The Development of Procedures to Assess Prevocational Competencies of Severely Handicapped Young Adults

Abstract

This paper extends and elaborates on previous discussions that indicated the need for basing prevocational training activities upon the requirements of job entry. By following the suggestion that the proper sequence for developing a prevocational program is first to analyze the requisites for entry into a job, then to assess the clients skills vis-à-vis those requisites, and finally to prescribe training objectives to reduce identified needs, this paper presents assessment data from 56 workshops, developmental centers, and activity centers in five northwestern states that specify the requirements considered important for entry into sheltered employment. The subsequent data analyses yielded a prevocational assessment Instrument (PAI) derived from the entry level requirement data, and corresponding prevocational objectives derived from the PAI. These analyses demonstrated (1) the functional relation between job requisites, needs assessments, and training objectives and (2) that this relation can be empirically verified, i.e., the data emanating from an analysis of job requisites determine the nature and scope of the assessment instrument, which, in turn, determines which training objectives are appropriate for a particular client.