Our Vision
Our vision is to successfully launch highly motivated young adults challenged with intellectual and learning disabilities into adulthood.
Through participation in the rigors of the Passport Program™ students will:
- Live as independent a life as possible
- Have improved job placement
- Be self-determined and self advocating
- Be committed to life-long learning
"The most important function
of education at any level is to develop the personality of
the individual and the significance of his life to himself
and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the
rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure."
— Grayson Kirk, American Educator
— Grayson Kirk, American Educator
Our Plan
REPLICATE and evaluate the Passport Program.
CONVENE interested educational institutions and organizations so that they can participate in fine-tuning a proven program and avoid the research and development costs of “reinventing (or inventing) the wheel.” Please see Consortium Club for details.
LESSEN student dependency on both their families and the community.
AFFECT public policy by demonstrating success, by being advocates, by providing data, and by letting students speak for themselves.
BUILD the confidence of students and raise their parents’ expectations.
"True learning hovers somewhere between challenge
and frustration."
— Cynthia Johnson, President, ReThink Higher Education Consulting
— Cynthia Johnson, President, ReThink Higher Education Consulting
Our Classroom
Each faculty member trained to educate students with special needs combined with extensive experience and/or advanced degrees in her/his subject area.
Provide small, challenging, cohort-based, and fun classes with an emphasis on experiential learning and learning methodologies emphasizing repetition and short bursts of content delivery followed by carefully guided hands-on experimentation and manipulation of content, ideas and/or tools.
“The
test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance
of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those
who have too little.”
— Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt, President
— Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt, President
Our Student Outcomes
Measures for performance over the time in the program using specific skills sets with associated performance indicators mapped to the workplace. Examples of skill sets include:
- Measures of technical skill performance
- Measures of communication skills
- Measures of self-advocacy, critical thinking, and problem solving
- Measures of reading, writing, money management, and oral communication
An external evaluator knowledgeable in multi-faceted research evaluation for the targeted population conducts research using various components designed to provide overall guidance in Passport Program revision and improvements.