From School to Work

In an article by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth entitled Guideposts for Success, funded by an agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, guidelines were suggested for school to work transitions. Though the article never defined school to work transition, let’s define it as the process of migrating from high school or college to employment. The article seemed to place a great deal of emphasis on duties of our schools and vocational programs without really placing responsibility where it clearly belongs – on the person with the disability. Oh it does list highest expectations for all youth, including youth with disabilities as a guidepost for success but that’s very vague. Granted, a student with a disability may not be the most likely person to create an internship program in a school, but there are other avenues a person can take to successfully transition from school to work.

The article suggests youth need opportunities to develop social, civic, and leadership skills but it does so without offering tangible steps to take. I decided, therefore, to offer some suggestions. First, the school may be the single best source of opportunities. In addition to athletic (don’t even dare tell me students with disabilities can’t participate on athletic programs) and music programs which offer experience beyond traditional activities, most schools also have programs such as chess club or just about any club for that matter. The debate team is an excellent choice for anyone considering a career in law or politics. Most high schools also have some sort of student government program that offers a great opportunity to learn leadership.

The community itself is a great source of opportunities such as 4-H Club, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and Community Theater. Let’s not forget programs like the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol and Sea Cadets – a program offered by the navy. That’s just a list off the top of my head. Volunteer programs exist in many, if not most, non-profit organizations. All present opportunities to develop social, civic, and leadership skills.

The article said youth need strong connections to caring adults but it never stated what I believe is the most important ingredient in transition from school to work - someone to demonstrate a strong work ethic. That could be a parent, teacher, neighbor or mentor but it must be someone with whom the student with a disability feels a strong connection. We model our behavior after adults as well as peers in our lives. That means transition skills begin at home. Hopefully, students learn good work habits at home from parents. Unfortunately, not everyone has a strong work ethic. Poor work habits or, even worse, no work habits are learned in many minority communities. It is not uncommon at all to find multiple generations of families on welfare. Even when schools improve their approach to transition and neighborhood businesses step up to the plate, some people insist on not working. Someone must break this perpetual tailspin into poverty.

In another article (http://www.funderstanding.com/school_to_work.cfm) I read on transitioning, it claimed in general, building a school-to-work transition program entails the following three approaches:

Integrate the long-separated "tracks" of academic and vocational education.
Link schooling with the demands and realities of the workplace.
Develop programs to closely coordinate secondary and post-secondary education with employers.

I thought numbers 2 and 3 were no-brainers. Number 1 though was a bit counter intuitive. At my high school for example, I was on a college prep path and took all relative courses. We also had an auto repair program as well as a printing program, not to mention several programs such as wood and metal shops. Those with no desire to go to college could still distinguish themselves in any of these programs. I can’t imagine though how these two categories – academic and vocational education could co-exist for ALL students.

In the article “Guideposts for Success” the author correctly asserts youth need to be exposed to a range of experiences, including:

opportunities to engage in a range of work-based exploration activities such as site visits and job shadowing;
multiple on-the-job training experiences, including community service (paid or unpaid) that is specifically linked to the content of a program of study and school credit;
opportunities to learn and practice their work skills (soft skills).

Quite frankly, I don’t know how we can expect our schools to deliver on any of these “Guideposts” when they chronically turn out students that can’t even read, write and speak well. We already place too much responsibility on schools. Teachers are more concerned about getting out of school alive than creating a paradigm shift. Any transition plan must be realistic. Unfortunately, we can’t provide students with parents that have a good work ethic but if parents don’t provide a good role model at home, students with and without disabilities will be left to flounder after school with little hope of finding gainful employment. Maybe we should have classes that teach people to be good parents. Well, actually we do have those classes taught in high school but they are geared towards fifteen year olds. That’s another multi-generation cycle – children having children.

About the author

Gene Rodgers Photo Gene Rodgers has been a quadriplegic since age 17. Since then he has earned several college degrees, worked in several states, earned a Switzer Fellowship, and now works as a private contractor.

Do you have a question about employment and disability? Send your question to grodgers@austin.rr.com and put “DLRP JOBS” in the subject line.