September, 2006      

Capacity-Building Institute (CBI) Updates
This past year, Paula Kohler coordinated NSTTAC's role in state-wide transition institues in Oklahoma and New Mexico. The Institutes served over 750 professionals, representing numerous local school and regional teams. Key participants included special educators, Vocational Rehabilitation counselors, and other service providers. The CBI in NM focused on improving employment and secondary education outcomes and interagency collaboration, while the OK Institute focused on student-centered planning and development. For further information, contact paula.kohler@wmich.edu.

Dissemination Update
In addition to the newsletter and various out-reach activities, recent dissemination activities included presentations at the Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) Technical Assistance Conference, Pennsylvania State Transition Conference, and New Hampshire's APEX II Project. For further information, contact Larry Kortering at korteringlj@appstate.edu.
 

Conference: 18th Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference, San Antonio, TX.
October 22-25, 2006
The 18th Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference is designed to enhance the leadership skills of all adults who are seeking to strengthen interventions among school, community, and family, especially those in at-risk situations. Topics include high school improvement strategies, transition programs, truancy prevention and reduction strategies, instructional strategies for students with disabilities, service-learning, and alternative schools. http://www.dropoutprevention.org/NDPC%2DSD/calendar/
 

In December 2005, states were requested to submit State Performance Plans on 20 indicators for IDEA Part B services and 14 indicators for IDEA Part C services, to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Beginning February, 2007 states will submit the data collected on performance indicators in their Annual Performance Reports. NSTTAC's focus is on Indicator 13.

Indicator 13 is the “percent of youth aged 16 and above with an IEP that includes coordinated, measurable, annual IEP goals and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet the post-secondary goals” (20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(B)).

NSTTAC has developed a checklist to assist states in collecting data on Indicator 13; a draft is available to view at www.nsttac.org. NSTTAC is in discussion with OSEP staff to obtain approval for the proposed Indicator 13 Checklist as a tool states may use for data collection. There also will be an interactive web-based version available to complete online or printed out; providing  definitions and examples for each item.

State Performance Plan (SPPs) resources are available through the Federal Resource Center network at http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/content/view/248/358/

Other OSEP funded Technical Assistance and Dissemination centers have analyzed State Performance Plans on other Part B Indicators:

• Indicator 3: National Center on Educational Outcomes www.nceo.info
• Indicator 4: Center on Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports www.pbis.org
• Indicator 5: National Institute for Urban School Improvement www.urbanschools.org
• Indicators 6 and 12: National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center www.nectac.org
• Indicators 7 and 8: Early Childhood Outcomes Center www.the-eco-center.org
• Indicators 9 and 10: National Center for Culturally Responsive Education Systems www.nccrest.org
• Indicators 11 and 15: National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring www.monitoringcenter.isuhsc.edu
• Indicators 16 through 19: Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Education www.directionservice.org

Most closely related to secondary transition, the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities www.dropoutprevention.org is assisting states in addressing Indicators 1 and 2 (graduation and dropout rates, respectively). The National Post-School Outcomes Center www.psocenter.org has developed a sampling calculator and resources to assist states with Indicator 14, regarding data collection on post-school employment and education. These two centers and NSTTAC will host a forum on September 20, 2020 that will help States in “Making the Connection” among Indicators 1, 2, 13, and 14. Information about the forum is available at www.nsttac.org.
 

The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) is helping parents and advocates improve educational results for students with disabilities. Offering a large range of current research practices and new resources that have been made available at this website -- http://www.fape.org

IMPACT - Parenting Teens and Young Adults with Disabilities is published by the Institute on Community Integration, and the Research and Training Center on Community Living, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. With a long list of articles, all useful in the education of teens and young adults with disabilities, this resource offers a wide range of tools. http://www.ici.umn.edu/products/impact/192/default.html

Guidance and Career Counselor’s Toolkit for counselors who are advising students with disabilities on their post-secondary options. the Toolkit is produced by the Heath Project – George Washington University. The Toolkit has an easy to use guide answers questions and offers advice as to who you should contact to answer a particular question. http://www.heath.gwu.edu/toolkit/toolkit.pdf

National Truancy Program Registry is supported by the National Center for School Engagement. This site offers a chance for truancy programs to interact and provides a resource for locating local truancy programs. The resource does not offer advice about truancy, but rather provides numerous resources that offer information. http://www.schoolengagement.org/index.cfm/Truancy%20program%20Registry

