ABSTRACT
Employment is both a desired outcome and an important component of secondary education for youth in transition. One of the chief indicators of whether youth have succeeded in the transition from school to adult life is whether or not they are employed after they exit school. Moreover, employment success is most likely when youth have experiences in authentic workplaces early and often during their secondary education years. When paid employment during secondary education is on a youth’s resume, post-school employment is even more likely. This holds true for any student receiving special education services, regardless of disability label or intensity of the special education services (Luecking & Fabian, 2000; Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Garza, & Levine, 2006; Fabian, 2007). In other words, the culmination of special education services for all youth should be employment and a career path. To get there, youth will learn from work experiences and jobs as they prepare for school exit.
