

• Provides academic/basic skills assessments related to the workplace and links post-secondary outcomes to educational/instructional services

• Results can be used for planning skill-building activities to support the secondary goals and Individual Education Plans (IEP’s)

• Targets only the key competencies necessary for successful performance in each career area

• Demonstrates real-world applications of academic/basic skills

• Contains three (3) LAPs per career area

• Takes from 4 to 7 hours to complete an entire LAP, allowing users to experience some entry-level, mid-level and advanced-level job activities

• Uses multimedia technology

• Includes a print version of the assessment in PDF format

• Includes an audio option for individuals needing accommodation

• Identifies how well users can handle key job-related competencies, communication, science and problem solving

• Creates a prescription for learning

• Integrates academic with technical skills

• Correlates to state standards

 

Work Samples

The Work Samples are hands-on simulations of an actual part of a job. The Work Samples provide opportunities to experience jobs in a non-threatening way. Each career kit contains all of the tools, supplies and hardware needed to perform all activities. Each career area contains three Work Samples. This allows exposure to entry-level, mid-level and advanced-level job activities.

 

Features of the Work Samples are as follows:

• Provides a hands-on, project-oriented exploration and assessment of a career area

• Provides an age-appropriate transition assessment

• Provides an opportunity to experience a job in a non-threatening way

• Contains three (3) Work Samples for each career area

• Takes approximately 30-40 minutes to complete each Work Sample,

• allowing the user to experience some entry level, mid-level and advanced-level job activities

• Contains all items necessary to administer the activity

• Uses quality hand tools from the workplace

• Uses multimedia technology

• Presents each task with full video/audio

• Contains over 2000 video clips

• Includes an audio option for individuals with limited reading skills

• Program can be set to “still image with audio and text” to slow it down or “still image with text” for persons with hearing impairments.

Each career area kit contains all related hardware and quality hand tools as well as three Work Samples and three learning assessments.  All of the needed tools and materials are in a sturdy portable case.  Specific Work Samples are deserving of a completion certificate.  There are over 20 careers in the Work Sample program for the individual to explore.

 

Career Planner

Making good career decisions requires reliable information about career opportunities available in the future. The Career Planner is an occupational information system specifically designed to provide such information to those individuals who historically need it the most but whose access to it has been limited due to physical and/or reading limitations (4th-5th grade reading/listening level). The Career Planner is designed to help individuals overcome these barriers.

The most important aspect of The Career Planner is that it allows users to be actively involved in their career decision-making process. When users are involved in making their own post-secondary academic and career decisions, they are more likely to succeed in their goal setting and achieving processes.

The system consists of two components, The Interest Indicator and The Career Planner.

 

Features of The Career Planner include:

• Provides occupational information and career planning activities for each occupation in the MECA system

• Includes occupational information such as:

Job requirements

Related Jobs

Related Interest

Physical Demands

Working Conditions

Skills needed (academic and technical)

Where to obtain these skills

Helpful high school courses

Ways to get a job

How to keep a job

Licensing and certification

Wages

Job Outlook

• Creates a career portfolio for documenting post-secondary goals

• Uses multimedia technology

• Reading/listening level is at a 4th-5th grade level

• Contains an audio option for those with limited reading ability

• Contains hundreds of pictures and video clips of people working in each occupation

 There are over 40 different careers included in the Career Planner program.