UPGRADE is a research-based curriculum focusing on student employment goals in high school, a post-secondary program, or on the job. UPGRADE provides students with strategies for self-evaluation, like self-monitoring and goal setting. There are six units of instruction emphasizing soft skills necessary for school, work, and community success. These units are Attitude and Cooperation, Reliability, Productivity and On Task, Teamwork and Communication, and Quality of Work. After instruction, 10 UPGRADE lessons teach both the professional and the student to evaluate performance in each soft skill category. The UPGRADE STRATEGY is outlined above. Currently, three studies have been conducted examining the effects of UPGRADE on the acquisition of soft skills for students with disabilities (Clark, Konrad, & Test, 2018; Clark, Test, & Konrad, 2019; Clark & Test, under review).
The Instructor’s Guide provides scripted lessons, clear learning objectives, PowerPoints, role plays, and data collection forms. In addition, extensive video resources support student comprehension.
A consumable Student Workbook outlines activities for each lesson, notes for PowerPoint lessons, student data collection forms, video rating charts, and a U-GRADE Performance Instruction Sheet.
UPGRADE also includes Response Cards, Ticket-Out-The-Door Cards, Graphic Organizers, Vocabulary Flashcards, reproducible content, and the GoWorksheet Maker and Assessment Plus Apps for digitized data collection and graphing.
The Curriculum includes: Instructor’s Guide, Student Workbook, consumable Student Workbook, Graphic Organizers, Response Cards, Ticket-Out-The-Door Cards, Vocabulary Flashcards, and access to the Attainment HUB for reproducible content.
The Curriculum Plus includes: The Curriculum plus a total of 10 consumable Student Workbooks, Assessment Plus iPad App, the entire set of workbook pages as accessible GoWorksheets (iPad only), and samples of communication overlays. The GoWorksheets can be used with the free GoWorksheet app or the full GoWorksheet Plus app available on the App Store.
| Subject | Transition |
|---|---|
| Age Group | Transition |
| Author | Kelly Clark, PhD; Moira Konrad, PhD; and David Test, PhD |
| Format |
