Program Implementation and Sustainability
Getting a program up and running is a huge accomplishment. Keeping it running smoothly takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. In order to be successful in maintaining an effective program with positive outcomes, there needs to be strong leadership, consistent buy-in from families, LEAs, colleges, and community partners, and very importantly: flexibility.
With new opportunities come new challenges, and it is necessary for key stakeholders to continually be assessing and restructuring as new needs arise. It is also important to maintain creativity as programs can become stagnant; what was exciting and new and successful early on might need some tweaking and refreshing in order to keep up with stakeholder needs and interests. Keep in mind that coordinating such a program is a fluid process that needs to adapt to the changes of all parties involved. For those who are a part of this process, it is always exciting and certainly never boring!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Suddenly every parent of a child with an intellectual disability in our school system wants his or her child in our program. How do we accommodate this increased demand?
- What costs are involved in implementing and maintaining one of these programs?
- How do we expand student involvement in all aspects of our program?
- We're never sure if our program will be able to stay on campus from year to year. How can we better assure a more permanent existence at the college?
- What types of staff training should we be providing to help improve the program overall?
- In past years, we have either had too few interested families to fill our rolls, or we've had too many students who want to be in our program, many of whom are not a good fit. How do we get the word out about our program so we can recruit appropriate candidates?
- Transportation is always an issue. How do we get our students to and from the college campus in a cost-effective manner?
- How can we help our students socialize more, both on campus and after school hours?
- We know it is important to communicate with families, but we have difficulty getting a response. How can we involve families more?
- How do students receive their related services when they are on a college campus?
1. Suddenly every parent of a child with an intellectual disability in our school system wants his or her child in our program. How do we accommodate this increased demand?
Often, one of the unforeseen outcomes of creating a new program is that it highlights the need for other new programs. This is especially true if the program at the college is the only option available to students. One program cannot possibly meet the needs of all students with disabilities in your school system and if forced to, the result is often staffing problems and/or students not receiving appropriate services. The components and levels of supports offered in one program may not fill the needs of every student interested in the college or community experience; some students may need more direct support, whereas others need more guided freedom.
However, it is likely that many students would benefit from an alternative outside of the high school. To address the needs of your student population, you may want to consider expanding your program options. One level of services and supports can be provided in one setting like a college, and a different level of support could be provided in a different community setting, such as a business or community organization. If the demand in your school system is high, it may behoove the LEA to develop a tiered system of college- and community-based programs, each offering different visions and goals with varying levels of support, and even varying locations throughout the community.
Another option may be to offer services that are not program based by implementing the individual supports model for those students who may not benefit from your current program structure. In this model, supports are individualized to one student at a time in a setting that matches their interests and learning needs.
2. What costs are involved in implementing and maintaining one of these programs?
Each local school system is different depending upon its size and geographical area, but below are some questions that will assist in determining cost.
- Staffing
- Will you be hiring new instructors and aides or moving them from within your system?
- Are you designating a job developer specifically for your program?
- Transportation
- Will students arrive on a separate Yellow Bus schedule and route or will they be using public transportation?
- How will students be transported during community trips and to and from jobs?
- Equipment and supplies
- Because personnel are located away from a school and are housed separately in the community, how will instructors access a phone, copier, computer, fax, and supplies?
- How will staff access medical treatment - should you purchase first aid kits?
- Food
- How will your students eat breakfast and lunch?
- Are they currently receiving government supported free and reduced lunch meals and how will that be delivered to community sites?
- Could your students access the campus cafeteria and what would that agreement cost the school system?
- Community involvement
- Who will pay for fees for student groups, memberships, textbooks for college classes, and ID cards?
- Who will pay for field trips and admissions to events?
- Instructional materials
- Specialized materials may be necessary. Who will pay for those?
- Parking
- On many college campuses, parking passes are required for all staff. Who will pay for your instructors and/or aides to park on campus?
- Consultants or subcontractors
- Will you need services from adult service providers, such as Work Adjustment Training or Job Coaching?
- Will you need catering for events such as Transition Fairs or graduations?
3. How do we expand student involvement in all aspects of our program?
One way to increase student involvement is through the IEP process. Often the level of student participation in the preparation of their IEP is very low, as is their participation in the IEP meeting. Seldom are students aware of their IEP goals, or held accountable for monitoring their progress. Assist students to play a larger role in this process. For example, to what extent do your students understand their own goals and help develop them before the IEP meetings? Do the students prepare for their meetings ahead of time? Do they have a say about who is invited? Being directly involved in the development of IEP goals and the planning meetings is an excellent exercise in life planning, and gives students ownership of their educational programming. Do they participate at the meetings, or do they run part or all of their meetings? Student-run IEP meetings provide students with a chance to share with others the accomplishments and struggles of the past year and the goals for the following year.
