The Maryland Work-based Learning Collaborative (MWBLC) aims to improve the lives of students with disabilities in Maryland by increasing their academic, career, and financial success. The purpose is to enable local education agencies (LEAs) in Maryland to implement a model of school to career transition services for students with disabilities. The project includes a randomized control design implemented across 6-8 diverse school districts in Maryland for 400 students; half receiving services as usual and half receiving the enhanced services (treatment group).
The MWBLC model incorporates four empirically supported components robustly associated with post-school success for youth with disabilities. These include:
- Early engagement with the Division of Rehabilitation Services' (DORS) Pre-Employment Transitioning Services Program (PreETS);
- Multiple work experiences;
- Paid employment; and
- Focused collaboration between schools, DORS, local community rehabilitation providers (CRPs), workforce centers, and other partners.
The project supports and promotes the State Performance Plan (SPP) and Annual Performance Plan (APR) for Indicators 13 and 14 by:
- Indicator 13 - Promoting results of youth aged 16 and above with an individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan that includes coordinated, measurable, annual IEP goals and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet their postsecondary goals; (have adequate goals and transition services); and
- Indicator 14 - Promoting the increased numbers of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary schools, or both, within one year of leaving high school (connecting the data, determine if students are competitively employed or enrolled in postsecondary school or both).
Priority will be given to applicants that demonstrate readiness to meet the requirements set forth in this RFP and best explain how the LEA will implement, with fidelity, MWBLC (page 6) program services to students (in the treatment group).
None is available.