All students enrolled in grades 6 through 12 in a school district will participate in ACP. This includes students with disabilities who have IEPs and Section 504 accommodation plans. Use this Community of Practice webinar to make sure that ALL of your students have equal access to Academic and Career Planning opportunities.

All students need support to find their pathways to a fulfilling and successful life after high school. No matter what their abilities are, students need access to high-quality education and should graduate prepared for the best future that awaits them. In addition to core academics, students need to develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to be prepared for their futures.

Students who are receiving Special Education services deserve no less than their general education peers, and may require additional support along the way.

Whether it is considered part of IEP transition planning or broader college and career readiness initiatives, future planning for students in Special Education must be student-centered, giving them a voice in the process.

This article by Shaun Heasley in Disability Scoop highlights a career portal known as the Neurodiversity Career Connector which debuted April 2022. It’s intended to connect neurodivergent job seekers with openings at companies that have neurodiversity hiring programs in place.

The purpose of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) is to decide on the educational placement for an individual student. For a secondary student with a disability, one option for vocational skill training is enrolling in a career and technical education (CTE) program at a Career and Technical Center (CTC) or high school. There, secondary students with disabilities can pursue employment and continued education or training as a goal after high school. To make certain that a CTE program is the appropriate choice, the student, the student's family, and the rest of the IEP team should ensure that the student's interests, strengths, and needs are aligned with the available CTE programs. All IEP team members should be aware of the information regarding special education and CTE programs.

Join Brian Kenney, TIG Southern Regional Coordinator, and Stacy Duffy, CESA 2 Transition & Identification Specialist, as they discuss transition practices and interview educators, agency members, and community members to gather insights on programs and projects they are implementing within their districts.

Secondary CTE has long been a viable pathway for developing the skills of students with disabilities (SWD) and preparing them for the future. Changes in Perkins V and an increasing emphasis on college and career readiness for all students are bringing the needs of SWD to the forefront of the CTE conversation.

In 2019, ACTE joined Penn State University’s Workforce Education program and the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) to host a five-part webinar series that took a deep dive into programs, practices and partnerships among CTE and special education practitioners that support SWD in CTE. You can view this series for free at CTE Learn. Click on the CTE Learn link on this page and follow the registration information to access the webinars.

Work Makes the World Go Round is an original song written and performed by George Dennehy in collaboration with the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, The VR Workforce Studio Podcast and Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center Foundation’s Partners in Podcasting.