The educational transition process experienced by adolescents with disabilities and their parents was examined in this study. The results of the qualitative study can be interpreted to conclude that students rarely were engaged in transition planning, and when they were engaged, it came too late in their high school careers. Students with disabilities and their parents described dissatisfaction in the following areas: inadequate communication from school staff, frustration with assumptions made about the student, funneling of the student into traditional adult service programs, and a lack of accountability from the schools. Even those students who reported being engaged in the transition process experienced inadequate transition planning. Strategies to improve transition planning are presented.

This study used qualitative methods to evaluate the perceptions of parents, educators, and school administrators in three large, urban school districts (Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Rochester) regarding services for children with autism spectrum disorder within the context of limited district resources. Facilitators followed a standard discussion guide that contained open-ended questions regarding participants’ views on strengths and limitations of existing services and contextual factors that would facilitate or inhibit the process of introducing new interventions. Three primary themes were identified: (1) tension between participant groups (teachers and paraprofessionals, staff and administration, teachers and parents, special education and general education teachers), (2) necessity of autism spectrum disorder–specific and behavioral training for school personnel, and (3) desire for a school culture of accepting difference. These themes highlight the importance of developing trainings that are feasible to deliver on a large scale, that focus on practical interventions, and that enhance communication and relationships of school personnel with one another and with families.

BACKGROUND: Project SEARCH is a successful job readiness program for high school students with disabilities, ages 18-21, and is recognized for its innovative approach and collaborative efforts between business, education and vocational rehabilitative services. Project SEARCH employment outcomes far exceed the national average rate of employment for people with disabilities, with a 68% success rate in transitioning students from high school into competitive employment. However, little is known about the long term employment outcomes for the young people who have completed the training program. OBJECTIVE: This study, that includes longitudinal data collected from three Project SEARCH sites in Upstate New York that have an impressive 83% success rate overall, provides the first longitudinal analysis of the impact of Project SEARCH. CONCLUSION: Data collected as part of this 5-year evaluation project indicate promising trends; and support the notion that the Project SEARCH model is successfully preparing young students with disabilities with the skills necessary to both obtain and retain employment in integrated work settings. While these findings are promising, further research is needed to substantiate the reported outcomes.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in public education settings experience difficulties with transitions during classroom routines, which can result in challenging behavior. Single-subject research supports techniques for transitions, but school-based approaches often require resources and training unavailable in low-resource districts, limiting implementation. We developed and evaluated the Schedules, Tools, and Activities for Transitions (STAT) program, a short-term, manualized intervention of behavioral supports to support daily routine transitions for students with ASD (K-5) in underresourced districts. We utilized a multisite, cluster-randomized, group comparison design (immediate treatment versus waitlist) with matched pairs ( n = 150 students, 57 educators). Data indicated (a) no group differences for academic engagement or classroom independence, and (b) an advantage for STAT in reducing challenging behavior and increasing teacher fidelity. Results show preliminary support for an intervention that is feasible and perceived as sustainable in real-world settings.

BACKGROUND: The New York State Partnerships in Employment Systems Change project (NYS PIE) was a statewide initiative aimed at developing and sustaining systemic activities and policies that improve opportunities for competitive, integrated employment for transition-aged youth and young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Specifically, the goal of NYS PIE was to promote an Employment First platform in NYS making competitive, integrated employment the first choice in coordinating service delivery for young people with IDD. OBJECTIVE: This articles describes the characteristics and impact of NYS PIE on the state of New York. CONCLUSION: The NYS PIE project utilized a cross-systems approach, grounded in the principles of the Collective Impact model, to bring together systems that have not traditionally, nor consistently, collaborated or communicated with one another. Focusing on the shared goals of improving quality of life and independence of New Yorkers with disabilities, the project aimed to increase the level of communication and collaboration between education, vocational rehabilitation and the state DD agency at state, regional and local levels. Project activities focused on building capacity around sustainable models that ensure employment preparation begins early in a student's high school career, that students have opportunities to work in the community prior to graduation, and that young adults in segregated work environments are encouraged and supported to transition to work and careers in the community.

This article analyses how, during a one-year project, a wiki was established to enable student print journalists to collaborate to create a professional print news product. The idea was to replicate a professional newsroom where a second set of eyes is always cast on material before publication but to do so in an environment that provided flexibility of access and therefore accommodated demanding student timetables. The wiki provided a space for student peer editing of news and feature stories enhancing the collaborative, creative and critical literacies of those involved. The article explores how peer review (in the writing process) helped these reviewers become better writers and ultimately better journalists. It reviews literature regarding the use of wikis as a collaborative learning tool and uses student surveys to assess the success of the pilot project.

A total of 1018 English-language abstracts in the field of journalism studies, published from 2000–2011 in three internationally peer-reviewed journals, were subjected to computerized textual analysis and manual (human) discourse analysis to discover trends. The project aimed to build on previous studies and to describe what the researchers expected would be a new consensus snapshot among editors and top-level reviewers of the evolution and direction of Journalism Studies in the English-speaking world. Expected results emerged and are presented in detail: national priorities dominate two of the three journals while international and generally theoretical themes dominate the third. However, an unexpected result was that while the three journals contain identifiable themes in journalism studies over the twelve years examined, there was negligible evidence of interaction between these themes within or between the journals. Systems theory suggests that the ‘journalism’ itself, which has been the target of the ‘studies’ has been experiencing a period of stagnation and that very little, if any, overall interaction, discipline development and change has taken place. We argue that a root cause for this is the lack of professional leadership in journalism.