This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of barriers to planning and organizing work-based learning experiences (WBLEs) for students with intellectual disability. Participants were high school special education teachers who had at least one student with an intellectual disability age 14 or older on their caseload ( n = 256). Teachers were asked to complete an online questionnaire about WBLEs. We used content analysis procedures to analyze teacher’s responses to two open-ended questions about barriers to WBLEs that occur in the school and community. Although teachers reported barriers to school and community settings separately, their responses were similar across settings and collapsed into one set of themes. Barriers to planning and organizing WBLEs included opportunities, resources, stakeholder support, time, and support for students. We discuss the need for additional research about contextual factors that may relate to barriers as well as practical implications for how schools and teachers can address barriers.

Many youth with disabilities experience persistently low rates of competitive integrated employment (CIE) and participation in higher education. In 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) established a policy focus on CIE as the goal of vocational services for youth and individuals with disabilities. In addition, WIOA created provision for Pre–Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) to ensure that state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies focused sufficient resources toward transition-age youth. This study examined a sample of WIOA State Implementation Plans in depth using content analysis to identify how state VR agencies prioritized the provision of Pre-ETS services to youth with disabilities. Analysis of state plans resulted in three emergent themes: (a) instructional priorities, (b) instructional contexts, and (c) networks of stakeholders. We discuss the implications of these themes for future research, policy, and practice related to the employment of individuals with disabilities.

As inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs emerge and expand across the United States, many young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have access to higher education for the first time. To support growth and identity development, students with IDD should have access to all aspects of college life (e.g., activities, relationships, opportunities). Furthermore, students with IDD should have the freedom to take emotional, physical, and intellectual risks relative to those of their peers without disabilities. This leading edge article is written by practitioners and researchers with and without disabilities associated with the University of Missouri St. Louis IPSE program, Succeed. To center the voices of persons with disabilities, any direct quotations are in italics. In this article, we advocate for increased dignity of risk in IPSE, present a model to assess and make programmatic decisions regarding dignity of risk in IPSE, and highlight five philosophical values that guide our work toward “messy inclusion.”

As vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies continue to implement provisions of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to provide employment-related transition services to youth with disabilities, it is unclear if implementation plans include predictors of post-school employment and evidence-based transition practices. We conducted a content analysis of 54 state/territory VR agency WIOA plans from 2020 to determine the extent to which research-based transition recommendations (RBTRs) were included. Our findings indicate that there was substantial variability in the number of RBTRs present within plans but that most plans ( n = 46) included between 50% and 70% of RBTRs. Career awareness, interagency collaboration, and general work experience activities were most frequently represented. Of note, student involvement in transition planning, technology skills instruction, and career technical education did not appear as frequently in plans. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

This study investigated the relation between grade level, support needs, and use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and the participation of secondary age students with intellectual disability in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. Participants were special education teachers with at least one student with an intellectual disability on their caseload who participated in a school-sponsored extracurricular activity ( N = 498). Data were collected using an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Teachers reported students participated in a variety of extracurricular activities within the categories of sports/fitness, school clubs, special events, and performing arts. The majority of students participated in activities for less than 3 hr per week and did not participate in activities that only included students with disabilities. Support needs and use of AAC were related to the type of extracurricular activities in which students participated, the amount of time students spent in extracurricular activities each week, and the extent to which students participated in extracurricular activities that only included students with disabilities. Grade-level differences were nonsignificant, except in relation to activities that only included students with disabilities.

More students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) are attending post-secondary education than ever before. As more students with IDD enter college, inclusive post-secondary education programs (IPSE) will be required to make important decisions about the types of services and supports they provide. IPSE program staff should aim to provide supports and services that honor students’ dignity of risk and facilitate opportunities for students to take risks. The purpose of this article is to describe a conceptual framework IPSE program staff can use to assess the extent to which the supports and services they provide enable risk-taking opportunities for students in their program. The framework includes five steps: identify areas for growth, understand risks and rewards for students and stakeholders, evaluate natural supports and determine appropriate supplemental supports, identify and enable access to natural consequences, and reflect and plan for more authentic risk. An example of how to use the framework in the context of residential housing will be described.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which extracurricular activities are included in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of secondary age students with intellectual disability (ID). Student characteristics (grade, disability, use of augmentative and alternative communication) were examined to explore potential group differences. Participants were 498 special education teachers who had at least one student with ID on their caseload who had participated in a school sponsored extracurricular activity. Data were collected through an online questionnaire sent to members of a national listserv for transition professionals. Findings reveal that 63.69% (n = 314) of teachers reported they included information about extracurricular activities in the IEP; however, only 59.61% (n = 186) of these teachers also reported their student worked on IEP goals during extracurricular activities. Student characteristics were related to the presence of extracurricular activities in the IEP, number of IEP goals students worked on during extracurricular activities, student's most important IEP goal, and whether students received instruction on their most important IEP goal during extracurricular activities.

The purpose of this systematic literature review was to examine the association between inclusive education and postsecondary outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Despite decades-long advocacy efforts, most individuals with IDD never achieve meaningful paid employment or enroll in postsecondary education after graduation from high school. Although educational and workforce legislation has emphasized both inclusive education and competitive integrated employment for youth with IDD, no previous reviews have examined the strength of evidence for the former as a pathway to positive postsecondary outcomes. This systematic literature review searched peer-reviewed articles published between 1997 and 2018. A total of nine studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of studies found positive effects for inclusive education on either postsecondary employment or education using correlational designs. Limitations to the included studies as well as implications and recommendations for practice, policy, and future research are discussed.