Effective Practices during Transition: Does Preparation Make a Difference

1. Effective Practices during Transition: Does Preparation Make a Difference Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D. University of Kansas Sung Jik Bae, Ph.D. University of Louisiana-Lafayette

2. Addressing Teacher Quality for Transition: What are the Issues? • Limited knowledge of competency levels of secondary special educators • Limited knowledge of implementation levels of secondary special educators • Limited quality teacher preparation for transition Research Questions: • What are the levels of preparation & implementation of critical elements of transition services? • Are high qualified professionals more likely to engage in transition practices?

3. Participants Convenience sample: 1475 professionals who completed a demographic survey as part of their enrollment in online training through the Transition Coalition (www.transitioncoalition.org) • 682 identified themselves as educators • 101 were not currently teaching Sample: 581 educators working directly with students with disabilities

4. Demographic Info.

5. Demographic Info.

6. Certification, Years Teaching & Transition Preparation

7. Survey Items: Transition Practices

8. Transition Practices: Descriptive Statistics

9. Factor Analysis of Survey Items Are certain items on the survey related? • Varimax rotation (assumed all factors not related) • 2 factors emerged: • Factor 1 (community-based transition practices) accounted for 42% of variance • Factor 2 (school-based transition practices) accounted for 18% of variance

10. Comparisons Across Educator Groups Differences between Educators Who indicate High vs. Low Levels of Transition Preparation Educators who feel highly prepared have obtained more advanced degrees, are certified in the areas they are teaching in, and have taught for many years. Differences between Educators who indicate High vs. Low Levels of Implementing Transition Practices Educators who indicate high levels of implementing transition practices have obtained more advanced degrees, are certified in the areas they are teaching in, and have taught for many years.

11. Comparing Elementary Teachers with Secondary Teachers Secondary Educators are more likely to have an advanced degree, be certified in the field in which they are teaching, have more years of experience, and feel more prepared and are more likely to implement transition practices Post-hoc comparisons

12. What Variables Predict Effective Practices? • For the Community-based Practices, the regression analysis indicated: • 4 variables significantly contributed (level of preparation; secondary grades; certification status & years teaching) • For the School-based Practices, the regression analysis indicated: • 3 variables predict 19% of the variance (level of preparation; secondary grades; diploma)

13. Findings & Conclusions • High quality teachers possess significantly more advanced degrees, are certified in their field in which they are teaching, and have many years teaching experience. These teachers indicated being well prepared for the majority of transition practices, and perform these practices at a higher rate than less qualified teachers. • Overall, teachers felt less prepared in the transition practices than their level of performance. This might mean that teachers are practicing without the skills and preparation to effectively implement transition practices.