NYS CDOS Commencement Credential - Questions and Answers (Updated August 2014)
D. Employability Profile
- What documentation should districts collect to substantiate the information on a student’s employability profile?
The work skills employability profile is intended to document student attainment of technical knowledge and work-related skills. Documents to validate skills reported on the profile could include, but are not limited to, an employer/teacher review of student work based on learning standards and expectations in the workplace, performance evaluations and observations.
Students must have at least one employability profile completed within one year prior to school exit. If a student is involved in a number of work-based learning experiences and/or is employed part time, he/she may also have additional employability profiles as completed by others knowledgeable about his or her skills (e.g., employer and/or job coach).
- Will the employability profile for the CDOS Commencement Credential serve as the Student Exit Summary?
No. The employability profile does not meet all of the requirements for the Student Exit Summary as established in section 200.4(c)(4) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The Student Exit Summary must include a summary of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance as well as recommendations to assist the student in meeting his/her post-secondary goals.
The employability profile demonstrates evidence of the student’s attainment of each of the commencement level CDOS standards, technical knowledge and work-related skills, work experiences, performance on industry-based assessments and work-related and academic achievements. The information in the employability profile(s) should be considered when completing the Student Exit Summary. Both documents should help the student better understand the impact of his/her disability and articulate individual strengths and needs as well as supports that would be helpful in post-school life.
- May the employability profile be modified? (August 2014)
Yes. Districts may develop their own or modify the model form as long as it includes the required components. These include documentation of the student’s:
- employability skills and experiences;
- attainment of each of the commencement level CDOS learning standards; and
- as appropriate, attainment of technical knowledge and work-related skills, work experiences, performance on industry-based assessments and other work-related and academic achievements.
- May the employability profile be considered documentation of student’s attainment of CDOS Learning Standards? (August 2014)
Schools must have documentation that the student has met the commencement level CDOS learning standards. Employability profiles are often completed by individuals such as employers. However, an employability profile can provide evidence of attainment of certain standards. The State has provided a separate form for documentation of a student’s attainment of CDOS Learning Standards. See https://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/gradrequirements/CDOS-attainmentchart.htm.
- If a student earns 1s (unsatisfactory) and 2s (needs improvement) on the employability profile, will he/she receive the credential? (August 2014)
In order to award the CDOS credential, the school must have evidence that the student has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the credential (i.e., career plan, achievement of the CDOS learning standards at the commencement level, and satisfactory completion of the hours of career and technical education and/or work-based learning). The employability profile documents the student’s satisfactory completion of work-based learning. Therefore, the principal should determine overall, based upon all the requirements, whether the student has demonstrated work-readiness schools at the entry level in order to be awarded the credential and no single rating or score should be used to make that determination.
- Does the employability profile provided to students in registered New York State Education Department (NYSED)-approved Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs meet the employability profile requirement for students earning the CDOS Commencement Credential? (August 2014)
Yes. The employability profile would meet the requirements of the CDOS Commencement Credential provided that it is completed within one year of school exit by staff knowledgeable about the student’s employability skills; documents the student’s attainment of commencement level CDOS learning standards in the areas of career development, integrated learning and the universal foundation skills and as appropriate, documents the student’s work experiences, attainment of technical knowledge, work-related skills, performance on industry based assessments and other work-related and/or academic achievements.
- How will NYSED ensure that the student’s scores on the employability profile accurately represent their attainment of the CDOS learning standards and that the CDOS Commencement Credential is not awarded inappropriately? (August 2014)
See response to question 4 above. It is the school principal’s responsibility to ensure that the CDOS Commencement Credential is awarded appropriately. The school must have evidence that the student has engaged in the career planning process, successfully completed relevant instructional and work-based learning activities, met the commencement level CDOS Learning Standards and has at least one employability profile. The employability profile must be signed by the individual completing the form to assure authenticity and validation.
NYSED will be collecting and analyzing data on the award of the CDOS Commencement Credential as a supplement to a diploma and as a student’s only exiting credential. Districts that award the credential to more than 20 percent of the students with disabilities in the cohort and where such credential is not a supplement to a regular high school diploma may be required by NYSED to redirect a portion of their Part B Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grant funds for activities to ensure that students with disabilities have appropriate access to participate and progress in the general education curriculum necessary to earn a regular high school diploma. The State will make a district-by-district determination as to whether redirection of such funds is warranted.
- Will NYSED consider amending the regulations so employability profiles are required to be completed more than once? (August 2014)
The regulations indicate that at least one employability profile must be completed within one year of a student’s exit from high school. As such nothing would preclude a school from providing the student with more than one profile. Schools are encouraged to complete an employability profile for each of the work-based learning experiences in which the student participates to capture skills across a variety of settings and use the employability profile annually as tools to identify areas of need for student-specific instruction.