Secondary Transition Education Scholars

Jim Martin and Kendra Williams-DiehmUniversity of OklahomaDept of Ed Psy & the Zarrow

Center

Mission

To prepare secondary transition education scholars who can improve the delivery of transition education to increase employment and post-secondary education outcomes.

Program Overview

36 semester hour Masters in Special Education Degree with focus in secondary transition education

Designed for educators working in secondary or post-secondary education environments

Two-year course of study with evening courses

Social Work Professor and Special Education co-teach two family courses Needed expertise to effectively engage families,

especially those from diverse and low socio-economic backgrounds in the transition planning and implementation process

Offered as a Social Work class with MSW students attending the class

Mentoring model

Year one cohort mentors year two cohort

Courses Five Core courses for all Master Degree students

15 hours

Four Transition Courses (12 hours) Transition and Self-Determination Postsecondary Education and Employment Transition Assessment Transition Practicum

Implement major change within current system Done within own classroom with extension outside

classroom or current program

Two Social Work Transition Courses (6 hours) taught in School of Social with MSW students in class Engaging Families of Students with Disabilities Practicum in Engaging Families

Directed Transition Project or Thesis (3 hours)

Student Information First cohort of 9 students began classes in Fall 2012

Two transition specialists One postsecondary educator Six secondary special education teachers One transition specialist going taking additional

courses to obtain special ed certification

Second cohort of 9 students will begin class Fall 2013 One postsecondary educator Eight secondary special education teachers

2 middle school special education teachers

Students receive $18,000 stipends across two years to cover tuition, fees, books, mileage, etc $3,000 in support to attend professional conferences

Directed Projects or Thesis Underway

All students required to completed Directed Project on a transition issue In-depth paper including a literature review Applied project

Projects Underway (due spring 2014) Starting and maintaining an Oklahoma DCDT

chapter Establishing Student-Let IEP meetings throughout

district’s secondary programs Determining the effectiveness of an instructional

program to teach students to attain annual transition goals

Professional Development

8 of the 9 first year cohort Attended 2012 DCDT Conference in Denver

All of cohort 1 and 2 will attend 2013 DCDT Conference in Williamsburg Five of the first cohort submitted proposals to

present at 2013 DCDT in Williamsburg

Six of the first year cohort presented at the 2012 Oklahoma Transition Institute

IssuesCurrently face-to-face delivery at OU

campus in Norman

Many potential applicants from across the state want to become Transition Scholars, but too far away from campus.On-line program not possible at this time

Possible solution: Offering Instructional TV live broadcasts to sites across the state via the state’s OneNet TV systemOU TulsaCareer Tech CentersCommunity Colleges

More InformationVisit the OU Special Education web page

OU Special Education Web Page