School systems depend on special educators to coordinate the involvement of outside partners in the transition planning process (Oertle & . Seader, 2015). Second, I explored educator views of the barriers and facilitators of effective networks to (a) understand what factors may influence how transition networks are established and maintained, and (b) identify any educator, school, or district variables which cannot be taken into account in the regression model. Without these cases, the transitional caseload variable was no longer significant in the model (other significant predictors were significant for both models).
In the case of significant ANOVAs at the level of the transition network, I conducted MANOVAs to evaluate differences across school, service, and community sub-networks. I hypothesized that special educators working primarily with students with moderate/severe disabilities would have larger transition networks because (a) more adult service providers focus on the needs of youth with more intensive support needs, and (b) the more intensive support needs in these individuals likely need a wider range of agencies and organizations to be engaged in the transition process to access post-secondary education, employment and independent living (Certo et al., 2008). To address the inherent biases of individual researchers in interpreting the data, I adopted a team-based approach to coding.
The following percentages are based on the number of teachers who have “communicated” with each partner on transition topics over the past two years. A large number of special education (range) teachers reported that they did not know anyone in the remaining roles. A small percentage of teachers reported not knowing the family members of students with workload limitations (5.1%) or not communicating with family members in the group. previous two years on transition topics (4.3%).
Most variables included in the regression model were highlighted as important for collaboration during the semi-structured interviews. They also felt that middle school teachers could do more to establish network partners earlier in the transition process. Esther believed that the sizes of the transition network were similar regardless of student disability group; although they may vary in the composition of partners.
Esther, a high school teacher who works in an affluent neighborhood, emphasized the overwhelming involvement of parents and students in the transition process. Future interventions are needed to address these barriers and encourage the participation of a wide range of partners in the transition process. In contrast, the majority of faculty preferred that communication between all thirty service and community partners increase in the future.
Teachers of students with moderate/severe disabilities are also likely to spend more time in the community participating in work-based learning and community-based teaching that help foster partnerships beyond the school walls. Fifth, a primary variable in the study was student disability group (i.e., mild disabilities, moderate/severe disabilities). Survey results indicated that only 59.3% of special educators had communicated with a transition coordinator about transition topics in the previous two years.
Findings suggest that while special educators communicate with a wide range of partners in the transition process, most partnerships are concentrated within the school system.
Educator Background
Today we're going to talk about collaboration - who you're currently working with on transition topics and a little about your relationships. Our conversation today and all direct quotes from this interview will be anonymized so that you cannot be identified. In addition, you can decide at any time to end the interview or not to answer certain questions.
Let's start by stating your name, age, and the number of years you have been teaching. You can talk about it as a group, or if the answers differ from partner to partner, we can discuss each individually. How much knowledge do you think you have about how to collaborate purposefully and meaningfully with agencies and providers?
What attitudes or behaviors may need to change to facilitate collaboration with agencies and suppliers. Are there any of these partners that you don't know or haven't worked with that you would like to have.
Views on Collaboration
What kinds of differences in transition networks would you expect across teachers of students with mild and moderate/severe disabilities. Why do you think teachers with students with more severe disabilities may have larger transition networks. What kinds of differences in transition networks would you expect across middle and high school teachers.
Why do you think middle school teachers may have larger transition networks than high school teachers? What are you doing after school?” Promoting extracurricular inclusion for youth with disabilities in transition age. Retrieved from: http://community.cec.sped.org/dcdt/cec-transition-standards Council for Exceptional Children.
Comparing transition planning, postsecondary education, and employment outcomes for students with intellectual and other disabilities. Time-course comparisons of youth outcomes with disabilities up to 4 years after high school. Postsecondary outcomes of youth with disabilities up to 8 years after high school.
After high school results for young adults with disabilities up to 6 years after high school. Transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities, autism, or other disabilities: Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. Using cultural and social capital to improve postsecondary outcomes and expand transition models for youth with disabilities.
