Curriculum
About
The Next Move Program curriculum was created when our co-founders, certified special educators, couldn’t find a comprehensive model or curriculum to use for transition programming. So, they set out to develop one for students that has since been endorsed by the VA Department of Education as setting the standard in Transition Services.
What Makes Our Curriculum Different
Our curriculum model is unique because the components are designed to implement in a business setting—our students learn real world workplace skills in the very same setting that they are intended to use them! This translates to major gains in skill retention and transference, something you just don’t see when instruction occurs in a separate location like a school building.
Our students also have the opportunity to learn a skill and then directly implement it with feedback and support from our team, leading to more independence and confidence for both our students and their families. All of our lessons are engaging, real-world focused, and utilize evidence-based practices. In addition to structure, we add fun and personalized supports throughout each lesson.
What Students Learn
Our Next Move Curriculum has three core units:
Work Readiness Skills: resume writing, developing career portfolios, time management, interviewing skills, etc.
Social Skills: eye contact, reading body language, asking follow up conversations, topics to avoid at work, etc.
Life Skills: budgeting, money skills, independent living, transportation, etc.
Each unit includes pre- and post- assessment measures to track gains in learning, as well as presentations, activities, guest speakers, community visits, and more. Most program days are 6 hours in length. They include 2 hours at the job site (with each intern placed separately within a department of the same business) and 3 hours in our onsite classroom for instruction. We’ll share the specific session schedule during the application and interview process.
Our Curriculum In Action
Content learned in the classroom is seamlessly reinforced and reviewed while our students are at their job sites, again increasing the retention and transference of these skills. We also collect task analysis data at job sites, focusing on both hard skill and soft skill mastery as well as data on unstructured social interactions with co-workers or customers, breaks and transitions—giving the full picture of our students’ performance at a job site.
How We Share Learnings
All the data we collect on the job site is summarized in our weekly Workplace Readiness Scale as well as in a comprehensive report provided to our students, families, and the referring agency/school (with a release) upon graduation. We also share details on job site roles, strengths, areas of growth, challenges, and helpful accommodations.
Curriculum Consulting & Licensing Information
Organizations interested in expanding their own vocational training programs or who want to exactly replicate the Next Move model, can connect with our team about consultation and licensing services. Consultation can occur separately, but is also built into the full licensing contract.
FAQs
What does consultation and licensing look like?
Our consultation and licensing program is super simple!
Step 1: Contact Us! Our education team, who has implemented vocational DD services in countless business types and industries, is happy to talk you through your wants and needs during an initial meeting.
Step 2: We’ll help you identify goals and a timeline for consultation services (hourly rates apply).
Step 3: We’ll develop a summary of our findings so you can share with your stakeholders.
What consultation services do you provide?
We offer consultation on:
New program development/program restructuring
Partnership development and training
Curriculum review
Analyzing funding sources
Data collection methods
What if we want to license your curriculum?
After our initial meeting, we’ll see if licensing is needed. If so, we’ll craft a comprehensive plan to support your organization, so you can replicate our full model. Plus, the team implementing the program gets to visit our flagship location, Tablespoons Bakery, for an intensive several-day training period.
If a new program lead is later hired, we also offer retraining services for that new employee.
Can we see the curriculum?
We’re so excited you’re interested! Unfortunately, we don’t offer sneak peeks of the curriculum without licensing and consultation.
How much does it cost to launch a new Next Move Program site?
Great question. We’ll share that with you during your consultation process. Since your organization is unique, we’ll work with you and your budget on pricing.
The best part? Our licensing is much more affordable than other models on the market! We’re passionate about helping you launch a new site because they are so needed in our community so we don’t let price stand in the way.
How long does it take to start up a new site?
It depends. Do you need a refresh because you have some of the core components nailed down (e.g., host site, staff, transportation)? Or do you need full support to build out a program from the ground up? How large is your organization? Whatever your answers may be, we’ll work with you in the consultation to develop a realistic timeline with a step-by-step approach.