The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the students' perspectives of attending and participating in their own Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting. The conceptual frameworks of disability theory and empowerment worldview highlight the need to better understand perspectives from the students themselves with regard to…

Early college high schools are powerful instruments for success for young men of color, and school leaders must take an intentional approach to remove systemic barriers to their engagement. This report outlines strategies to better recruit and retain young men of color in early college programs and provides examples of successful and emerging…

Three of four high school students with special needs become unemployed after graduation. These students, referred to as "bridge students" as they transition into postsecondary life, seldomly escape lifestyles of criminal, sedentary or dependent behavior. Certain protocols enacted at the high school level may act as either barriers or…

This article portrays the complex nature of the transition process for two students with visual impairments (VI), both functionally blind, who successfully completed a bachelor's degree. Standardized open-ended interviews provided individual perspectives on the transition services, supports, and challenges faced by the participants with VI during…

This study utilized the theory of positive deviance to explore the challenges and success factors for foster youth who have attained a postsecondary education. To accomplish this, twelve interviews were conducted. Six interviews were conducted with college-going foster youth and six adults who served as mentors for the foster youth participants…

The overall goal of the Building State Capacity Summit series was to enhance successful outcomes for students leaving high school, whether it is matriculation in a postsecondary education or training program, or employment. Young adults who are deaf or hard or hearing face barriers that inhibit these successful outcomes. One way to mitigate these…

There is a federal movement to improve student outcomes targeting some of these predictors in several recently launched initiatives, but where does Arizona stand? What are we currently doing to move the needle, and what do we still need to do? This report prepared for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has two objectives: (1)…