Career Planning Begins with Assessment - A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Angel

Career Planning Begins with Assessment provides guidance for professionals supporting adolescents and young adults facing educational and career development challenges. It frames assessment as a data-collection process that informs sound decisions by focusing on each individual’s talents, knowledge, skills, interests, values, and aptitudes. The guide emphasizes ensuring quality assessment services, building bridges across workforce development and youth-serving organizations, and developing assessment infrastructure across agencies to use resources effectively.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages140

Reading Time5 h 53 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose of this Guide

Assessment as Data Collection

Supporting Transition from School to Adult Life

Quality Assessment Services and Cross-Agency Infrastructure

CAREER PLANNING BEGINS WITH ASSESSMENT A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges Joe Timmons Mary Podmostko Christine Bremer, Ph.D . Don Lavin Joan Wills National Collaborative on Workforce & Disability for Youth Institute for Educational Leadership This document was developed by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, funded under a grant by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (Grant Number E-9-4-1-0070) . The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee/contractor and do not reflect those of the U.S. Department of Labor. Information on the Collaborative can be found at [http://www.ncwd-youth.info/](http://www.ncwd-youth.info/). Information about the Office of Disability Employment Policy can be found at [http://www.dol.gov/odep/](http://www.dol.gov/odep/). Information is also available at [http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/](http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/) , the comprehensive Federal website of disability-related government resources. Individuals may produce any part of this document. Please credit the source and support of federal funds. Suggested citation for this guide is: Timmons, J., Podmostko, M., Bremer, C., Lavin, D., & Wills, J. (2004) . Career planning begins with assessment: A guide for professionals serving youth with educational & career development challenges. Washington, D.C.: National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, Institute for Educational Leadership. ISBN 0-937-846-00-7 Acknowledgements I n 2002 the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the U.S. Department of Labor funded a variety of communities across the country to conduct pilot projects for the purpose of increasing the chances of youth with disabilities becoming selfsufficient adults. A key strategy in all the projects was to build bridges among workforce development organizations (schools, rehabilitation agencies, youth development organizations, One-Stops Centers) for the purpose of providing a set of quality services to youth based on person-centered planning. The organizations responsible for the pilot projects recognized the importance of arming youth, as well as themselves, with as much information as possible about personal goals, career interests, skills, and knowledge in order to assist the young people in making informed choices about their future. Knowing how to ensure that quality assessments occurred was identified as a common need. The development of this assessment guide began with requests from those pilot organizations to the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth), ODEP’s youth technical assistance center, for assistance in the area of assessment services across agencies and organizations. It became clear during the development of the guide that the issues go far beyond the selection of a particular assessment instrument, though selecting appropriate instruments is addressed. States and localities should consider treating assessment services as a part of a common infrastructure across the workforce development system in order to effectively use resources within and among organizations andinstitutions and to provide quality assessment services. We believe that the Assessment Guide provides an excellent framework to begin this process. Special thanks go to Joe Timmons and Christine Bremer, Ph.D., from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) at the University of Minnesota, whose calm and steady approach in the drafting and redrafting process proved to be invaluable. Mary Podmostko, Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), deserves special mention for her persistence throughout the writing to ensure that no stone was left unturned and that the needs of front line service providers as well as policy makers were included in the Guide. Don Lavin, of Rise, Inc., contributed a s

FAQs

What is the guide’s purpose for youth transitioning from school to adult life?

It supports informed guidance and decision-making for adolescents and young adults, helping them transition successfully into adult life and the world of work using appropriate assessments.

How does the guide define assessment?

Assessment is defined as the process of collecting data to support decisions based on a person’s talents, knowledge, skills, interests, values, and aptitudes.

Why does the guide emphasize building bridges across organizations?

It highlights the need to connect workforce development and youth-serving organizations so quality assessment services can be delivered using resources effectively across agencies.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Angel