Gates to Adventure is a free online transition curriculum created by the Postsecondary Education Programs Network (PEPNet) through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Gates to Adventure is designed for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, ages 14 through 21, but can be used with any students. The instructional goal of the training is to enhance students' understanding of skills needed for successful transition from secondary to postsecondary education. http://www.pepnet.org/train.asp

Colleges with Comprehensive Programs for Students with Learning Disabilities provides a list of specific universities. By clicking on the names of the colleges and universities, you will be taken to the pages of their websites which detail their learning disabilities programs and, in most cases, list the names of and contact information for staff able to answer your questions.
http://www.college-scholarships.com/learning_disabilities.htm

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a free consulting service designed to increase the employability of people with disabilities. It provides individualized solutions for worksite accommodations, technical assistance regarding the ADA, and other disability-related legislation. http://www.jan.wvu.edu/

Your Employment Selections (YES!) is a motion-video, internet-based job preference program for youth and adults with disabilities. This program allows youth and adult participants with limited or no reading skills to watch videos of jobs, listen as a narrator describes key tasks in each job, and select preferred ones. The program shows motion video for 120 different jobs. the program is produced by the Technology, Research, and Innovation in Special Education (TRISPED) Project at Utah State University. http://www.yesjobsearch.com/index.cfm
 

• College Planning for Students with Disabilities
• Parent-Child Connectedness Research
• National Consortium On Leadership and Disability for Youth Web Site
• PEPNet, the Postsecondary Education Programs Network
• Division on Career Development and Transition
• Federal Resource Center (FRC)
• Regional Resource Centers for Special Education (RRCs)
  • Northeast Regional Resource Center (NERRC)
  • Mid-South Regional Resource Center (MSRRC)
  • Southeast Regional Resource Center (SERRC)
  • North Central Regional Resource Center (NCRRC)
  • Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (MPRRC)
  • Western Regional Resource Center (WRRC)
• National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Inc.
• National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)
• National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET)
• National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
• National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD)
• National High School Center
• National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2)
• National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO)
• National Transition Network (NTN)
• Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
• The PACER Center
• Self-Determination Technical Assistance Center Project (SDTAC)
• Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers
• The Youthhood

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock offers a Guide to Making the Transition from High School to College for students and faculty.  Representing one of the many resources available from the Disability Support Services at the University of Arkansas; the transition guide breaks down the steps sequentially for students to plan an effective transition from high school to college. The webpage is broken down into a clear and concise layout that is easy to comprehend. http://www.ualr.edu/dssdept/transition.html

The Ontario High School Transition Program provides information for parents on how to help their child prepare for transition. The webpage has useful links at the top allowing parents the ease of going directly to the information that they require. The main headings are understanding transition, planning for transition, transition meeting outline, transition services flow chart, local agency information, college bound checklist, and armed forces links. http://www.ontariosd.k12.or.us/ohs/Transition.htm#trans

Gretchen Everhart School, Tallahassee, Florida has produced a guide for parents and families to prepare students with disabilities to enter post-secondary environments. As well as the transition guide there is access to a transition services section that has a wealth of information. The table of contents breaks the process down into clear steps which directly link to each specific topic. http://www.everhart.leon.k12.fl.us/waguide.htm

Parents' Guide to Transition: What Happens After High School?
The Montana Systems Change for Transition Services for Youth with Disabilities Project produced this Guide. This site provides information about school and community-based transition-related resources. http://www.pluk.org/trans.html

The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) offers a website that is a resource tool with a variety of sources for information about different aspects of transition. It offers a broad overview of secondary transition. http://www.ncset.org/topics/ieptransition/default.asp?topic=28

An overview of transition services by Rockingham County Public Schools allows the visitor to work through the process of developing a transition plan. This site breaks down what each step means and provides parents with possible ideas to help their child.  http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/RCPS_sped/transerv.html

Family Village, a global community of disability-related resources, is produced by the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. This website provides a long list of websites related to secondary transition. The sites are separated into different areas including transition information, general career, interest inventories, independent living, employment, health, civil rights and legal information, post-secondary education, transportation, programs and benefits, and supports for youth and young adults. http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/sp/TRANS.HTML

Disability History- An Important Part of Our Heritage
On July 26, 2006, Americans celebrated the 16^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Since the ADA was signed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, many changes have been made, creating a more accessible environment for America’s approximately 51.2 million people with disabilities (U.S. Census, 2006). 

Most Americans, however, are unfamiliar with the events which led to the signing of the ADA.  Buoyed by the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, and the feminist movement of the 1970s, disability leaders held sit-ins in federal buildings, blocked inaccessible buses from moving, drafted legislation, and protested in the streets. Like the broader civil rights movements which preceded it, the disability civil rights movement had its own heroes and champions, for example, Ed Roberts, Gini Laurie (grandmother of the independent living movement), and Justin Dart (father of the Americans with Disabilities Act) to name just a few.

