Dual Enrollment

Massachusetts youth with significant disabilities, ages 18 to 22, have new opportunities to enter postsecondary education and employment options while still under the auspices of their local school districts. This article describes how an interagency partnership of adult service agencies, the Community Based Employment Services (CBES) program, was utilized by high school-based Youth Support Teams (YSTs) to develop a new individual support model of collaborative funding for transition-aged youth.

This chapter from Think College!: Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, shares key components and things to consider when developing a dual enrollment college program.

In this Think College Story, Gwen Chesterfield details a student's acquisition of confidence, happiness, and success through a two-year college, community-based transition program called SITE at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis.

Think College Insight Brief #20 offers tips for effective communication with key partners when working to establish an inclusive dual enrollment program on a college campus.

Think College Insight Brief #19 describes Winthrop University's dual enrollment program, includes how it began, critical features and benefits of the dual enrollment approach.

This paper examines the often overwhelming and confusing process associated with finding and accessing services and supports encountered by students with disabilities in secondary schools as they prepare to attend postsecondary education and/or engage in employment. The white paper presents a description of problems related to coordination and management of services and supports, and the subsequent impact on outcomes for youth with disabilities as they exit secondary schools.

Observations, individual interviews, focus groups, and document reviews were used to address the following: (a) What criteria (i.e., rationale for development, allocation of resources, staffing decisions, admission into program, factors that facilitate or act as barriers to program development and sustainability) are employed in the development and implementation of a public school-sponsored program for students ages 18 to 21 with SD within a community college campus?; (b) What program components described in the literature as best practices for secondary students with significant disabilit

This article presents an overview of options that improve access to age appropriate educational and transition experiences for youth with significant disabilities ages 18-21. The article describes two models for providing access to post secondary education: (a) programs that serve public school students in college and community settings, and (b) individual support approaches for serving public school students in college and community settings.

Teachers in 11 public school systems serving students with significant disabilities ages 18-21 in 13 postsecondary settings were surveyed to collect information on students' access to college courses, employment training, activities in the community and on college campuses, and interagency linkages with adult services. In addition, teachers provided input on inclusion and follow-up activities. Results indicated that while students with significant disabilities were successfully engaged in employment training, access to college courses and extracurricular activities was limited.