Career Education: The Position Paper of The Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf

It is the official position of the Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf that Career Education must be a comprehensive and an appropriately infused part of every educational program serving hearing-impaired students. In order to enhance communication among CEASD member-schools; and between the schools and their local, state, and federal agencies; the CEASD advocates usage of the USOE definition of Career Education. In doing so, it is necessary to also accept key operational definitions of terms which may not always agree with how member-schools currently use them. While CEASD does not endorse any specific model for implementing Career Education, it does take the position that hearing-impaired students, like normally hearing students, need to: (a) develop an appreciation for their own values and for the values of work; (b) become oriented to the concept of careers; (c) explore vocations and occupations; (d) learn to assess their strengths and weaknesses realistically; (e) be prepared to make sound, reasonable decisions; and (f) be prepared to enter an occupation commensurate with their abilities and interests. To accomplish these six things, it is understood that the development of appropriate communication and personal/social attitudes, knowledge, and skills must become integral to the program. The following paper provides substantive information on definitions of key terms, objectives for a Career Education program, priorities for the implementation of a Career Education program, and accompanying discussion and rationale.