perspectives in Education and Deafness

Closing the Gap: Schools Forge a Bridge to the Community

• Providing career counseling and meaningful transition activities for students.
• Encouraging parents, teachers, and cottage counselors to become actively involved in transition planning by meeting with the Career Center staff and vocational teachers.
• Training each student to take ownership of his or her own Individualized Transition Plan.
• Offering an exploratory vocational program to increase students' awareness of their own interests and aptitudes.
• Providing students with the opportunity to master the competencies delineated in the statewide curriculum—which match standards required for competitive employment.
• Providing vocational instruction which is performance based and reflects current and emerging business technology, as well as career awareness, employability skills, and a focus on the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) competencies.
• Training students on state-of-the-art technology in vocational classes.
• Offering a Career Exploration Class in which students develop job preparation skills, including developing a portfolio and examining a variety of careers through field trips, informational interviews, and a guest speaker program.
• Establishing a Vocational Advisory Committee for each vocational program so teachers receive advice pertaining to instructional content, employment standards, technology, and proficiency standards.
• Offering a community-based instructional program and volunteer work experience for students with special needs.
• Providing developmental work experiences, including internships; Summer Youth Employment Programs; job search and support groups; and employment at worksites on and off campus.
• Guiding the family to assist the student in making realistic post-secondary plans in coordination with the Department of Rehabilitation and other community-based agencies.
• Maintaining frequent and ongoing involvement with parents, the Department of Rehabilitation, and other adult services agencies.
• Collecting data regarding CSDF graduates and using this data to modify the program.
• Employing staff who are never satisfied and always striving to improve the program.

. Transition success—Aldo Seranno, who received training in CSDF's award-winning auto body shop, stands with his new boss in Solorio's Auto Body Repair Shop. Photo courtesy of California School for the Deaf, Fremont.

A Career Center
The Career Exploration Class is mandatory for all high school students. Students visit worksites, conduct informational interviews, and interact with deaf guest speakers. The course objectives include learning how values, characteristics, and attitudes influence career choices; creating portfolios; passing a job interview competency exam; demonstrating the ability to use a sign language interpreter; and using the California Relay Service.
The Career Center was made more effective when the supervisor obtained grant funding to hire an additional career counselor, job placement teacher, interpreters, resource aides, and an on-site full-time Department of Rehabilitation Counselor. An on-going philosophy is that students take ownership of their own job search. Even the students who get their work experience on campus are expected to interview for their jobs. Teachers support students focusing on job opportunities that relate directly to their vocational training.
The rehabilitation counselor, career counselors, and job placement teachers work together to research and implement transition opportunities in the students' hometowns.
A myriad of student responsibilities emerged from students' participation in this program, including, riding public transportation; scheduling appointments for field trips, job interviews, and informational interviews; scheduling appointments with interpreters; and identifying their own transition activities for inclusion in their Individualized Transition Plans.

Vocational Education
The vocational teachers at CSDF have participated in the Program Improvement Certification Project of the California Department of Education (CDE) for the past three years. This program recognizes and showcases outstanding achievement. Teachers' motivation and pride increased when several programs—Building Maintenance, Food Education and Service Training, Graphic Arts, Mechanical Drawing, and Woodworking—were identified as Programs of Excellence by the CDE.
Two years ago, CSDF obtained a grant to develop a School-to-Career program. Grant money made it possible to hire a full-time coordinator to research critical components of a School-to Career program. The pilot program began this year and will be expanded next year. It involves a new instructional system unified by broad career themes which integrate academic and vocational curricula and work-based and school-based learning. It attempts to make instruction more relevant and exciting to students, and provides teachers with opportunities to work together on teams. The goal remains to develop students' competencies and promote transitions that ensure successful careers and citizenship. To do so successfully requires a comprehensive program.