Impact of Transition Preparation on Post-Secondary Success

Mary Morningstar, Patricia Noonan, Bruce Frey, Jennifer Ng, Dot Nary, Kendra Williams-Diehm,

Beth Clavenna-Deane, Perry Graves, Ryan Kellems, Zachary McCall, Mary Pearson, Diana K. Wade

2

Research Design

3

Research Question

Is there a relationship between the quality of a

student’s high school transition preparation and:1. Knowledge of self-determination;

2. Perceived levels of self-determination;

3. College achievement (GPA);

4. Hope and motivation; and

5. Locus of Control?

4

Sampling

Characteristics of Institutions 12 Total Institutions 5 States (Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Utah, and Washington) Urban, suburban, and small city locations

Criteria for Participants Choice to participate Currently enrolled in post-secondary setting Had an IEP in high school Completed high school 1997 or later

New IDEA transition plan requirements

5

Sampling Process

Initial considerations KU Institutional Review Board (IRB) Contact with disability services facilitators IRB process at participating institutions

Data collection timeline Email to facilitators with flier and request to forward email to

students Facilitators sent email to students Follow up, follow up, follow up

6

Online Survey

Consists of 3 scales

The Arc’s Self-Determination Scale (Wehmeyer, 1995)

Psychological empowerment subscale

Secondary School Student’s Locus of Control Scale (Rehaflt, 2006)

The Adult Trait Hope Scale (Snyder, Harris et al., 1991)

7

Online Survey - Design

Accessibility issues

Challenging to find software that created surveys that were accessible.

EZSurvey by Raosoft

User Testing

8

Online Survey - LogicOnline survey utilized logic so we only collected data from our target population

9

Online Survey - ScalesEach scale was listed on it’s own page

10

Online Survey - LayoutSimplified layout provided for easier accessibility

11

Interview Purpose: To “quantify” the quality of transition program for self-determination Interview Questions

3 Areas of Focus1. Student Involvement in Transition Planning and IEP

Meetings

2. Skill Development & Opportunities for Self-Advocacy and Self-Determination

3. Post-Secondary Outcome Preparation

12

Step 1: Transition Quality Indicators AlignmentIndicators/Standards Reviewed:1. Quality Indicators for

Transition Assessment (Morningstar, 2005)

2. TransQual – (Cornell University, 2006)

3. Taxonomy for Transition Programming (Kohler, 1997)

4. Transition Planning Inventory (Clark & Patton, 1997)

5. Secondary Teachers Transition Survey (Morningstar & Benitez, 2005)

6. National Longitudinal Transition Survey 2 (http://www.nlts2.org/reports/2006_08/nlts2_report_2006_08_complete.pdf)

Alignment

1. Reviewed each assessment

2. Chose only those indicators matched to the 3 interview areas

3. Coded the indicators to align for recurring themes

4. Found emerging themes in the 3 areas from overlap of indicators

5. Used themes to develop questions

13

Step 2: Interview Protocol DevelopmentFirst

Reviewed literature about developing effective recall questions (Fowler, 1995)

Second Question and probe development

Third Question development to elicit memory recall

Fourth Develop the interview protocol (multiple edits)

14

Example: Interview Recall Questions

Example

of

Recall

Questions

What other kinds of things happened in your IEP meetings besides just talking about your goals for the future?

Probe: Some students have told us that during IEP meetings, the team came up with a plan for accomplishing their IEP and transition goals. Other students have said they really didn’t have much help during meetings in developing a transition plan. How did your IEP team work with you to develop a plan for your future goals?

15

Step 3: Rubric Rating Indicator Development

Reviewed rubric research (Arter & McTighe, 2001)

Reviewed rubric examples

Developed a Likert scale with indicators

Provided key words and descriptors for the Likert scale Exemplary – 5 Partial – 3 Poor – 1

16

Rubric Example: Post-Secondary Education and Preparation

Question 11: What kinds of things did you learn in

high school that helped you get ready for college?

5 - Exemplary: Described examples where student systematically (i.e., class sessions) learned the skills (.e.g. study skills, college applications, meeting with counselor, disability services, etc.).

3 – Partial: Described examples where student informally (i.e., help from teachers) learned the skills from the program (.e.g. study skills, college applications, meeting with counselor, disability services, etc.).

1 – Poor: Described few or no experiences (neither systematic nor informal) to learn the skills.

17

Step 4: Pilot Testing

July Interviews

Conducted Inter-rater Reliability

October Interview

Accessibility

18

Results – Preliminary Data

Demographics 94 total responded 21 responded with usable data Large, urban 4-year universities

19

Trends from Initial Survey RespondentsParticipants show high mean scores on all scales

Psychological Empowerment

X = 13.98 (out of 16)

Hope Total Scale Score

X = 6.18 (out of 8)

Locus of Control

X = 3.16 (out of 4)

20

Trends from Initial Survey RespondentsSignificant correlation between GPA and Agency subscale of Hope Scale R(19) = .493, p < .05

Significant correlation between GPA and Locus of Control Scale R(19) = .495, p < .05

Significant correlation between Locus of Control and Agency subscale of Hope Scale R(19) = .908, p < .01

21

Contact InformationBeth Clavenna-Deane

bacd@ku.edu

Perry Graves pgraves5@ku.edu

Ryan Kellems rkellems@ku.edu

Zachary McCall zmccall@ku.edu

Mary Pearson mmpson@ku.edu

Diana K. Wade dkwade@ku.edu

University of Kansas School of Education http://soe.ku.edu/

Mary Morningstar, PhD ~ mmorningstar@ku.edu

Patricia Noonan, PhD ~ pnoonan@ku.edu