Another way to expand student involvement is to increase access to available resources on the college campus. If feasible, help students register with the Disability Support Services Office, which may open up some opportunities for tutoring services or access to disability related clubs. If there is a career center on campus, see if students can register for those services. In addition, help students investigate clubs or groups on campus that may match their interests and help them join those, if possible. Check the campus social calendar for events that might interest students, from sporting events and concerts to lunchtime performances or events. It is also a good idea to access the various facilities on campus where average college students gather, including the fitness center, student union, cafeterias, lounges, and libraries. Students may also explore various opportunities within the college for volunteer or internship experiences. Finally, consider starting a student-mentoring program to connect your students with average college students. If this is not possible, check to see if your campus has a Best Buddies program. Students may also benefit from becoming more involved in their community.
4. We're never sure if our program will be able to stay on campus from year to year. How can we better assure a more permanent existence at the
college?
The best way to become a solid part of the college is to establish a formal partnership with the college. Once you have the upfront recognition and support from key administrative personnel on the campus, it is much easier to make legitimate connections with various departments and it ensures a level of security for your program's continued existence. For many programs, an effective way to establish this partnership is to create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is signed by significant representatives of the school system and the college. In an MOU, responsibilities are outlined for all parties, but more importantly, a level of legitimacy for your program is established along with specific contact people at the college to answer questions and help you work through problems. This should help eliminate the guessing game that is often played year to year about whether a program will be able to come back, what space they can have access to, etc.
In addition, make the relationship between the program and the college as reciprocal as possible. Provide employment or internship opportunities for college students, offer to serve as a guest lecturer on educational accommodations or disability awareness. Provide your staffs' or students' expertise as a resource for the college professors and students.
5. What types of staff training should we be providing to help improve the program overall?
Having the skills to be a classroom teacher, particularly for students with intellectual disabilities, is certainly necessary. However, there are additional skill sets that are equally important for program staff to master in order to help your program succeed. In these programs, the classroom is now the community, and instructors must now be able to maneuver all the environments and people within these various communities in order to facilitate positive outcomes for students. Some of the areas of training - both formal and informal - that may be helpful for staff are: Job development, marketing and sales, communication skills (including understanding and responding to various communication styles), the art of consulting and networking, developing natural supports, and an overview of the local community (including job trends, transportation access, community organizations, social services, etc.) A sample Interview Protocol (Sample Interview Protocol for hiring a Program Instructor) and a Likert Scale (Likert Scale for teacher interviews) for rating candidates are provided in the Resources Section.
Training needs will obviously be tied to staff experience in transition. If the program coordinator and instructional support staff were not experienced in community instruction and supported employment, those types of training would be extremely important. Often training in these areas is available via the internet at relatively low costs (see links to available training opportunities in the resources section below). While learning the concepts and philosophy of supporting adults in adult settings is important, it should be noted that seeing it in action is even more important. If your instructional support staff's only experience has been providing support to students in a high school classroom, they should be provided with opportunities to observe an experienced job coach and educational coach providing support to a student. It is crucial that all of the personnel supporting students understand that they are a bridge between the student and the environment. And once the student is established they should fade their support and presence accordingly. Other types of training that might be helpful are how to modify instructional materials to meet the students learning styles and needs. Finally, staff may need assistance in how to collect and monitor data on student and staff activities.
6. In past years, we have either had too few interested families to fill our rolls, or we've had too many students who want to be in our program,
many of whom are not a good fit. How do we get the word out about our program so we can recruit appropriate candidates?
An effective recruitment process can make or break your program. The ability to capture the interest of those students who would benefit the most from the program is determined by your marketing efforts. First, there needs to be a very clear vision of your program and its goals. In addition you should describe the types of activities that students in the program will be expected to participate in and the level of support that will be available.
These should be provided to potential referring teachers along with a profile of success students. If your brochure or other marketing materials are vague, the more likely your referral sources will openly interpret who they should send to your program. In addition, develop a process for reviewing referred students, and apply it consistently. This process should have steps that help you determine if the students meet the goals and vision of your program, and should consist of a variety of components, such as: observation of the student in the classroom; interview with a student and the family; a review of records, including IEPs, transition plans, behavior history, attendance records, and case files; and perhaps even an observation of a student at your program for day, with a data sheet that captures specific information. Be sure that the same information is collected on all students so you have documentation to support your decisions. Sample observation (new student observation form) and interview forms (Interview Protocol for new student families, Interview Protocol for new candidate students) are provided in the resources section.
It is also important for you to get the word out about your program, but to the appropriate groups of people. Target your audience; for instance, it may not be to your benefit to market your program to everyone in special education in your school system, but rather to narrow down to those personnel and families directly related to your target population.
If your program is suffering from low numbers of students, it might be possible to expand your population by partnering with a neighboring school system. Some smaller school systems may not have the resources or the numbers of students necessary to create a college program, but have students who would benefit from such a program. Offering services to students in nearby school systems may keep the rolls more consistent and may provide additional revenue.
