2024 CTE Works! Summit

This session will introduce participants to inclusive postsecondary education and its alignment with Minnesota State's Equity 2030 initiative and the Perkins V State Plan, with a focus on expanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways to include students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Additionally, the session will address the technical assistance and financial resources available through the Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance Center (TA). The TA Center provides support to students with IDD, their families, educators, and higher education institutions in creating access to postsecondary education opportunities.

Did you know college is possible for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)? This session will introduce participants to inclusive postsecondary education and its alignment with Minnesota State's Equity 2030 initiative and the Perkins V State Plan. The discussion will focus on expanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways to include students with IDD. The most under-represented demographic on college campuses are students with IDD. In Minnesota, less than 3% of students with IDD have access to college. In 2023, the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Act was passed into law that established a TA Center and competitive grant funding. This session will provide an overview of the technical assistance and financial resources available through the Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance Center (TA). Financial resources include competitive grant funding, which eligible Minnesota colleges and universities can apply for and use to offer enrollment to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The TA Center supports students with IDD, their families, educators, and college faculty and staff in making higher education accessible to students with IDD. The Center's vision is to establish, expand, and sustain inclusive higher education initiatives that enroll and support students with IDD throughout the state of Minnesota.

You'll leave this session knowing how to:

1. Understand the Alignment: Participants will be able to explain how inclusive postsecondary education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) aligns with Minnesota State's Equity 2030 initiative and the Perkins V State Plan. 
2. Identify Resources and Support: Participants will be able to identify the technical assistance and financial resources available through the Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance Center (TA) for expanding CTE pathways to students with IDD. 
3. Recognize the Importance of Inclusion: Participants will understand the significance of including students with IDD in postsecondary education, particularly in CTE pathways, and the impact of the Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Act on creating more opportunities.

Walking a mile in someone’s shoes may help you see and experience what they do, but it may not give you insight into the full experience. Afterall, it’s only a mile – not a lifetime. From this lens, Beth Pitchford will discuss the first person experiences of neurodiverse students, staff, and faculty.

Learning what these challenges are can help lead the way to identifying solutions that actually work and increase confidence. To support students with executive dysfunction, we must go beyond the standard recommendations of planners, lists, and reminders to identify creative, individualized solutions. Meanwhile, lack of access to credible diagnosis continues to be a devastating barrier especially to people of color. Faculty and staff who are neurodiverse have the potential to be the strongest advocates for neurodiverse students as they have first-person experiences of many of these challenges. Yet, they also face the same challenges as the students often needing better executive function support, access to diagnosis, and empathy.

This session will educate you about neurodiverse learners among us, share creative solutions, identify barriers these individauls face, and present how Dakota County Technical College is addressing this with the intent of improving access for students. The Double Empathy Problem will be introduced.

This session will provide attendees with an overview of strategies that have been used in Florida to help students with intellectual disabilities earn certifications, complete CTE programs, and gain employment in field. The session will also explore how Perkins V funds can be used to offset the cost of a comprehensive transition program (CTP) to increase completion, placement, and licensure rates for special population learners. We will end with a few brief stories of students who have completed CTE programs and the difference that it continues to make in their lives.

We will begin our presentation by briefly reviewing the Higher Education Opportunity Act, before moving on to explore the ways in which Perkins V funding can be used to fund comprehensive transition programs (CTP) for career and technical education (CTE) centers. From there, the presenters will share strategies that have been used to increase completion, placement, and licensure rates for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Florida; this will include Universal Design for Learning, peer mentors, student interest surveys, and accommodations on industry certification exams. We will then explore a wide range of credentials and industry certifications that students have earned in their inclusive CTE programs, which will then lead to strategies that have assisted student with ID in finding competitive integrated employment. Driving this presentation will be data that has been collected by the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities (FCSUA) and that has been published in FCSUA’s annual reports to the Governor (FCSUA, 2024). The presentation will then move on to look at two or three -depending on time- stories of students who completed CTE programs and are now working full-time jobs, in field. We will conclude the presentation with a question-and-answer session. In addition to presenting, both presenters will be available for ongoing technical assistance for anyone who is interested or who may want to start a CTP on their campus. Technical assistance will be done in conjunction with the Minnesota Inclusion Higher Education Technical Assistance Center and Think College.

Reference
FCSUA. (2024, July 5). FCSUA Annual Reports. Retrieved from fcsua.org: https://fcsua.org/aboutfcsua/aboutfcsua.php

You'll learn:

• Strategies that have worked to support students with intellectual disabilities in career and technical education courses.
• How Perkins V funds can be used to support a comprehensive transition program for special population learners on their campuses .
• Techniques that have been used to assist students with intellectual disabilities in finding competitive integrated employment.