Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) have had difficulties in achieving educational, vocational, and community outcomes that would lead to personal success and satisfaction. Some of these outcomes relate to how special education transition programs integrate effective approaches to support success with these students. In this…

A number of initiatives in special education have occurred in the United States over the years, some mandated by amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Having a working knowledge of these initiatives allows music educators to have informed discussions with colleagues and parents and participate more fully in Individualized…

Four students with disabilities enrolled in a secondary transition program located at a community college were interviewed to learn more about their transition experiences. One of the issues they touched on was self-determination. This study is a part of the larger qualitative narrative effort but with a specific focus on exploring participants'…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the "I Can Use Effort" strategy on the quality of student verbal contributions and IEP participation of third and fourth grade students with high-incidence disabilities. Using a multiple probe across participants design, results indicated a functional relationship between the "I Can Use…

Various interventions have been developed to promote student individualized education program (IEP) participation. Although they are generally endorsed by educators and researchers, critics argue that interventions to promote self-determination and IEP participation may be counter to the values of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)…

Researchers and practitioners have emphasized the importance of teaching self-determination skills to students with disabilities for more than a decade. One major barrier to teaching self-determination in recent years has been teachers' not knowing how to focus on reading, writing, and mathematics and simultaneously teach self-determination…

Despite national interest in promoting self-determination and active involvement in individualized education program (IEP) planning, available data suggest that many students have little involvement in these activities. Findings on the extent to which students are provided opportunities to be involved in IEP development and to receive…

The Council for Exceptional Children conducted an online Web survey to obtain information on the instructional practices and attitudes of educators as they relate to self-determination and student involvement in the individualized education program (IEP) process. We obtained 523 usable responses from teachers, administrators, and related services…

This guide is designed to help individual teachers as they plan for and implement student-led Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities. It presents activities for helping secondary students develop and participate in their IEPs. The first part of the guide is organized around the following five stages for involving…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Self-Directed IEP to teach individualized education program (IEP) meeting skills. One hundred and thirty secondary students were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group. Observations of 130 meetings and 764 IEP team members were performed using 10-s momentary time sampling to determine the…

This final report describes activities of Project PARTnership, a 3-year demonstration program to develop the self-determination and self-advocacy skills of young people with disabilities through increased participation in the arts. Key program elements included: (1) development of a new course and adaptation of existing curricula to increase…

This instructional kit outlines procedures for implementing Project PARTnership, a program for teaching students with disabilities greater self-determination skills through specifically designed arts experiences. An introductory section describes key project activities, including establishing a site steering committee comprised of teachers,…

This pilot qualitative case study was designed to investigate how the quality of life (QOL) of a child with Asperger's Disorder was impacted by her placement in an inclusive education setting which provided no specialized social skills instruction. Direct and indirect data were gathered and examined regarding themes that centered around QOL…