Although fostering self-determination has emerged as a central element of recommended and evidence-based transition practices for adolescents with disabilities, few studies have examined the paths through which students develop the skills and dispositions that can enhance their self-determination and successful transitions. The authors used path analyses to examine the ways in which exposure to quality secondary learning environments contributed to the development of self-efficacy, motivation, and academic achievement among 135 high school students receiving special education services. Students with disabilities who reported having greater involvement in learning environments reflecting recommended transition practices (i.e., high-quality learning environments) demonstrated increased career-search self-efficacy. Students with greater career-search self-efficacy were more highly engaged in goal setting, which further predicted their motivation to attend school and academic self-efficacy. Finally, students with higher academic self-efficacy were found to have higher grades. The authors offer recommendations for enhancing the self-determination skills and opportunities of youth with disabilities by strengthening the quality and impact of transition education.
Young women with disabilities face multiple barriers in making the transition from high school to meaningful careers. This study used focus groups and individual interviews with high school girls with disabilities, college women with disabilities, high school special education teachers, school administrators and employers to examine career development and transition needs for young women with disabilities. Barriers and supports were identified in four major categories: a) individual/interpersonal skills, b) career options, c) school system issues, and d) disability needs. Recommendations for practice are discussed.
Society has witnessed significant improvements in the lives of students receiving transition services over the past 30 years. The field of transition has developed an array of evidence-based interventions and promising practices; however, secondary school reform efforts have often overlooked these approaches for youth without disabilities. If we are to see improvements in postsecondary outcomes for all youth, reform efforts must begin with active participation of general and special educators and critical home, school, and community stakeholders. In this article, the authors discuss the evolution of transition in light of reform efforts in secondary education. They review and identify secondary educational initiatives that embrace transition principles. Finally, recommendations are provided for advancing alignment of transition services with secondary education reforms.
This column provides brief summaries of transition-related articles published in 2009 in other professional journals. The 63 articles include descriptive, experimental, and qualitative research as well as program descriptions, conceptual articles, and practitioner pieces. All areas of Kohler’s taxonomy for transition programming were addressed: family involvement, interagency collaboration, program structure, student development, and student-focused planning.
Cutting-Edge provides inclusion in college for students with intellectual disabilities (SWID). Cutting-Edge students attended college by taking undergraduate courses, resided in student housing, and engaged in student-life events as well as pursued community service, internships and employment. Undergraduate students were the best means to teach Cutting-Edge students about appropriate social activities and interactions. Undergraduate students were paired with Cutting-Edge students as peer mentors to teach Cutting-Edge students how to fit into the social network on campus. While attending the college, 79% of Cutting-Edge students lived away from their parents. Undergraduate students were surveyed about how comfortable they feel about being around SWID, and 96% indicated they either felt comfortable (59%) or very comfortable (37%).
Despite the potential contributions of adolescent employment to postschool success, many youth who experience emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBD) do not access these opportunities. This intervention study examined the effects of a package of strategies designed to increase access to summer work experiences. Fifty-seven youth with EBD from seven high schools were randomly assigned to intervention and comparison groups. A significantly higher proportion of youth in the intervention group were employed toward the end of the summer relative to youth from their same schools in the comparison group. Intervention components were rated as feasible to implement and acceptable to relevant stakeholders. Steps to sharpen the intervention’s ability to address the transition-related needs of youth with EBD are discussed.
This study examined the outcomes of 409 students with mental retardation or multiple disabilities from 177 school districts in a Great Lakes state. These students with intellectual disabilities were interviewed at exit and 1 year following graduation. The authors developed and tested three regression models-two to predict full-time employment and one to predict college enrollment after graduation. Although inclusion was a significant predictor of postsecondary education, career and technical education and work study programs did not reach significance as predictors of postschool employment. For these students, gender and minority issues contributed to most of the variance. These findings point to the need for more holistic career and technical education and work study models for these students.
Students with intellectual disabilities are taking the lead conducting participatory action research (PAR) to chronicle their college experience as part of a national college access initiative. This research currently involves college students with intellectual disabilities documenting their experiences using multimedia tools. These data are then shared via a digital storytelling website, VoiceThread. This article presents an overview of PAR, digital storytelling, and the methodology used to implement PAR with students with intellectual disabilities. Themes from the students’ work highlight their impressions of college, their adjustment to new expectations and responsibilities, and their recommendations to improve this experience. The researcher’s findings and conclusions about facilitating research with young adults with intellectual disabilities are described.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) requires local education agencies to provide students with disabilities exiting high school with a Summary of Performance document, which includes academic and functional performance information and recommendations for helping the student reach postsecondary goals. However, the federal mandate does not provide guidance for completing Summary of Performance documents for transitioning students with disabilities, resulting in inconsistency across the field. To address these challenges, the purpose of this comprehensive literature review was to (a) review the literature related to Summary of Performance, (b) identify recommendations for practice, and (c) make suggestions for future research related to Summary of Performance.
