CBI: Community-Based Instruction

Madison County School District offers students with disabilities opportunities which enable them to learn to function as independently as possible in their community when they leave school.

When you visit local businesses in Madison County, you may notice young people working diligently at such jobs as cleaning, collating, filing, sorting, or cooking. You could also see young people learning skills in comparison-shopping, proper restaurant use, community mobility, and communication. These students are not on a field trip; they are transferring skills they have learned in the classroom to the community. Community-Based Instruction is an instructional program designed to prepare students to live and work independently in the community in which they live after leaving school.

Students are strategically placed at job training sites matched to their abilities and interests. These sites are carefully selected based on accessibility, skills required, social atmosphere, safety factors, opportunities for interaction, and environmental stimulation. When a student is placed at a job site, a teacher or para-professional instructs and supervises students on tasks as they learn skills in the “real world” where they will be used. The community becomes their real-world classroom.