Site Selection
In
selecting communities for SOS participation,
N.O.D. promotes careful planning and orientation at the
local level, student-centered decisions, an emphasis on quality
not numbers, strong individual support systems, family
involvement, curricular coherence, objective evaluations, fair
compensation, a celebration of achievement and employer
recognition.
Within our program framework, we have
encouraged each community to develop its own version of Start On Success with
elements most appropriate to the local circumstances.
The Start On
Success Models
As such, two SOS
program models have evolved: the Urban Model and the State-wide
Model.
The Urban Model targets low-income, at-risk,
minority youth to participate in a program partnership between an inner-city
high school and an urban university employer. This year Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and Pittsburgh each have three Urban Model program sites.
The State-wide Model, as practiced in Ohio and
Alabama, is a community-based, multi-employer model appropriate to the needs of
rural and suburban high school students with disabilities.
