Students With Intellectual Disabilities and Career and Technical Education Opportunities: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Recent educational policy, including federal policy efforts like the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has emphasized the importance of college and career readiness for high school aged youth. Included in this focus are adolescents with a variety of disability types. Among students with disabilities (SWD), these efforts focus on transition services in two clear forms: (a) preparation for immediate employment and (b) enrolling in postsecondary education (PSE). This focus on transition was codified in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. Thus, more recent legislation designed to affect all students, coupled with the prioritization of transition services in secondary special education, has led to a context where SWD have enhanced protective policy structures to ensure access to college and career readiness programs. As a result, they have more promising postschool outcomes today than ever before (

The Effectiveness of the Career Guidance Module to Improve Career Maturity for Children with Special Needs in Inclusive Vocational High Schools

“…This statement is in line with previous research showing that adolescent students have a low level of career maturity (Lau et al, 2019;Saifuddin et al, 2017). Moreover, previous research showed that in the industrial world, children with special needs are more likely to be unemployed, experiencing discrimination, being unemployed more often, and getting lower wages (Dispenza, 2019;Lombardi et al, 2018). One of the reasons for the low career maturity of students, one of which is the career guidance program that has not been appropriately implemented.…”

“…The problem faced by children with special needs is the high unemployment level since they do not get equal rights by the employer, such as lower wages and job dissatisfaction. Moreover, they do not have job skills and lack access to higher education (Bonaccio, 2019;Dispenza, 2019;Lombardi et al, 2018). The obstacles of children with special needs in finding jobs indicate that children with special needs have not gotten equality.…”

Equity in Secondary Career and Technical Education in the United States: A Theoretical Framework and Systematic Literature Review

“…Dougherty and Lombardi's (2016) review comprehensively covered a similar time period but focused on school-to-work transitions rather than academic outcomes. Most recently, Lombardi et al (2018) reviewed literature addressing CTE opportunities specifically for students with disabilities.…”

Partnering to Improve Career and Technical Education for Students With Disabilities: A Position Paper of the Division on Career Development and Transition

“…Furthermore, results of a more recent systematic literature review of top-tier CTE journals showed that few studies included students with disabilities (Dougherty & Lombardi, 2016). Of those that did, data were not disaggregated by disability (Lombardi, Dougherty, & Monahan, 2018), making it difficult to discern if in fact CTE was effective. Clearly, students with disabilities participation in secondary CTE programs are not well reflected in the literature.…”