Industry Tours: A Promising Practice in Bringing Career and Technical Education to Life

The Career and Technical Education Program (CTE) at Seattle Public Schools serves a wide variety of students with different learning needs. Through a collaborative grant from The Boeing Company, CTE staff worked with the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) program to arrange industry tours for students with disabilities.

Students from CTE’s Aerospace Science and Technology program toured a Boeing production plant in Mukilteo, Washington, and another plant in Renton, Washington. They attended information sessions and met employees. Teachers attended the tours with students and talked about students’ unique strengths in the context of a working production plant.

The industry tours are considered a promising practice because:

• The tours related directly to the academic program the students were enrolled in.
• The tours provided an alternative method for students to learn about aerospace job skills.
• The tours provided a safe place for students to ask questions and talk about their disability.
• Students were able to interact with mentors working in the field.
• Students learned about a variety of jobs in their field of interest.

For information about preparing students with disabilities for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, read What are key issues for increasing the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in STEM fields?