TREC Transition Related Employment Curriculum

TREC  is a curriculum developed by the Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative designed to meet many of the general transitional skill needs of students with disabilities while focusing on employability.

It is not so much a creation as an organization of existing quality materials into an organized and easily accessible format.

TREC  was a collaborative effort. We thank the teachers and guidance counselors of the NLSEC school districts and Duluth School District for their advice and expertise. For their assistance, guidance, and materials, NLSEC especially thanks:

  • Bob Niemiec, Director, Minnesota Employment Training and Technical Assistance Center (MNTAT)
  • Sara Romagnoli, Program Director, SOAR Career Solutions
  • Shannon Proulx, Technology Coordinator, Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative
  • Steve Schoenbauer, Transition Coordinator, Northern Lights Special Education Cooperative

TREC  provides a yearlong scope and sequence, with accompanying materials, which allow teachers to address their students’ transitional needs in an organized and comprehensive manner. Dependent upon the depth of instruction and the number of activities utilized, TREC can easily become a two year curriculum.

The curriculum is activity based and is to be used in a setting of direct instruction with groups of students. The activities were chosen to be applicable to students with any disability though some will require adaption for specific populations. Teachers select from the variety of activities, utilizing those that are most appropriate for the students they serve.

TREC  consists of an introduction, four units of instruction and an appendix.

Introduction - Contains directions for using the material and identifies four activities in which it is recommend students engage throughout the year.

  • Unit I - Knowing Yourself and Your Rights-Related to self-discovering.
  • Unit II - Which Career Direction is Most Appropriate for You? - Career assessment, investigation, and exploration.
  • Unit III - Skill Development- Promotes the development of those skills most often identify by employer as critically necessary in good employees
  • Unit IV - Work Experiences - Defines the variety of ways in which students can obtain real life employment experiences, the legal requirements of those opportunities, and contact information for accessing them.
  • Appendix - Consists of two parts; one, a list of resources and information for parents; and two, sample goals related to the curriculum that can be used in student IEPs.

The curriculum is a “work in progress” and always will be. We welcome your criticism, suggestions and contributions. Please consider completing the survey.

All materials referenced in this curriculum can be directly downloaded, at no cost, from this location on the Northern Lights Special Education Website. Click on the link below.