Putting the Curriculum to the Test
 Taken from the June 2003 Education newsletter.
Designed to prepare 18- to 21-year-olds with disabilities for employment and life in the community, the Beyond High School transition program in Plano, Texas, is one of many programs that already uses the specific instructional strategies outlined in "Student-Directed Learning." Beyond High School gives its students the opportunity to set their own IEP goals and objectives as well as the explicit instruction on self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation they need to become the primary movers of their IEPs.
"A key element of the program is the students' ownership or 'buy-in' to their goals and the concept of transition," says Richard Jablinski, a teacher with Beyond High School for 3 years. "Since the students are involved in developing their own IEP goals and objectives, they automatically have a vested interest in them." All program activities are structured to give students the opportunity to think for themselves, problem solve, and understand timing and schedules. When the students take an excursion into the community (different from a field trip, which is about the destination, whereas an excursion is about the process), the students are asked to plan the basics of their trip - who, what, when, where, and, most important, why. "Every day and in every situation, I seek to create and allow the students to have opportunities to direct their own learning," states Jablinski.
Community-Based Employment
Most students in the Beyond High School program hold down full- or part-time jobs. Kevin Eubanks, who comes to the Beyond High School program with a social work background, not only serves as a teacher but also acts as a job coach for some of the students who work at a local hospital. One of Eubanks' students with cerebral palsy, nicknamed "Mr. Clean" by hospital staff, could at first do only half of the work assigned to him. After working with a partner at his own pace in a relaxed environment, he was able to evaluate his own progress and told Eubanks that he wanted to work on his own. "People he works with give him positive feedback. It started out as a charitable feeling, but then they realized he is thorough and can do a good job," says Eubanks. "The job coach helps with whatever the students can't do until they can do the job 100%. In the end, the employers usually want to keep them there."
With the help of teachers like Jablinski and Eubanks and on-the-job training, students in the Beyond High School program are able to work toward independence, much like typical 18- to 21-year-olds. Eubanks says, "The student-directed learning model is very effective for preparing students for work in and out of the classroom. The students flourish and prosper when they can take control over their own decisions and goals."
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