Successful Transition of Students With Disabilities to 21st-Century College and Careers

Is College and Career Readiness Adequately Addressed in Annual and Postsecondary Goals?

“…More recently, researchers suggest standards-based IEPs must be “triangular” in that postsecondary goals, state standards, and industry standards are considered in the process of writing annual goals (Peterson et al, 2013). The triangulated process relies heavily upon connecting the annual goals to academic standards, whether these are state standards or the Common Core, and has been expanded to include nonacademic considerations (Gothberg, Peterson, Peak, & Sedaghat, 2015). Although studies in targeted PD that emphasize writing quality IEP transition goals to ensure quality have occurred (e.g., Blackwell & Rossetti, 2014; Flannery et al, 2015), these efforts have not been expanded to include CCR content.…”

Toward a Systematic Review of Legal Cases: Secondary Transition and Students With Disabilities Over the Last 5 Years

“…A promising policy that is gaining momentum in several districts around the country is the procedure of triangulating transition IEP goals with the industry standards for postsecondary education or training, employment, and independent living. The process includes conducting a baseline analysis of the student’s present level in regard to the industry standard, determining the gap between the present level and achieving the standard, and finally creating the annual IEP goals needed to close the gap (Gothberg, Peterson, Peak, & Sedaghat, 2015; Lowenthal & Bassett, 2012; Peterson et al, 2013). Districts that have focused on this process report a decrease in complaints that could lead to litigation and an increase in successful student outcomes (Gothberg & Peterson, 2017), including districts in Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Nebraska (Burden & Peterson, 2017; Gothberg, Brezensk, & Krefeld-Freier, 2018).…”

Creative Self-Efficacy: An Essential Transition Skill for Students With Learning Disabilities

“…Although academic skills are a vital component for transition, it may not be enough to prepare children/youth with LD for careers or postsecondary education (Gothberg et al, 2015;Morningstar et al, 2017). Nonacademic skills (e.g., daily living skills, workplace skills) also are needed for future success and positive post-academic transition (Bartholomew et al, 2015;Gothberg et al, 2015;Morningstar et al, 2017). As part of the nonacademic skills, a focus to provide the knowledge necessary to use 21st-century skills should be included in transition plans for students with LD (Lombardi et al, 2017).…”

“…Creative self-efficacy is the belief in one's ability to think creatively, think critically, problem solve, and find solutions, all of which are considered required 21st-century learning skills to be college and career ready (Gothberg et al, 2015;Lombardi et al, 2015). This construct stems from the combination of the word "creativity" with Bandura's (1986) "selfefficacy," defined as the belief in one's ability to do something.…”

“…Moving into the third decade of this century, new careers are emerging rapidly and it is important that individuals with LD develop skills that prepare them for the myriad of jobs that have not even been created at this point in time (Gothberg et al, 2015). As education moves further into the 21st century, special educators must be aware of the changing job market and the importance of creativity and creative self-efficacy as they work to transition students with LD into this developing future (Bromberg & Theokas, 2016;Florida, 2012).…”