How to Pay your Students to Go to School: Student-run record labels and the creative pedagogue

The author examines a federally funded internship program he organized while serving as the director of the High School for Recording Arts Los Angeles program. The school paid students to operate their own record label. Under the American Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, approved organizations provide paid, for-credit internships to young people who meet the definition of opportunity youth. Through this partnership, students learned real-world skills, gained hands-on experience, and built their resumes. The author experienced a shift in his professional praxis from school leader to creative pedagogue. During the internship, the school experienced increased student attendance and enrolment, suggesting the paid internship resulted in increased opportunities for student learning. The author covers similar opportunities across the US and Canada.

Job Interview and Vocational Outcomes Among Transition-Age Youth Receiving Special Education Pre-Employment Transition Services

Vocational outcomes among transition-age youth receiving special education services are critically poor and have only incrementally improved since the implementation of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. Few studies highlight whether interviewing may be critical to obtaining vocational outcomes such as competitive employment or internships. This study evaluated vocational interviewing and outcomes among 656 transition-age youth receiving special education pre-employment transition services from 47 schools. Results suggest 20.8% of these youth were currently employed, and 88.8% of these employed youth interviewed prior to obtaining their job, which is higher than anecdotal evidence suggests and speaks to the importance of job interview skills as an intervention target for special education pre-employment transition services. We discuss the implications and directions for further study.

Pre-Employment Transition Services: What Secondary Special Education Teachers Need to Know

In July 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law, amending the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 and establishing new workforce initiatives for state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. The passage of WIOA led to the expansion of VR services, including the requirement to provide pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) to eligible and potentially eligible students with disabilities to support their transition from school to postsecondary employment and education. Pre-ETS afford students with disabilities an early start at job exploration, maximizing their potential to enter competitive integrated employment. It is imperative for secondary special education teachers to inform students and their families of the availability of Pre-ETS. To do this, school personnel must first be knowledgeable about Pre-ETS themselves. This column provides secondary special education teachers with a general understanding of Pre-ETS and furnishes them with strategies for securing these services on behalf of students with disabilities.

Implementation of Pre–Employment Transition Services: A Content Analysis of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Plans

Many youth with disabilities experience persistently low rates of competitive integrated employment (CIE) and participation in higher education. In 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) established a policy focus on CIE as the goal of vocational services for youth and individuals with disabilities. In addition, WIOA created provision for Pre–Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) to ensure that state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies focused sufficient resources toward transition-age youth. This study examined a sample of WIOA State Implementation Plans in depth using content analysis to identify how state VR agencies prioritized the provision of Pre-ETS services to youth with disabilities. Analysis of state plans resulted in three emergent themes: (a) instructional priorities, (b) instructional contexts, and (c) networks of stakeholders. We discuss the implications of these themes for future research, policy, and practice related to the employment of individuals with disabilities.

Brief Report: Participation Among Transition-Aged Youth With Traumatic Brain Injury in the State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation System

This study aimed to understand the level of participation among transition-aged youth with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) System in the context of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Case closures, case duration, and case expenditures in Federal fiscal years (FYs) 2014, 2015, and 2016 were examined among transition-aged youth (i.e., State VR clients under the age of 22 years at application) with TBI, autism spectrum order (ASD), and intellectual disability (ID), using a nonexperimental and descriptive design. A disproportionate number of transition-aged youth with ASD and ID had closed State VR cases compared with transition-aged youth with TBI. Alternatively, there were greater State VR case duration levels and case service expenditures for persons with TBI compared with those with ASD or ID. The disproportionate participation with State VR was consistent among these three groups via eligibility for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This article highlights areas of attention concerning transition-aged youth with TBI and will hopefully stimulate future dialogue, research, and policy development concerning participation with State VR for this population.

Organizational Policies and Personnel Factors That Are Incentives for and Challenges to Collaboration as Identified by Statewide Transition Supervisors

In the United States, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014) require special educators and vocational rehabilitation counselors to plan and coordinate transition services for students with disabilities. Regardless of the legislative mandates, major challenges remain for effective collaboration. The purpose of this study was to investigate statewide special education and vocational rehabilitation counseling transition supervisors’ insights on the policies that promote or present barriers to effective collaboration. Forty-eight statewide transition supervisors wrote a total of 175 comments that were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Organizational and personnel factors were identified, and specific examples of noteworthy indicators of collaboration are presented. Recommendations are offered to address the lack of policies and incentives for transition collaboration.