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Monroe High School Options Program(Monroe, Washington)
Summary: Overview of the StrategyThe Monroe High School Options Program is a School-to-Work Project that has been in existence for eight years and is designed to serve all 10-12 grade students, including the alternative program and the home school program. The program began as a transition project for special education students ages 14-21 and has expanded over the years to serve all students at the high school by offering them information and opportunities for job trainings. The program is staffed with a .8 certified teacher who is dual certified (special education and vocational) and 1.4 assistants. Monroe High School serves junior high students (grades 7and 8) with a .4 vocational teacher position. The program is located in the school counseling offices at the junior and senior high schools. The Monroe High School Options Program is student driven. The program responds to individual students based on their interests and aptitudes. The program utilizes the regional Sno-Isle Vocational Skills Center, the Running Start programs for high school students at the community and technical colleges, private community employers, as well as federal work programs for job training opportunities. Monroe High School is part of a federal School-to-Work grant that gives access to a local internet program called Matches that allows students, teachers, and employers to post and interact about career opportunities. The program offers a self-advocacy class to high school special education students and is part of a federal grant called Passages, which allows self determined special education students to apply for monies for services and equipment not provided by the school district to help in their transition programs. The other students receive school-to-work curriculum instructions through their regular vocational classes, including the new technology program. Students must demonstrate their interest and intent after the initial contact with the program to continue working with them. The options for students go beyond the traditional school-to-work model and can consist of information such as emergency housing, counseling, child care, and other support agencies. GED, college high school completion program, and Job Corps information is available. Every student is served individually; two students with the same career goals may reach them on two very different paths depending on their needs and desires. Long range planning is the goal, done early in junior high and high school, and continually re-examined and updated. Postsecondary training, the thirteenth year, is the final step in the goal planning. Many of our students connect to colleges early through the Running Start programs, earning college and high school credit at the same time. Many of our students graduate from high school into well paying jobs as a result of the job training they have completed through the Options Program. The Monroe High School Options Program has collaborative partnerships with over 50 private employers including Workforce Development and a Boeing contractor that trains special needs students in high tech manufacturing skills. The program is an East County site for Everett Community College, with GED, high school completing and Running Start classes being offered at the high school site. The program has created a list of over 100 community agencies and services that students are referred to for their needs. Monroe High School is a model demo site for other schools through the University of Washington Center for Change and Transition. The program has developed a five-step process for the Options program. These steps seem to fit every student and are:
Students enter this process at different steps and proceed from there.
The NeedThe overall goal of the Options program is to provide all of the high school students with the information and opportunities to make high school a meaningful place for them in their journey toward adult life. The program is based on the belief that high school should be a time for all students to make a plan about where they think they are going next in life and begin to live that plan. For the majority of students, we believe specific job skills training is a key to success after high school. Even our university bound students can benefit from learning job skills if they plan to work to help pay for their college schooling. The program was originally created to serve special education students ages 18-21 transitioning from the school world to the work world. That primary vision has expanded so that all 1200 high school students can access the services, and the services have expanded to meet the increasing needs. The program is based on the beliefs that transition for special education students is part of school to work for all students and one program can serve all. The majority of high school students do not go on to formal education and need to be prepared with job skills to enter the work world competitively. Approximately one fourth of the high school population is working with the program. The program has special education (25%), alternative education (20%), home schooled (5%) and regular education students (50%) involved in services. Monroe High School continues to grow each year, serving more and more students in more and more ways.
Meeting the NeedSpecial education, high school, and vocational education administrators worked closely with the Monroe High School Options Program over the last five years to create this model. They shared funding and personnel, and supported each other and the program in this endeavor. The need to offer a different kind of high school program for some students was one of the starting perspectives. Today the program is viewed as mainstream, available to any student who wants to help design his or her own future. The response from the employers has been incredible; many have continued to train students. The college response has also been supportive; their on-site representative shares our office and works closely with us to help students in GED, high school completion, and Running Start classes. The program and process has been developed directly in response to individual student interests and abilities. The program has grown 15-20% each of the last three years and that growth is expected to continue. Monroe High School chose to expand the program slowly, especially in the beginning, in order to serve all students well. And those first five years focused on designing, implementing, and refining a system that can serve more and more students. The program is a successful system and the success of more and more students in Options supports that conclusion. The program is supported by basic education, special education, and vocational education dollars. This has been a necessary component to the model, demonstrating the commitment of all education to this endeavor. There has also been success in obtaining grant funding for the program over the last few years. The program is currently operating with a University of Washington grant that allows the dissemination of the model to other school districts.
