2024 CTE Works! Summit

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.