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Opportunities for youth with and without disabilities to develop and practice abilities, skills, and attitudes associated with self-determination (e.g., decision-making, goal setting, problem-solving) lead to positive in- and postschool outcomes. However, implementation of whole-school interventions to promote self-determination is complex. A multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSSs) framework can support the identification of solutions to address these complexities to positively impact self-determination outcomes for all students, inclusive of students with extensive support needs (ESNs). In this article, we describe how an evidence-based intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), can be provided through MTSS to support all students in becoming more self-determined. We translate research into practice by describing how to use universal screening data collected using validated self-determination assessment to guide the delivery of impactful self-determination intervention using the SDLMI across tiers of support in inclusive contexts to enhance self-determination for all students, including students with ESN.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) appear to have an increased probability of death from COVID-19 once infected. We report infection and mortality rates for people with IDD compared to the general population of eight states at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic. Note that these eight states contain approximately 1/3 of the population of the United States. These data suggest individuals with IDD are less likely to be infected with the COVID-19 virus (5.62%) than the general public (7.57%). However, while mortality rates for both groups have declined over time, people with IDD are over twice as likely (2.29) to die from the infection as members of the general public.

Goal setting and attainment is often a targeted outcome in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field; however, standardizing the measurement of attainment of individualized goals is challenging. The purpose of this article is to introduce a four-domain framework that provides a series of questions to research and evaluation teams in planning for the use of goal attainment scaling (GAS) as an outcome measure at the individual or aggregate level. We intend to stimulate discussion and ongoing work to further systematize how GAS is used in (a) intervention research to establish evidence-based practices and (b) practice to assess the extent to which interventions and supports lead to intended outcomes. The goal is to promote a clear planning process to inform data collection on individualized goal attainment outcomes that are rooted in goals and outcomes valued by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Importance: Recent years have seen a shift to strengths-based approaches promoting self-determination and career-related interests among autistic youth. Research is needed to understand the career-related goals set by autistic youth on the basis of their interests.Objective: To descriptively explore the career design goals set by autistic youth engaged in the self-determined career design model (SDCDM) intervention.Design: Content analysis was used to analyze the types of goals set by youth during intervention. Two researchers separately reviewed the goal set by each autistic youth (one goal per youth) and determined categories for each goal.Setting: Preferred community location (usually the youth’s home) in an urban Midwestern city.Participants: Twenty-one autistic youth.Intervention: SDCDM.Outcomes and Measures: Participants set goals as part of the SDCDM, which were recorded using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). Researchers used GAS to support each participant in setting a measurable and objective goal and describing criteria for meeting the goal.Results: Categories included enhancing self-management, obtaining employment, exploring career opportunities, enhancing learning, and enhancing self-advocacy.Conclusions and Relevance: The findings from this study indicate that autistic youth set goals related to obtaining employment and enhancing generalizable 21st-century skills, such as self-advocacy and self-management.What This Article Adds: The SDCDM is a tool occupational therapy practitioners can use to support youth in setting and working toward career goals.

Almost every state includes content standards that are closely related to skills associated with self-determination (e.g., decision making, planning, problem solving, goal setting and attainment). Additionally, research in both general and special education has demonstrated a close relationship between the promotion of self-determination and positive school (e.g., academic goal attainment) and post-school (e.g., employment) outcomes. Therefore, this study examines implementation of an evidence-based intervention to promote self-determination in inclusive, general education classrooms. This study utilized multilevel linear modeling to examine changes in student self-determination in secondary mathematics classes after a year of exposure to The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). Participants included were 81 students ranging from 10th to 12th grade learning in secondary mathematics classes (Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and Advanced Placement Calculus). The findings demonstrated a small, positive effect on student self-determination and that goal attainment during the first semester predicted second semester goal attainment. Specifically, the inclusion of goal attainment as a predictor explained 10% of the variability in self-determination observed, corresponding to a small effect. Overall, students who attained at higher level of goal attainment had higher self-determination at the conclusion of the study and were expected to grow in their self-determination at a higher rate than those with lower levels of goal attainment. The results from this study suggest that implementing the SDLMI to support all students in secondary mathematics classes positively impacts student attainment of skills that impact self-determination and has the potential to impact mathematical learning in future research.

There is a strong link between the development of skills associated with self-determination (i.e., choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge) and positive school (e.g., academic achievement) and postschool (e.g., employment, community access) outcomes. In this article, we advocate for an examination of research related to the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of an evidence-based intervention intended to enable students to enhance skills associated with self-determination, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), when used to support students with extensive support needs, including students with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Theoretical foundations of the construct of self-determination and its applicability for all people and extant research on implementation of the SDLMI and students with extensive support needs are presented. Implications for researchers are addressed, including the impact, usability, and cultural sustainability of the SDLMI for students with extensive support needs, and the potential of the SDLMI to support all students in inclusive settings when implemented as a universal support.

In this study, we estimated the cost of implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), an evidence-based practice in secondary transition, at scale in 17 school districts to enhance self-determination and transition goal attainment outcomes among 340 transition-age adolescents with intellectual disability. An advantage of the SDLMI is that it can be overlaid upon any curriculum and, therefore, can minimize opportunity costs for self-determination instruction. Using the ingredients method, the current study: (a) identified and described the essential ingredients of SDLMI implementation in typical high school settings, (b) assigned and described the cost of needed ingredients, and (c) calculated a generalizable estimate of the average cost of using the SDLMI with 340 students for one school year across 17 school districts to be $40,221.26 (or $118.30 per student). We next discussed how decision-makers considering using the SDLMI in their context can minimize costs while maximizing effects on transition goal attainment outcomes. Several implications of these findings for the field of transition are also discussed.

This study explored teacher perceptions of their ability to implement the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) with fidelity and the impact of these perceptions on student self-determination outcomes on the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR). Using a piece-wise growth model, we found stability in teacher perceptions of their implementation over a 2-year period even with the introduction of a second transition-focused intervention to a subset of the sample. Using a mediation model, we then found a complex relationship between teacher perceptions of fidelity and student outcomes on the SDI:SR. We found that teacher-perceived fidelity over the course of the year was influenced by students’ beginning of the year self-determination status and that teacher-perceived fidelity then affected students’ end of the year self-determination status. The findings suggest an interactive relationship between teacher perceptions of implementation and student outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Self-determination, defined by acting as the causal agent in one’s life, plays a critical role in the transition from high school to postsecondary education, employment, and community living for all students, including students with significant support needs. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is a teaching model designed to enable teachers to promote self-determined action by focusing on the goal setting and attainment process. In this article, we focus specifically on the implementation of the SDLMI with students with significant support needs, including those who have complex communication needs. We describe the SDLMI process in detail with specific examples for implementation with students with significant support needs based on several recent research studies.

This study represents a map of the literature on the essential characteristics of self-determination (volitional action, agentic action, and action-control beliefs) to (a) identify how these characteristics have been theorized and examined in research with people with and without disabilities prior to and since the introduction of Causal Agency Theory, (b) discern any significant gaps in the knowledge base, and (c) serve as the basis for recommendations to the field for utilizing what is known about the essential characteristics of self-determination and expanding upon it in future research. A systematic search process was used to identify peer-reviewed articles meeting the inclusion criteria. A content analysis of the included articles was conducted. The search process yielded a total of 49 articles. Findings show volitional and agentic action have been consistently defined and described across disciplines, but limited research has addressed action-control beliefs. Gaps in the knowledge base relate to how the essential characteristics collectively relate to and characterize self-determined action and exploration of these characteristics from a life course perspective and when considering disability, diversity, and support needs. Overall, findings suggest the need for future research to examine understandings of self-determination across contexts and populations within the framework of Causal Agency Theory, given the critical importance of self-determination in the lives of people with and without disabilities and the increasing need for unifying theories that promote multidisciplinary work that can be used to create positive outcomes for all people in society across the life course.

The purpose of this study was to examine self-determination outcome data in the year following a one-year cluster randomized controlled trial (C-RCT) comparing the impacts of a Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) only condition to a SDLMI + Whose Future Is It? (SDLMI + WF) condition. Using multilevel B-spline model analysis with Bayesian estimation, we examined ongoing patterns of growth after the trial ended and all students were exposed to SDLMI + WF. The findings suggest that the inclusion of an additional year of outcome data provided additional insight into the impact of more intensive intervention conditions over time. Specifically, after the initial year of implementation, the SDLMI + WF condition predicted greater annual gains than the SDLMI only condition, unlike findings in the first year which reflected the opposite pattern. This evidence suggests a nonlinear growth pattern over multiple years of intervention with more intensive interventions. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Individualized education program (IEP) goals are meant to be personalized to address the unique needs of students with disabilities, while also reflecting the student's grade-aligned general education curriculum. IEP goals describe what, how, and where students with disabilities are taught, and reflect the curriculum used to provide instruction. In this study, we analyzed how IEP goals align with the different curricular philosophies for students with severe disabilities. Using a sample of 88 IEPs for students with complex support needs (i.e., severe disabilities) in Grades K-12, we found most goals (57%) reflect curricular philosophies of the 1970s–1990s (i.e., developmental, functional, and social inclusion) eras, with only 26% of IEP goals representative of modern curricular philosophies (i.e., grade-aligned academic content). We also found secondary-aged students were less likely to have grade-aligned academic goals compared to elementary-aged students. We offer implications for ensuring individualization and goals reflecting skills needed for the 21st century.

