Insight Brief

VR state agency leaders explored successes and challenges in partnering with higher education programs for students with intellectual disability at a listening session held by the Employment Partnerships Workgroup, supported by the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network. This concise brief summarizes the key issues discussed and offers VR state leaders' recommendations for enhancing partnerships between state VR agencies and higher education programs to improve access and opportunities for paid employment for students with intellectual disability.

At a listening session held by the Employment Partnerships Workgroup, supported by the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network, five state VR agency leaders explored successes and challenges in partnering with higher education programs for students with intellectual disability. This Insight Brief provides an overview of the listening session and discussion of the key issues identified: language barriers, need for better communication, lack of awareness of systems and guidance, funding challenges, and the need for goal alignment and employment-focused programming.

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) are organizations mandated to be led by people with disabilities to serve people with disabilities and make systems change. CILs provide support to people of all ages, with all types of disabilities, to equip them with the skills to live independently in their communities, advocate for their needs, and develop disability pride. They work to make sure communities are built and operate with people with disabilities in mind.

Think College Insight Brief #26 provides a framework for inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in higher education. It was developed by members of the Think College Special Interest Group Building Inclusive Campus Communities and collaborating partners from the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI). To support implementation of this inclusive higher education framework, a series of reflective questions are provided for practitioners and administrators that they can consider when designing new or evaluating existing programs at institutions of higher education.

Think College Insight Brief #28 features the University of Central Florida which began planning for an inclusive college experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) at the end of 2014, and enrolled the first students in the fall of 2015. John Kotter’s eight-step change model describes a progression used by the planning team to build the inclusive experience.

In this Insight Brief, the authors present a five component model of student-directed learning for use by college programs to teach and track student specific college and career academic, social, and independence, skills without segregated courses.

One of the main goals for students attending college is to provide opportunities for career exploration and ultimately, to secure paid work. One way to do that is through apprenticeships. In this brief, you will learn about the key components of apprenticeships, the reasons why apprenticeships are a promising practice in inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE), and the steps to develop registered apprenticeship programs. Information about the Early Childhood Education pilot apprenticeship program at Next Steps at Vanderbilt is shared as an example of the use of apprenticeships in IPSE.

In this Insight Brief, we explain Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). An MOU is used to describe an agreement between parties; it outlines each party’s roles and responsibilities and helps to avoid confusion and miscommunication. They are used in inclusive postsecondary education to define relationships between the institution of higher education, employers, school districts, and other relevant parties. This publication describes the core components of MOU, their usage within a college program for students with intellectual disability, and their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the primary goals for students attending IPSE programs is authentic, competitive employment experiences, and research shows that students with some IPSE experience have better outcomes in securing employment. What has come into focus recently, is that just getting a job is not enough. It is becoming more important that students have access to industry recognized credentials through their IPSE programs so that they can get better jobs, with better pay.

This Insight Brief describes how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted college students with intellectual disability (ID) enrolled in the colleges and universities offering TPSID programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most colleges and universities transitioned to some form of remote instruction. Many students with ID moved off campus, accessed their learning experiences and associated accommodations in new ways, and dealt with changes in their internship and employment experiences (Madaus et al., 2021; Papay & Myers, 2020; Sheppard-Jones et al., 2021).