Impact of Occupational Instruction on the Performance and Vocational Identity of Special Education Students

Abstract

A special education teacher in a small rural high school instructed 23 students with disabilities in the occupational domain of the Life Centered Career Education curriculum. The students increased their Performance Battery scores from pre to post test, achieving both mastery on the competency tests and a skill level comparable to that of regular education students (n=15). Although the instructed students tended to report increased levels of occupational information from pre to post testing, they did not report fewer barriers to employment or increased vocational identity on the My Vocational Situation test.