About the Brief

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The brief provides findings from an implementation study of the Evaluation of Community College Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Chief Evaluation Office (CEO). In 2014, DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) awarded two community colleges with 5-year Pathways to Careers: Community Colleges for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities (Pathways) grants to increase their capacity to provide inclusive integrated education and career development and training services to young adults with disabilities. The purpose of this brief is to describe the capacity building and institutional change efforts attempted by each college and to review the resulting experiences of each grantee, including factors that both impeded and facilitated change, and to identify lessons to be learned from this demonstration.

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Key Takeaways

• Two grantees provide useful lessons in capacity building and institutional change within projects that serve students with disabilities at community colleges.
• One grantee’s strategy highlights the usefulness of administrative support in building institutional change that could help provide lasting change in serving students with disabilities.
• Another grantee efficiently met students’ needs through data collection and student level support.

Citation

Gearing, M., Frey, W., Bennici, F., Muz, B. (2020). Westat. Building Accessible and Inclusive Community College Environments for Students with Disabilities: Two Experiences in Capacity Building and Institutional Change. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.