A committee comprised of the former state superintendent and educational leaders launched a unique high school program (pseudonym Connections) to support the delivery of a high school curriculum that would prepare students for college and careers. Students in Connections complete their 4 years of high school, supported by an Advocate who guides…

College students on the autism spectrum report the following support needs: interpersonal skills and coping with unexpected change. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of an interpersonal skills seminar using elements of the PEERS® curriculum on the acquisition of conversational behaviors by three young adults on the…

This article provides a systematic review of the literature related to college transition programs for students with autism. It addresses how individual programs themselves, as well as associated research, can be enhanced to accommodate the needs, identities, and pathways of individual students with autism more effectively. Methods entailed…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) has predominantly existed parallel to academic education. Recently however, CTE and academic instruction have begun to intersect and merge. This confluence can be very beneficial for students with disabilities. Careful planning for both academic and CTE instruction is critical. It allows for students with…

This case study sought to gain a better understanding of the impact of the Cambridge Acceleration Program on students' transition from high school to college at one American university. The findings from an online questionnaire indicate that many participants develop a range of skills that are perceived as important in the context of university…

Students who graduate from high school who are college-ready are more likely to graduate than those who are not college-ready. The need for remediation on college campuses burdens both students and institutions with financial and opportunity costs that at best delay, and at worst impede graduation rates. At a time when workforce preparation skills…

The education provided to youth in detention and juvenile corrections facilities may be the last opportunity for these youth to reconnect with learning and graduate from high school. A large percentage of youth who exit these facilities do not return to school. Dropping out is associated with a number of negative outcomes, including higher rates…

Colleges have long had mechanisms for awarding students credit for prior learning, from evaluating transcripts to establishing standards for the units and course credit to be associated with designated scores on nationally and internationally recognized curricula and exams. While the processes for awarding credit via these traditional mechanisms…

Through a mixed-methods study, teacher education faculty members investigated the implementation of a new block of courses and an associated secondary clinical experience designed to prepare preservice secondary special educators. Seventy-three preservice candidates (a) completed then-and-now surveys assessing their confidence implementing 25…

Although transition of students with disabilities has been part of federal mandates since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990 and IDEA amendments of 1997, many students with disabilities continue to leave high school without a functional postsecondary transition plan. The purpose of this qualitative…

A pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of EnvisionIT, a 10-unit web-based curriculum designed to teach secondary students information technology (IT) skills in the context of transition-planning activities. Fifteen high schools were stratified by socioeconomic status and randomly assigned to the…

This paper identifies a rationale for leisure education for young adults with mental retardation and outlines the structure, content, and evaluation strategies of a leisure education model. The leisure instruction is intended to instill self-determination, leisure appreciation, self-awareness, decision making, social interaction, knowledge and…

In 1998, Congress authorized the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) program. The purpose of the program is to foster increased knowledge, expectations, and preparation for postsecondary education among low-income students and their families. GEAR UP projects may provide services to students, parents and…

This report provides an in-depth look at five different programs, all of which currently, or are making efforts to, include a broad range of students. The five Credit-Based Transition Programs (CBTPs) studied are located in five states--California, Iowa, Minnesota, New York and Texas--and included two dual enrollment programs (one with a career…

Students with disabilities represent a relatively small but important group of students in U.S. high schools. The education of these students is heavily influenced by federal and state law as well as by longstanding beliefs about the purpose of education and the extreme heterogeneity of the population. Until recently, general educational policies…