Delaware Community-Based Instruction and Work-Based Learning for Transition Students

A transition plan that never leaves the school building is a transition plan that isn't working. Community-based instruction — taking students out of the classroom and into real community settings to practice real skills — is one of the most effective tools in a Delaware IEP transition plan, and it's also one of the most undertaught. Families hear the phrase at IEP meetings without understanding what it actually involves or what they can push for.

What Community-Based Instruction Looks Like

CBI places students in authentic community environments to practice skills they'll need as adults. This is not a field trip. It's structured, goal-driven instruction with data collection:

• Grocery store — reading labels, comparing prices, using payment methods, navigating store layout
• Public transit — planning routes on DART (Delaware's bus system), purchasing fare, managing transfers, navigating schedules
• Banking — depositing checks, using ATMs, understanding account statements
• Restaurants — ordering, paying, tipping, managing dietary restrictions
• Post office, library, medical offices — navigating public institutions independently
• Job sites — observing and participating in real workplace environments

CBI is typically built into the school schedule as a regular block — students leave campus with a teacher or paraprofessional for several hours each week. The frequency depends on the student's transition goals and what the IEP team has agreed to.

Work-Based Learning: The Employment Track

Work-based learning takes CBI's real-world approach and applies it specifically to employment. Delaware recognizes several models:

Job shadowing — observing a worker in a real job for short periods, usually during Pre-ETS career exploration activities through DVR

Internships and practicum placements — extended placements in community businesses where the student performs actual job tasks with coaching

School-based enterprises — student-run businesses within the school (cafeteria operations, copy centers, grounds maintenance) that simulate workplace demands

Competitive employment — paid community jobs held during school, with support from the transition team and, for eligible students, DVR-funded job coaching

For students in career and technical education through Delaware's VoTech system (NCCVT, Polytech, Sussex Tech), work-based learning is built into the Career Pathway structure. Students with IEPs in VoTech programs should have their accommodations applied to the work-based learning component, not just classroom instruction.

Getting CBI and Work-Based Learning Into the IEP

These experiences should be written directly into the transition section of the IEP — not left as informal suggestions. Specific things to request:

1. A CBI schedule with identified community settings and the skills to be practiced at each
2. Transportation arrangements — who provides it, on what schedule, and what happens when the school van isn't available
3. Data collection — how the teacher measures progress on CBI goals, and how that data feeds into the next IEP review
4. Work-based learning placements with defined hours, tasks, and support levels
5. DVR Pre-ETS coordination — if the student is receiving Pre-ETS services, the work-based learning placement should align with the DVR counselor's recommendations

If the school offers CBI only as an occasional outing rather than a systematic program, or if work-based learning opportunities are limited to in-school tasks, families can push for more by pointing to the student's transition assessment data. When assessments show the student needs community integration skills or competitive employment preparation, the IEP team should design services that address those needs in real settings.

The Delaware IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a Transition Timeline Planner that maps CBI and work-based learning milestones to each year of high school, so families can track whether the school is delivering what the IEP promises.

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