FOCUS ON AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

and a host of localities have received federal grants to build systems that link learning in classrooms with the skills required by the nation's youth to succeed in the workplace. School-to-work (STW) partnerships are forming in communities throughout the country, and thousands of schools, educators, employers, labor unions, community organizations, parent groups, and other stakeholders are participating in these partnerships. The purpose of this article is to provide a synopsis of the STWOA; describe what states and localities are doing to include youth with disabilities in STW initiatives; and offer recommendations to special educators, rehabilitation professionals, students with disabilities, and parents for increasing the participation of youth with disabilities in a wide range of STW activities. In May of 1994, after strong bipartisan support in Congress, President Bill Clinton signed into law the School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA). The aim of the legislation was to improve the preparation of young people for their careers by providing a national framework for building local systems to help ensure that all students achieve high levels of academic and technical skills (U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, 1996a). The assumption was that the development of local school-to-work (STW) systems would better prepare all students for entry into the workforce