Community based Instruction

 

Community Based Instruction (CBI) is an evidence-based method for preparing students in special education for their lives after school by utilizing their community as a learning environment. CBI provides students with authentic experiences of every day life after school and builds important skills for adulthood. In every CBI program, students are to be prepared to access community resources and function in their community in the following areas, known as domains: domestic, vocational, recreational. and community.

 

The CBI domains are divided into the categories of domestic, vocational, and recreational. The domestic domain focuses on self-management in day-to-day life. The vocational domain covers school jobs and paid/unpaid work experiences. The recreational domain includes extracurricular activities in school, general activities done outside of school, and activities for physical fitness. The community domain addresses access to community resources in areas of travel, shopping, dining, community safety, and community services, to assure quality of life.

 

Lesson plans are used to organize activities and connect community settings to aspects of independent life. For example, a lesson taking place in fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and governmental agencies, can be connected to the curriculum topic of job exploration. Students are brought to real life locations such as grocery stores and parks that teach important life skills in their natural contexts. An example of this would be a lesson in grocery shopping and buying for needs, in which students adhere to a budget while shopping in a real life grocery store. 

 

For information on participating in Community Based Instruction, you can contact your student's case manager, or Robynn Gualtiere, San Jacinto USD Transition Specialist, at: [email protected]