7. Transportation is always an issue. How do we get our students to and from the college campus in a cost-effective manner?
Transportation is a tricky topic for all school systems, and everyone deals with it differently depending upon location and accessibility. If your students will be bussed to the college program by the school system you may need to develop additional routes specifically for your students. Some school systems have opted to have students use existing bus routes to the high school nearest to the college, and then have created one new route that takes these students from the high school to the college.
Because these programs focus on developing independent living and community access skills, it may be a good idea to train your students to take public transportation - if it is available - to and from your college. Keep in mind this may take extra money for summer staffing to train the students before school begins, or additional trainers during the beginning of the school year. In some areas, there are campus buses that travel into neighborhoods or central community spots that your students might be able to access. And in other areas, families are responsible for transporting the students to and from the campus. In addition, keep in mind that if students gain employment during the school day, reliable transportation solutions must be developed to get students to and from work.
8. How can we help our students socialize more, both on campus and after school hours?
It's often hard to imagine having to teach someone how to make friends. However, many of our students' only social experiences are with family members, teachers, paid caregivers and other people with disabilities. We are now asking them to suddenly mingle and hold their own with college students and other adults in the community. This transition can be difficult. The role of your program staff is to facilitate opportunities for socialization. First, students need to be connected with people. Start by connecting them with each other, maybe pairing or grouping them and giving them "social" assignments (such as going to the fitness center together, having lunch at the student union, etc.). Often, students who attend programs at the college may have come from different high schools. So this may be a good way to expand their social network in a simple way. Then broaden their circle by matching students with interested college students to share an afternoon in library or hang out at the recreation center. Students with intellectual disabilities will need some time and feedback on the social scene at the college. You should ensure that any "peer buddy" who spends time with your students understands their support needs and treats them with the same respect they would afford any other peer. Take time to get feedback from the college peer buddies on what your student found to be exciting or challenging during their time together. Some campuses have Best Buddies chapters, which is an organization designed to pair college students with young people with disabilities.
Another key component of facilitating relationships is teaching your students the necessary basic social skills, including communication skills, making eye contact, body language, phone etiquette, etc. They also need more complex skills, such as how to look up a movie schedule, find the appropriate bus, order food, reserve a bowling alley, and other activities that make up the logistics of a social event. You can't make friends for people, but you can provide them the behavioral tools and skills that make socializing easier.
As students experience increased independence and access to more unsupervised situations, there is the possibility one will make a poor or unsafe choice. In anticipation, it is important to develop policies for medical emergencies, disruptive or dangerous behavior, or student flight.
9. We know it is important to communicate with families, but we have difficulty getting a response. How can we involve families more?
You will experience all levels of family support, from absentee, to involved and supportive, to perhaps slightly overbearing. Here are some ways you can effectively engage families.
- Set up an open line of communication, using a process that is on-going and consistent (weekly phone call or written log along with quarterly meetings) to give families a natural forum to share their thoughts and concerns;
- Open and close each year with an Open House, talking about upcoming plans and past successes, ask for parents' input on changes and improvements - and offer food and beverages;
- Give families a phone number and a window of time that staff is available to take family calls. You want them to feel as though they can talk to you, but you want to avoid the constant mid-day calls that interrupt your instruction;
- Welcome drop-ins, but recommend a heads-up as you run a community-based program and are rarely sitting in a classroom.
- For absentee parents, you may need to set up home visits, or offer to transport.
Family involvement can be difficult to acquire and maintain, but can also be very rewarding and will make your job easier once it is established. Whatever the situation, be careful to not allow negative family behavior affect your treatment of students.
10. How do students receive their related services when they are on a college campus?
If a student's IEP dictates that they need to receive a related service (speech therapy, social work services, assistive technology, physical therapy, etc.), then that service must be continued while the student is in the post-secondary program. Each school system handles this differently. Depending on the type of service, it may be most effective for the student to receive the service in the college setting. For example, the physical or occupational therapist could come to the college or community site and work on functional skills within the environment the student accesses on a daily basis. An assistive technology counselor may come to a student's work site to assess needs and train a student in the place they will be using the equipment. In some cases, due to logistics or the inability for a therapist to travel to the campus, students may need to go to a school system administrative building or school site to receive services, and transportation will need to be coordinated. If related service professionals are coming out to your college site, good communication about students' schedules is key to success as students and staff are often very mobile.
RESOURCES
Online Resources
Documents/Publications
Postsecondary Education Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (PDF)
Sample Interview Protocol: Questions for hiring a Program Instructor (MS Word)
Sample Likert Scale for rating Instructor Candidates (MS Word)
Sample of a New Student Classroom Observation Sheet (MS Word)
Sample of Protocol for Interviewing New Student candidates (MS Word)
Sample of Protocol for Interviewing Families of New Student candidates (MS Word)