EXAMPLES IN ACTION Arizona Department of Education Board Rule R7-2302.05 requires schools to develop and annually review an Education and Career Action Plan or ECAP for all students grades 9–12. This ECAP requirement includes students with disabilities, and the Arizona Department of Education has published an ECAP and IEP crosswalk document, providing guidance to teachers, parents and students on how to effectively coordinate career readiness and special education planning activities. Colorado’s Board of Education promulgates and updates rules, 1 CCR 301-81, on Individual Career and Academic Plan or ICAP requirements, as required in Senate Bill 256, passed in 2009. The Colorado Department of Education has clearly communicated that ICAPs are required for all students in grades 9–12, including students receiving special education services. The Connecticut Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education released guidance on Student Success Plans or SSPs that clearly indicates students with disabilities should be included in the state’s career readiness programming and that SSP delivery should be accessible. The Department of Education suggests that SSP documents be attached to IEPs and that the SSP should help inform to annual review and updating of the IEP.
C Strengthen the capacity of education and career development professionals to design and implement evidence-based, inclusive programs and strategies. Suggested Strategies i Provide statewide professional development opportunities on family engagement and person-centered career planning for professionals serving youth.
Delaware, through 14 DE Admin Code 925, ensures that every IEP transition plan includes “[t]he child’s strengths, interests, and postsecondary preferences, and plans to make application to high school and career technical educational programs.” The administrative regulations also require that IEP teams include the student’s career technical education teacher or coordinator when that student is actively or planning to be involved in career and technical education programming. Wisconsin, through Department of Public Instruction administrative rule Chapter 26, provides that, “If a pupil is a child with a disability, the pupil’s academic and career plan shall be made available to the pupil’s individual education program team. The pupil’s individualized education program team may, if appropriate, take the pupil’s academic and career plan into account when developing the pupil’s transition services.” Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky and Wisconsin have statutory or regulatory language allowing transition planning efforts to begin earlier than age 16 (the maximum age under the IDEA).
EXAMPLES IN ACTION In Arizona, the Department of Education’s Secondary Transition team provides in-person trainings to educators, parents, students and other relevant individuals on various components of the IEP process and its relationship to college and career readiness efforts, including how to fully utilize the ECAP and the Arizona Career Information System or AzCIS. Alaska and Illinois have statewide initiatives to train educators in family engagement.
National Task Force on Workforce Development for People with Disabilities
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