Designing Statewide Strategies & Programs

National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability For Youth
solving, customer service and social etiquette. It also helps youth develop goal setting
skills and learn what they need to do to reach those goals.
In addition, work-based learning links knowledge gained at the worksite with a planned program
of study. Work experience is widely recognized to promote improved employment outcomes for
disadvantaged youth (Carter, Trainor, Cakiroglu, Swedeen, & Owens, 2010; Luecking & Fabian,
2000; Test, Mazzoti, Mustian, Fowler, Kortering, & Kohler, 2009). Yet, youth with disabilities have
disproportionately low access to work experience in comparison to youth without disabilities
(U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2012). This is particularly troublesome given that paid
employment and work experience have been identified as only one of four evidence-based predictors
of success in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living for youth
with disabilities (Test, Fowler, & Kohler, 2013).
Work-based learning experiences can take a variety of forms, such as being paid or unpaid, and
can range in intensity as well as in scope and structure. Minnesota’s Spectrum of Work-based
Learning Experiences, shown in Figure 1, illustrates this well. Table 4 provides a sample of resources
for designing and implementing work-based learning opportunities.
Table 1. Self-Exploration Resources
Self-Exploration Activities & Curricula
Self-exploration curricula are available on the NCWD/Youth Individualized Learning Plans How-to
Guide – Section I, Self-Exploration webpage. These include
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sample lesson plans and other self-exploration activities that are ready to be used or
adapted,
state-based, free-use, self-exploration-related career development resources, and
validated, open-access assessment tools for helping students engage in self-exploration.
O*Net, the Occupational Information Network is a free resource sponsored by the U.S. Department
of Labor/Employment and Training Administration. The following O*NET tools are useful
for self-exploration:
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