Promoting self-determination is critical to enabling young people to achieve education-related goals and positive postschool employment, community participation, and quality of life outcomes. By developing skills associated with self-determination such as choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge, students with disabilities are better prepared to make purposeful decisions and choices. We conducted a meta-analysis of the literature on interventions to promote self-determination and associated skills with students with disabilities in the school context. We analyzed the types of interventions, populations of students with whom they were implemented, outcomes, and rigor of research. Results demonstrated that interventions to promote self-determination can be effective for students across grade levels, disability labels, and settings. There remains a need for increased focus on promoting self-determination within inclusive, general education settings with students with and without disabilities and of diverse backgrounds. Future researchers should also focus on the rigor of methodological design and associated reporting when conducting school-based research. Additional implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is an evidence-based practice designed to enable teachers to teach students to self-regulate problem solving to set and attain educationally relevant goals. This study reports on findings and outcomes of the first year of a statewide implementation of the SDLMI by teachers working with students with intellectual disability to promote skills, knowledge, and beliefs that will lead to opportunities for meaningful, integrated employment. Data are reported on teacher fidelity of implementation of the SDLMI, student and teacher ratings of self-determination, student ratings of transition empowerment, and teacher ratings of student goal attainment. Data from the first year of the longitudinal implementation suggest that teachers can implement the SDLMI with fidelity, that students attain educationally relevant goals, and that teachers report changes in aspects of student self-determination, and that the SDLMI can be implemented statewide with school-, district-, and state-level supports. Recommendations for future research and policy-related implications for scaling-up efforts to promote self-determination are provided.

This study examined the differential impact of implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) alone with implementing the SDLMI combined with Whose Future Is It? with transition aged students with intellectual disability in a cluster randomized trial in the state of Rhode Island. The state of Rhode Island is implementing systemic change in transition services and supports under the auspices of a Consent Decree entered into by the state with the U.S. Department of Justice. One area of focus is promoting self-determination during transition planning in the school context as a means to affect employment trajectories. This study focused on the impact of self-determination instruction on self-determination outcomes while youth were still in school, given research establishing a relationship between self-determination and employment outcomes. Latent mediation models suggested that students in the SDLMI-only group reported significant increases in their self-determination scores from baseline to the end of the year, and teachers of students in the SDLMI-only group saw students’ goal attainment as predicting change in self-determination over the course of the year. Teachers reported significant changes in student self-determination in the SDLMI + Whose Future Is It? group. Implications for individualizing interventions to teach skills associated with self-determination in the context of planning and setting goals for the transition to integrated employment are discussed.

Inclusive education of students with disabilities in general education contexts has been a global movement for at least 30 years. We completed a systematic review of articles published in E...

Self-determination has been identified as a key predictor of employment for people with intellectual disability. The Self-Determined Career Development Model enables support providers to support job seekers with intellectual disability to use a self-regulated problem-solving process to set and attain job and career goals. This single-case design study examined the impact of the Self-Determined Career Development Model on a component element of self-determination (knowledge of strengths, interests, and needs). Employment outcomes of participants were also tracked. Positive changes were demonstrated for two job seekers on knowledge of strengths and interests. Additionally, all three job seekers changed their employment status in line with their goals. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.

This study reports on state-level data in Rhode Island on employment and non-work activities of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving services between 2011 and 2017. The goal was to examine the complex patterns of change over time in individual-level employment outcomes and the potential short-term impacts of a consent decree entered into by the state of Rhode Island to address integrated employment outcomes. Findings suggest that policy initiatives such as the consent decree can lead to reductions in reliance on facility-based work, but also highlight the importance of planning for the transition to competitive, integrated employment and not simply a shift toward non-work activities. Further, the data support the notion that the best predictor of integrated employment over time is previous experiences in integrated employment (not facility-based or other work or non-work activities), suggesting the role of ongoing supported employment and transition services that create and support the maintenance of integrated employment.

Goal setting and attainment are critical skills for young people with disabilities as they plan for their postschool lives in areas such as employment, postsecondary education, and community life. This article presents an analysis of the types of goals set by transition-age students with intellectual disability over 3 years while supported by teachers to use an evidence-based practice to promote self-determination, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). Teachers implemented the SDLMI as part of a statewide effort to enhance the transition to integrated employment for students with intellectual disability exiting high school. Findings reflect students’ desire to plan for multiple aspects of their lives in the adult world and the criticality of examining teacher expectations and how they relate to instruction and supports for students engaging in the goal-setting process. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.