The ResultsOne of the biggest concerns of the Monroe High School Options Program was developing an ongoing positive relationship with the business community. The program focused on the business community's concerns, and resolved issues such as insurance coverage, identical forms from multiple districts, and teaching the students the realities and responsibilities of the workplace early in the system development process. Many of the new businesses heard about the program from other businesses or from the students and those references were positive. The other main concern was that the program did not grow too fast, so that the services offered could be offered well. Staff were added as the program grew. The range of students using Options is tremendous. The program provides school-to-work experiences for all of the Lifeskills (developmentally disabled) students in the community. The alternative and home schooled students have access to services. And the other special education students, as well as regular students can access the program. University bound students are involved in the program as well as students interested in going directly to full-time work (sometimes before they earn their diploma!). The students are having incredible successes in their school-to-work experiences. Students are graduating as welders, precision machinists, manufacturing technicians, nurses, and dental assistants, and are earning competitive wages upon graduation. The program is evaluated on the basis of student data. There are records of actual credits earned, as well as contacts made (students must do something to count as a contact such as field trips, interviews, evaluations). All work-based learning credits earned are documented by hours and evaluations as required by the state. Special education students are followed through their four or more years of high school and the program is beginning to do that with other students as well.
ReflectionsThe results of Options are pleasing given the success of the students in their job training and postsecondary experiences. The program continues to grow, offering new options all the time as they are developed. In the future there may be an Options class at the ninth grade level to spark the interest of the students as they enter high school because this will give them time for future planning. Also, the program may expand the career awareness activities at the K-12 level given that students deciding what they are going to do after high school graduation is as important as earning their diploma. All students should go through the Options process as part of their high school education. It was surprising, but very pleasing to experience the degree of interest and responsibility that the students have consistently demonstrated. Some students who were not successful in school were able to be very successful in school-to-work experiences, and in some cases those experiences have changed their attitude and performance in school for the better. The five steps in the process are necessary for the success, even though students may enter the process at different places. Also, the open door policy (no appointments necessary) and the willingness to try multiple experiences with students are necessary for their success. Even students who do poorly in an experience know that they can return at a later time with a changed attitude to try again. The program offers the students the belief in what they can be, and supports them to try and live their lives by that belief, whatever it might be. The program is realistic, encouraging, and supportive, but not enabling, as students are held responsible for their attitudes and actions.
Examples
Student #1 is a junior, who has learning disabilities in reading, math, and written communication. He explored several career options at both Sno-Isle Vocational Center and Lake Washington Technical College as a freshman and decided he wants to be a chef. He is currently attending the Sno-Isle Culinary Arts half-day program and attending weekend classes at the Technical College. He receives accommodations in his regular and vocational classes and additional support as needed through the high school and Skills Center resource centers. He used his self-advocacy skills to apply for and obtain an AlphaSmart (keyboard with memory that can be connected to a main computer later) to help him with taking notes and writing papers in class. He is currently exploring the option of a voice recognition computer program and will apply for Passage funds to purchase it. He plans to continue his postsecondary education in the culinary arts at Lake Washington Technical College. This student is a regular speaker at School-to-Work conferences and meetings.
Student #2 is also a student with learning disabilities. He is participating in a manufacturing technology program run by a private company that is a contractor for Boeing Aerospace. He is a senior who will graduate as soon as this training program is completed. He is learning high tech skills of bonding, drillpress, riveting, quality control, documentation, inventory, and blueprint reading. He is planning on going on to college to become an engineer. He will leave this training with beyond entry-level job skills that will enable him to earn $11-20 hour.
Student #3 is a seventeen-year-old student who has struggled with staying in school. She is a regular student who has earned less than normal credits despite higher than normal intelligence. She has been involved in a variety of options including work-based learning, the Leaders in Learning alternative program, and a shortened school day. None of these options worked very well for her the last two years and she came back at the beginning of this school year determined to be signed out to get her GED. She agreed to try one more option that included a graphics and printing program at Son-Isle, two regular classes, and an early release for work. This has been her most successful semester to date. She is exploring the option of earning her high school diploma through a college program in the future, possibly attending Lake Washington Technical College's Graphic Design Program.
RecruitingStudents are recruited in a variety of ways. At the beginning of the year the program is introduced to each grade level at class meetings. Information is provided for special education students in their classes, individually, and at their IEP meetings. The alternative and home school students are contacted individually because of their varying schedules. All 10th grade Expository Writing classes receive an hour presentation on Options. Teachers, counselors, and administrators refer many of the students to the program. But perhaps the most effective recruitment method is done by the students already working with the program they tell their friends what they are doing and those friends show up to find out how they can do some of these things too. The program is in a highly visible location and has an open door policy of talking to students when they show up, which has helped the recruitment of students this year in the new high school building.
For more information on the Monroe High School Options Program contact:
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Funding for the All Means All School-to-Work Project has ended. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of contact information listed here. Additionally, awarded programs that we profile may no longer exist. We are publishing this information as it may be relevant to the current work of assisting youth with disabilities in the transition from school to post-school opportunities.
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