A total of 55 college students with reading- and writing-related disabilities were asked to report on their high school and college experiences with 14 accommodations. Receiving assistance with having materials read aloud, extended time, and individual setting were the accommodations reported as being used by most students. Students tended to report that accommodations were helpful. Some students reported using particular accommodations more frequently than others. More than one third of the students who participated reported not receiving special education or 504 plan services during high school, and thus numbers of students reporting use of accommodations in college tended to be higher than for high school, although use did vary by specific accommodation. A variety of perceived barriers and facilitators to their use of accommodations was reported, including system-level variables, instructor knowledge and attitudes, and students’ own self-advocacy efforts. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
This longitudinal transition study was conducted in collaboration with teachers who interviewed students who graduated from 177 school districts in a Great Lakes state. Special education students were interviewed at exit and 1 year following graduation using a survey based on the National Longitudinal Transition Study. The data were analyzed using logistic regression models that controlled for gender, minority status, and level of disability. The authors developed and tested three regression models: two to predict full-time employment and one to predict college enrollment. Students who graduated from career and technical education and work study programs were more likely to enter full-time employment after graduation, but this relationship was influenced by gender, minority status, and disability. Students who participated in mainstream academics were much more likely to be enrolled in full-time college after graduation, but this relationship was influenced by level of disability.
Results of the Florida High School Exit Survey collected in 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 are presented. Participants include 2,520 students with and without disabilities across 40 school districts. Survey items cover questions relating to employment, postsecondary education and training, daily living, quality of life, agency connections, in-school experiences, and school-based work experiences. Findings suggest that students with disabilities feel better about knowing what they want to do after high school and how to achieve their goals but have few interactions with friends in social activities. Conversely, students without disabilities feel better prepared academically and participate more with friends in social activities. Identifying these trends can assist districts in improving school programs and student outcomes.
This article describes a secondary analysis of variables from the National Longitudinal Transition Survey 2 (NLTS-2) database. Specifically, students with intellectual disability (ID) were compared to students with other disabilities regarding post-school transition goals listed on their IEPs/Transition Plans, contacts/referrals made to outside agencies during transition planning, participation of other agencies/organizations in transition planning (e.g., vocational rehabilitation and higher education representatives), and students’ postsecondary education and employment outcomes. Students with ID were less likely to have postsecondary education or competitive employment goals and outcomes and more likely to have sheltered and supported employment goals and outcomes compared to students with other disabilities. Contacts with and participation of external professionals in IEP/Transition Plan meetings also differed between the two groups of students.
Cutting-Edge provides inclusion in college for students with intellectual disabilities (SWID). Cutting-Edge students attended college by taking undergraduate courses, resided in student housing, and engaged in student-life events as well as pursued community service, internships and employment. Undergraduate students were the best means to teach Cutting-Edge students about appropriate social activities and interactions. Undergraduate students were paired with Cutting-Edge students as peer mentors to teach Cutting-Edge students how to fit into the social network on campus. While attending the college, 79% of Cutting-Edge students lived away from their parents. Undergraduate students were surveyed about how comfortable they feel about being around SWID, and 96% indicated they either felt comfortable (59%) or very comfortable (37%).
Various interventions have been developed to promote student individualized education program (IEP) participation. Although they are generally endorsed by educators and researchers, critics argue that interventions to promote self-determination and IEP participation may be counter to the values of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. This article reviews characteristics and results of 17 intervention studies grouped by experimental design and analyzes results for differential effects among CLD students. These studies documented the positive effects of interventions on student IEP participation, and a few documented positive results for CLD participants. This review also reveals limitations of the literature, particularly with respect to including CLD students and members of other underrepresented groups as participants. Implications are discussed for future research on interventions to promote student IEP participation.
This study used a multiple probe design across participants to examine the effects of classroom simulation using static picture prompts on students’ ability to acquire, maintain, and generalize skills necessary to use a debit card to make a purchase and track their expenses. Results demonstrated a functional relationship between simulated instruction and students’ ability to use a debit card to make a purchase and track their expenses in a check register. In addition, all three students maintained their newly acquired skills for 4 weeks and were able to generalize skills to three different community sites. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are described.
Self-determination has received significant attention in the special education field, but scholars’ knowledge of how culturally and linguistically diverse learners and their families perceive interventions to promote self-determination remains limited. Understanding how the construct is perceived in diverse cultures is critically important given the growing diversity of society. This article reviewed existing research and scholarship examining the relation between culture and self-determination in students with disabilities. In all, 10 theoretical, review, and research articles that specifically addressed this topic were identified. Generally, the body of scholarship suggests that the self-determination construct could have universal value if a flexible framework that considers cultural and systems-level variables is utilized to develop individualized interventions. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
This study examined the effectiveness of a new school to adult life transition planning lesson package titled Student-Directed Transition Planning. The Student-Directed Transition Planning lessons teach transition terms and concepts to provide a means to increase self-determination skills and student participation in transition IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting discussions. An experimental pre-post design utilizing random assignment of secondary-aged students with IEPs determined differences between intervention and control groups in knowledge of transition terms and concepts, and self-efficacy perceptions of the transition planning process. Study results indicated that students receiving Student-Directed Transition Planning instruction experienced a statistically significant knowledge gain, and an increase in perceived self-efficacy in 7 out of 10 transition planning process indicators.