Teaching children and youth through national identification of specific months to honor the history and contributions of women and those of  African American, Hispanic American, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Asian/Pacific American backgrounds has been recognized as an important part of our nation’s heritage.  Disability history, however, has been largely ignored in curricula at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels.  This is particularly noteworthy when one considers the fact that people with disabilities represent the one population subgroup that anyone can join at any time.

The tide is beginning to turn, however, due in large part to grassroots efforts of young disability leaders.  The youth-led movement for equal education on disability history celebrated its first victory in West Virginia in April 2006 with the passage of HB4491, establishing the third week in October as “Disability History Week” in that state.  This landmark legislation will: require instruction in public schools on disability history, people with disabilities, and the disability rights movement; encourage colleges and universities to conduct and promote activities that provide education, awareness and understanding of disability history; encourage the legislature to provide recognition through an annual, joint proclamation; and provide resources for instruction and activities.

West Virginia is not the only state taking such action.  In Florida, a group of youth took their grassroots efforts to the next level by meeting with Governor Jeb Bush.  The Florida Governor agreed to support their efforts by issuing an executive order supporting teaching during two separate “Disability History and Awareness Weeks.”  The youth leaders from West Virginia and Florida are also working with youth leaders from other states interested in introducing similar bills.

Learning about the history, values, and beliefs of one’s society has been recognized as one of 12 key components to effective youth leadership development (Woyach and Cox (1997)).  If you are an educator or other youth worker interested in increasing awareness and understanding of the history and contributions made by people with disabilities there are a number of resources available to assist you including the following:

ADL Curriculum Connections: Anti-Bias Lesson Plan and Resources for K–12 Educators
http://www.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/fall_2005/ This site provides suggestions for the curriculum that could be used for teaching about disability history.

Center on Human Policies: Disability Studies for Teachers
http://www.disabilitystudiesforteachers.org This site was created for teachers to use as a reference tool when they are teaching grades 6-12 about disability history.  It contains lesson plans, activities, and materials that the teacher may use when teaching Disability History.

Disability History Museum
http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/ This site is intended to promote understanding about the historical experience of people with disabilities by recovering, chronicling, and interpreting their stories. Contents include a library in two parts: a document collection and a visual still collection.

Disability Social History Project
http://www.disabilityhistory.org/index.html The Disability History Project is a community history project which provides information about heroes in the disability movement, a disability history timeline, and related information.

EDGE - Education for Disability & Gender Equity
http://www.disabilityhistory.org/dwa/edge/curriculum/ A high school curriculum incorporating disability and gender issues into humanities and science.

Family Village:
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/general/history.html This resource connects you to a number of other resources on disability history.

Florida Youth Council:
http://www.ncld-youth.info/fyc.htm This site, which details the grassroots efforts to celebrate Disability History and Awareness Weeks in Florida, also provides general information about disability history.

Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities:
http://www.mncdd.org/parallels/menu.html This site provides a wealth of information on disability history.

Mountain State Centers for Independent Living:
http://www.mtstcil.org/advocacy/2006youth-sb472.html  A site dedicated to the group of youth who brought the “Establishing Disability History” Law to West Virginia.

National Public Radio’s: Beyond Affliction the Disability History Project
http://www.npr.org/programs/disability/ba_shows.dir/index_sh.html This project offers an in depth look into disability history and the civil rights movement for individuals with disabilities.

Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER Center):
http://www.pacer.org/C3/curriculum/Session2/index.htm This page provides both resources and curriculums for teaching Disability History to all.

Resource Center for Independent Living:
http://www.rcil.com/DisabilityFAQ/DisabilityRightsMovement.html This site provides a timeline of the disability civil rights movement.

Santa Monica College:
http://www.smc.edu/disabledstudent/Guide/34philos.htm This web page offers insight into the philosophy behind disability rights.

Smithsonian Museum of American History:
http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/disabilityrights/welcome.html This site offers a virtual tour of the Disability Rights Movement Exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum.

Tolerance.Org:
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?p=0&ar=631 This site contains middle school level activities that can be done in the classroom relating to disability history.

West Virginia Legislation
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2006_SESSIONS/RS/BILLS/hb4491%20enr.htm This is the West Virginia bill referenced in the body of the text of this article.
 

"Nine tenths of education is encouragement." – Anatole France