Running head: Career-Technical Education
Career - Technical Education
Basheer Grewal
Fresno Pacific University
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Quote:
“While work experiences are beneficial to all youth, they are particularly valuable for
youth with disabilities.”(Bassett & Webb, 2009, Pg- 75);
Work experience, both paid and unpaid, for youth with disabilities during high school enables
them to acquire jobs at higher wages after they graduate from high school. Moreover, attaining
work experience while in high school bridges the gap between learning and doing, helping the
student with disabilities to learn more effectively, and completing their education with a greater
sense of satisfaction and achievement. In addition, work experience allows students with
disabilities to learn professional skills such as communication, team working, leadership and
career development which is hard for them to learn otherwise.
Question:
According to the office of civil rights(2007), Students with disabilities should be represented
in an CTE program proportionate to their representation in the total school population of a
particular district.
I believe developing a law is not the end of responsibility for the office of civil rights. IN my
experience of 10 years working at a high school, I can guarantee that this law is not followed
while enrolling the students with disabilities in CTE programs. I am not sure if there is a
designated department in the state that ensures that this rule is followed in every county.
According to me, schools that do not follow these guidelines should be held accountable and
punished.
Talking Points:
1. Those who complete both a strong academic curriculum and vocational program of study
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may have better outcomes than those who pursue one or the other; Our growing economy
and global competition demands a better educated workforce than ever before, and jobs
in this new economy require more complex knowledge and skills than the jobs of the
past. Therefore, students with disabilities who have a strong academic curriculum and a
vocational program experience allows them to outshine their peers.
2. The success of students with disabilities in the CTE program depends on the care with
which the transition plan is developed and implemented. CTE programs continue to
evolve into rigorous pathways that offer students with disabilities an opportunity to learn
in context, but whether a student with disability succeeds or fails at a CTE course entirely
depends upon how the transition was planned and how effective was the implementation.
3.
Consideration Should be given to a student's level of maturity and need for supervision
with regard to safety issues. As a special education educator I am all for students with
disabilities to be included in all CTE programs, but at the same time nothing is more
important than the safety of our students. Therefore, It is crucial to assess a student’s
maturity level and need of supervision before enrolling students in any CTE Program.
4. Students with disabilities are less likely than students without disabilities to complete
courses in high school that prepare them to succeed in skilled employment; This sadly is
the reality, one of the reasons for this is that teachers and administrators do not have high
expectations from our students with disabilities so they just assume that students with
disabilities will not be successful in these specific courses.
5. Technical colleges generally have a special emphasis on education and training in
technical fields; technical colleges focus on teaching skills that will be used in the
workplace—not the classroom and therefore are one of the great options for students with
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disabilities.