A comparative post-secondary follow-up study of students served through general education and through special education

This study examines the preparation during high school and post-secondary outcomes of students with disabilities. High school preparation consists of activities in which students participated during high school. Post-secondary outcomes relate to the current status of students following high school graduation in relation to the four major outcomes areas: (a) post-secondary education, (b) employment, (c) independent living, and (d) recreation and leisure. The target population included all students graduating from one school district in a mid-sized city in Texas. A stratified random sample of 228 students both with and without disabilities was selected. Post-secondary follow-up surveys, consisting of one survey administered prior to graduation and one survey administered six-months following graduation, were given to the participants. The response rate for the initial exit survey was 82.9% while the response rate for a post-school survey was 61.4%. Differences between groups were analyzed using loglinear analyses based upon educational setting, disability category, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. In addition, a sub-study was completed to determine the level of agreement among students and teachers on a post-secondary readiness skill inventory. The findings indicated that differences among groups did exist in terms of both high school preparation and post-secondary outcomes. In terms of high school preparation, the participation among various groups produced few results that were significantly different. Statistically significant results occurred only with respect to extracurricular activity participation by educational setting and socio-economic status. Post-secondary outcome results produced more statistically significant findings than high school preparation. The variable of educational setting produced statistically significant post-secondary outcomes in the three areas of employment, post-secondary education, and recreation and leisure. Ethnicity was the next largest determinant to influence post-secondary outcomes, and statistically significant results were found for both post-secondary education and independent living. Socio-economic status produced statistically significant results for employment outcomes. The variable of gender produced no results that reached statistical significance. The last findings provided an analysis of the agreement between students and teachers in terms of a post-secondary readiness skill inventory. Overall students and teachers demonstrated a high level of congruency in which similar responses were indicated within 95% of the items

DCDT fast facts: Teacher hidden bias

A chief barrier hindering the inclusive practices of students with disabilities, specifically those from culturally and linguistically diverse populations (CLD), is the attitude of teachers instructing them (Mullen, 2001). Particularly, these attitudes refer to the hidden biases teachers associate to this population. Research suggests both schools and cultures are becoming more diverse; however, the racial and ethnicity gap is widening relative to teacher (i.e., White) and student (e.g., Black, Native American, Latino) populations (Dingus, 2008; Philip, 2011; Shim, 2018) in the school environment. A substantial body of literature exists examining the impact of White educators’ pedagogical practices perpetuating and supporting racial ideologies in their instruction (e.g., Galman, Pica-Smith, & Rosenberger, 2010; Picower, 2009). Therefore, a need exists for both pre-service, early-career, and veteran teachers to understand the “practical consequences of social, racial, economic and cultural hierarchies; concentrations of power and control; and oppression” (Shim, 2018, p. 127). Simply put, the internalized hidden biases of teachers are hindering the potential of students with disabilities from CLD populations. The purpose of this Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) Fast Facts is to illuminate a number of strategies to assist teachers of all backgrounds to overcome their hidden biases toward students with disabilities from CLD populations

Goal Content Analysis for Middle and High School Students With Disabilities

Goal setting is associated with self-determination and student involvement in learning. Middle and high school students receiving special education services and corresponding special education teachers across six states were asked to name goals on which the students were working. A comparison of the academic, transition, and social goals named by 332 students was conducted to determine differences between groups. Results are reported by school level and the ability levels of students, evaluating both student- and teacher-reported goals from a written evaluation scenario. Relative grade level in school was shown to be a significant factor for content variation but not ability level. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The impact of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on student self-determination

This is the publisher's version, also found here: http://cec.metapress.com/content/c5n78j60w945vk2x/?p=9b7820f03e7c4a37be218efe08d17483&pi=0Promoting self-determination has become a best practice in special education. There remains, however, a paucity of causal evidence for interventions to promote self-determination. This article presents the results of a group-randomized, modified equivalent control group design study of the efficacy of the Self Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Agran, Mithaug, & Martin, 2000) to promote self-determination. The authors used data on self-determination using multiple measures collected with 312 high school students with cognitive disabilities in both a control and a treatment group to examine the relationship between the SDLMI and self-determination. After determining strong measurement invariance for each latent construct, they found significant differences in latent means across measurement occasions and differential effects attributable to the SDLMI. This was true across disability category, though there was variance across disability populations

The State of Personnel Preparation: Secondary Transition

Presentation at the CEC Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) Annual Conference

Effect of Intervention With the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on Access and Goal Attainment

Promoting self-determination has been identified as best practice in special education and transition services and as a means to promote goal attainment and access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. There have been, however, limited evaluations of the effects of interventions to promote self-determination on outcomes related to access to the general education curriculum. This article reports findings from a cluster or group-randomized trial control group study examining the impact of intervention using the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction on students’ academic and transition goal attainment and on access to the general education curriculum for students with intellectual disability and learning disabilities. Findings support the efficacy of the model for both goal attainment and access to the general education curriculum, though students varied in the patterns of goal attainment as a function of type of disability.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The Effect of Student-Directed Transition Planning With a Computer-Based Reading Support Program on the Self-Determination of Students With Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of student-directed transition planning instruction (Whose Future Is It Anyway? curriculum) with a computer-based reading support program (Rocket Reader) on the self-determination, self-efficacy and outcome expectancy, and transition planning knowledge of students with disabilities. This study employed a pre- and postmeasure design with 168 middle school students with disabilities who were assigned to an experimental group (n = 86) and control group (n = 82). The results of the study demonstrated that self-determination, self-efficacy, and outcome expectancy for education planning improved through the application of Rocket Reader . Avenues are discussed for promoting middle school students’ self-determination in their transition planning, as are implications for future research.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Examining Individual and Instruction-Related Predictors of the Self-Determination of Students With Disabilities: Multiple Regression Analyses

Youngsun Lee, PhD, is an assistant professor of special education in department of education, Inha University, Korea. Her current research interests include self-determination, transition planning, and technology use for secondary students with disabilities.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline