Building Employability Skills: A Practical Approach for Student Success (Series Begins Feb. 25, 2026) – The Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.

For this webinar series, participants will automatically be enrolled in all 5 sessions.

SpeakerS

Shannon K. Barry, Ph.D. and Catherine A. Rossi, Ph.D.

Description

The demand for career and technical education (CTE) is increasing statewide. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education within the US Department of Education has developed a framework for educators to guide how to define and teach these key employability skills across settings to students in preparation for life in the workforce. Many of these skills are directly aligned with social emotional learning and behavior support, thus allowing it to be a practical approach to support students’ overall wellbeing. This 5 part webinar will focus on an overview of the model, its importance, and systems and practices schools can implement to support students’ learning of such skills. Each of the framework’s three strands will be reviewed in detail and attendees will hear from staff working in both career/technical and traditional high schools on how they incorporate these ideas into their daily lessons and routines and overall systems and structures. The majority of the sessions will be geared towards supporting all students, and the final session will focus specifically on students with disabilities.

To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must attend all 5 sessions and successfully pass a quiz following Session 5. Within 24 hours of the live webinar, registrants will be emailed a link to view the recorded webinar. The recording will be made available for 7 days after each session.

This session will provide an overview of the Employability Skills Framework as developed by the US Department of Education. It will include definitions, examples, and demonstrations of each employability skill (Workplace Skills, Effective Relationships, Applied Knowledge). Participants will learn what these skills are and what they look like in practice.

This session will provide an in-depth review of Workplace Skills and its sub-skills. Participants will learn how to teach and assess these skills in the classroom, integrate these skills into social emotional learning and behavioral support efforts, and how schools can build systemic efforts to support the acquisition of such skills. Guest speakers will share how they have taught and modeled these skills in their classrooms/programs.

This session will provide an in-depth review of Effective Relationships skills and its sub-skills. Participants will learn how to teach and assess these skills in the classroom, integrate these skills into social emotional learning and behavioral support efforts, and how schools can build systemic efforts to support the acquisition of such skills. Guest speakers will share how they have taught and modeled these skills in their classrooms/programs.

This session will provide an in-depth review of Applied Knowledge and its sub-skills. Participants will learn how to teach and assess these skills in the classroom, integrate these skills into social emotional learning and behavioral support efforts, and how schools can build systemic efforts to support the acquisition of such skills. Guest speakers will share how they have taught and modeled these skills in their classrooms/programs.

This session will provide an in-depth review on how to support students with disabilities in their acquisition and application of employability skills. It will include demonstrations and case studies of how the special education process can integrate employability skills into academics, transition planning, social emotional and behavioral supports, and related services. Guest speakers will share how they have taught and modeled these skills when working with students with more special needs.

About the SpeakerS

Shannon K. Barry, Ph.D., (she/her) is a Massachusetts Licensed Psychologist and Behavior Analyst, and Nationally Certified School Psychologist. She is currently the District Psychologist for Weston Public Schools and a Part-Time Lecturer in the School Psychology Department at Northeastern University. Prior to Weston, Dr. Barry served as a School Psychologist at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School and a Clinical Director and PBIS Coordinator at May Institute. She earned her doctorate in School Psychology from UMass Amherst where she focused on system-wide implementation of multi-tiered systems of support, positive behavior support, and teacher collaboration. Her practical interests and research focuses on assessment and data analysis to inform school-wide systems and practices to support all students’ mental health and skill development.

Catherine A. Rossi, Ph.D., (she/her) is a Massachusetts Licensed Psychologist and Behavior Analyst, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and licensed Special Education Administrator. She currently practices at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School supporting both students with disabilities and developing system-wide tiered supports. She is also a Part-Time Lecturer in the Counseling and ABA Departments at Northeastern University. Prior to working at Assabet, she was the Out of District Coordinator for Watertown Public Schools and a Behavior Consultant at the May Institute working with students with significant disabilities. Dr. Rossi completed her graduate studies in school psychology at the UMass Amherst focusing on social-emotional learning, system-wide implementation of tiered supports, PBIS, and school consultation. Her professional and research focuses include developing system-wide frameworks to support student mental health and supporting students with significant and comorbid disabilities.

Membership Information

Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.

PDPs and CEUs

MPY is an approved Professional Development Provider through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (Provider No. F20180079). Professional Development Points (PDPs) are offered for most MPY professional development webinars. PDPs are issued in 10 hour increments, per DESE requirements.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for clinical staff through the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA). The NASW and the MaMHCA approve each event individually. CEUs may be given in hourly increments.

To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must pass the quiz.

Event Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.

For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org with any questions regarding registration.

Register

FREE

MEMBER PRICING

Membership Access

All sessions are 12:00 – 2:00 pm

Session 1: February 25, 2026, Overview of the Employability Skills Framework
Session 2: March 11, 2026, Workplace Skills
Session 3: March 25, 2026, Effective Relationships
Session 4: April 8, 2026, Applied Knowledge Across Settings
Session 5: April 29, 2026, Supporting Students with Disabilities to Build Employability Skills