Career Education for Students
with Special Needs
Career education is important for all students and EdITS offers the Instructional Guide for Career Education Kit to assist special needs students in acquiring skills for occupational planning. Since career education is a life-long process, instructional activities begin at the primary level and extend through the secondary grades. Early activities focus on promoting self-awareness while older students begin to explore options, learn about personal characteristics, and prepare to enter the world of work.

The Kit addresses six career education goal areas for special education. The six goals are:

1. Economic Self-Sufficiency
 4. Health and Safety
2. Self-Awareness
 5. Civic Responsibilities
3. Academic Abilities
 6. Family Living

For each of the goals, specific skill areas have been identified and performance objectives have been developed to assure student achievement in critical areas of skill development. These skill areas are:

1. Information – gathering or sharing through study and experiences

2. Problem Solving – through study, questioning or consultation with the appropriate person or source

3. Attitudes – the motivation and loyalty with which a person approaches and performs a task.

Teachers monitor the student’s progress with the Individual Skill Tracking Record. This record has two blocks, pre- and post, for recording the date of introduction and completion of the objective. A reporting slip is given to the child upon satisfactory completion of each skill. Parents are encouraged to follow and record their child’s progress and a Parent’s Tracking Record and Manual is provided.

Figure 1 (below) shows an example of one of the career education learning activities.

The COPS Intermediate Inventory (COPS II) is an ideal assessment to use in conjunction with the CERES special education program. The COPS II is an assessment written at the fourth grade reading level and is easy to administer out loud in a small group or individual setting. The COPS II was completely updated in 2003 with new job titles and wording. Also available is the COPS Picture Inventory of Careers (COPS-PIC) for non-readers.

Use of the CERES and the COPS II or COPS-PIC will give special needs students a complete and comprehensive career guidance unit.

Figure 1. CERES Special Education Sample Lesson

OBJECTIVE: The student will handle money correctly in sales transactions both as a buyer and salesperson.
INTRODUCTION: Money is important to each one of us.We exchange a given amount of it for something we need or want. In this lesson we will practice by using our knowledge of money to make actual transactions as buyers and sellers.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES
  • Each student will act as a buyer and seller.
  • Each student will role play with another student as a   buyer and seller.
  • Students will practice independently in the learning center; making change, playing Monopoly or Game of States.
  • Students will use newspaper grocery ads to develop a shopping list including the cost of the items.
  • Students will plan a menu for a picnic and shop for the ingredients at a local market.

MATERIALS / RESOURCES

  • Monopoly Game
  • Game of States, Milton Bradley
  • Play money – cash box
  • Project CERES –
  • Consumer Competencies 5.0–4, 5.0–5

TEACHING / LEARNING STRATEGIES

  • Demonstrate procedures used by a salesperson in making a transaction. Have each student participate in such an activity checking it for accuracy.
  • Pair students for practice with money, games and monitor.
  • Provide individual copies of problems in buying and selling. Collect and use newspaper grocery ads for student use in computing costs of menus, etc. Provide cash, facsimile or real, to be used in buying activities.
  • Provide opportunities for students to use their experiences in real life situations.

COMPETENCY

  • Student will use money accurately in all transactions


EdITS / P.O. Box 7234 / San Diego, CA 92167 / 800-416-1666 / 619-222-1666 / Fax 619-226-1666
customerservice@edits.net.