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Implementation supports for teachers can significantly impact the degree to which evidence-based practices are used as intended with secondary students across settings and content areas. The present analysis focused on examining the impact of teacher implementation supports on the goals set by students with and without disabilities engaging in an evidence-based practice designed to promote self-determination, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), in inclusive, secondary classes. While goal setting is central to SDLMI, there is limited research on the impact of teacher implementation supports (i.e., online only versus online + coaching supports) on the content of the goals students choose using the SDLMI, particularly in inclusive, secondary classrooms where students are learning core content. The findings suggested that the vast majority of goals set by students in inclusive, general education classes focused on academic learning and minimal differences across goals set by students with and without disabilities and across teacher implementation support groups. Implications for practice and research are provided.

Previous research reported differences in student self-determination based on disability status. Specifically, students without disabilities consistently self-report higher self-determination compared with their peers with disabilities, suggesting differential opportunities and supports for self-determination exist within school contexts. To further examine potential differences in student self-determination, the present study examined the impact of an evidence-based practice designed to promote student self-determination, the "Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction" (SDLMI), on student self-determination outcomes when implemented in inclusive, secondary core content classrooms as a universal (i.e., Tier 1) support across an academic year. Findings suggested a relatively small change in overall self-determination during the first year of a multiyear study, but consistent patterns across students with and without disabilities. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A major instructional focus of interventions designed to promote self-determination, such as the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), is to engage students in learning to set their goals, identify action plans, and evaluate their performances. However, little is known about how students define their goal attainment outcomes, or the degree to which students and teachers agree on the attainment of goals set using the SDLMI in inclusive general education classes. This study examined the relation between student and teacher ratings of goal attainment during the first semester of a longitudinal, cluster randomized controlled trial of the SDLMI, as well as the impact of student disability status and teacher supports for implementing the SDLMI (i.e., online resources vs. online resources + in-person coaching) on goal attainment. Findings suggested the feasibility of engaging students with and without disabilities in rating their goal attainment process during SDLMI in secondary schools, with kappa analysis indicating that, when credit is given for at least partial agreement between students and teachers, there is a fair amount of interrater agreement using conventional interpretation criteria. Importantly, however, conclusions drawn about the impact of student (i.e., disability status) and teacher factors (i.e., teacher implementation supports) on goal attainment outcomes are impacted by whether student or teaching ratings of goal attainment are utilized as the outcome measure. Implications for future research and practice are described. [For the Grantee Submission, see ED607065.]

Intervening to enhance self-determination has been linked to enhanced in-school outcomes (e.g., academic and transition goal attainment and access to general education) and post-school outcomes (e.g., competitive employment, community participation) for students with and without disabilities in inclusive schools. However, research is needed to examine the extent to which students with extensive support needs (ESN) are included in this body of research. This systematic review aims to identify empirical research articles that examined the outcomes of interventions designed to promote abilities and skills associated with self-determination for students with ESN. Results suggest that research on self-determination for students with ESN in school contexts is limited across grade levels, particularly in inclusive settings. Consequently, there is a need for ongoing research to consider effective self-determination assessments to inform the design and implementation of interventions that promote self-determination for students with ESN in inclusive settings. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Self-determination is a predictor of positive in- and post-school outcomes, including access to general education, competitive employment, and community participation. Emerging research has focused on promoting self-determination for all students given alignments with college and career readiness frameworks and equity-based education. However, it is also important to enhance self-determination as students participate in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) goal development process. Empowering transition-age students to lead the IEP goal development process with support from school personnel has the potential to enhance the alignment of IEP goals based on students' strengths, preferences, values, and needs and enhance transition planning and college and career readiness. In this article, we provide an example of how to use a self-determination assessment, the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR), and an intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), in the IEP goal development and implementation process to enhance transition planning and college and career readiness.

Evidence-based interventions such as the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) promote abilities, skills, and attitudes associated with self-determination for secondary students with and without disabilities. Exploring factors that impact fidelity of implementation and lead to enhanced student outcomes will inform a greater understanding of the relationship between fidelity practices and teacher success in implementing the SDLMI. This systematic literature review summarizes how 12 empirical studies investigating the impact of the SDLMI on student outcomes describe fidelity procedures, measures, and outcomes in existing SDLMI research. Results summarize how fidelity of implementation was assessed, including characteristics of participants (i.e., implementors and students), the training implementers received, and specific fidelity data collection details and outcomes. There remains a need for improved reporting of detailed demographic information of participants (e.g., students and implementors), training dosage and ongoing support (e.g., coaching), and fidelity tools used. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is an evidence-based model of instruction implemented by a facilitator (e.g., general or special education teacher, family member, related service professional, transition professional) to enable students to learn to self-regulate problem solving in service to a goal. Students learn how to select personally relevant goals, develop action plans for achieving those goals, and self-monitor and self-evaluate progress toward achieving those goals. To scale-up the implementation of the SDLMI with fidelity by facilitators, there is a need for a systematic coaching model. Researchers have established coaching as a critical aspect of the implementation of evidence-based practices at scale and as a part of ongoing professional development. The purpose of this article is to describe steps taken to develop a systematic coaching model to support the implementation of the SDLMI. We will describe components of the SDLMI Coaching Model and the process through which they were derived from the coaching literature and data gathered during SDLMI research studies. We will conclude with implications for the implementation of the SDLMI Coaching Model at scale while maintaining a focus on individual students' support needs. [This article was published in "Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities" (EJ1245828).]

In this study, we examined the structural validity of the Secondary Transition Fidelity Assessment (STFA), a measure of secondary schools' use of programs and practices demonstrated by research to lead to meaningful college and career outcomes for all students, including students at risk for or with disabilities, and students from diverse backgrounds. Drawing from evidence-based practices endorsed by the National Technical Assistance Center for Transition and the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Career Development and Transition, the instrument development and refinement process was iterative and involved collecting stakeholder feedback and pilot testing. Responses from a national sample of educators (N = 1,515) were subject to an exploratory factor analysis resulting in five measurable factors: (a) Adolescent Engagement, (b) Inclusive and Tiered Instruction, (c) School-Family Collaboration, (d) District-Community Collaboration, and (e) Professional Capacity. The 5-factor model was subject to a confirmatory factor analysis that resulted in good model fit. Invariance testing on the basis of geographical region strengthened validity evidence and showed a high level of variability with regard to implementing evidence-based transition services. Findings highlight the need for consistent and regular use of a robust, self-assessment fidelity measure of transition service implementation to support all students' transition to college and career.

Coaching has been identified as an essential feature of effective professional development that supports teachers' abilities to translate knowledge and skills into classroom practice, which is particularly important in inclusive classrooms to address the support needs of all students. To describe how coaching intervention supports have been used in inclusive, secondary classrooms, this paper reviews existing empirical studies that have examined the impact of coaching supports in inclusive, secondary contexts on implementer (e.g., general and special education teachers) and student outcomes. The results of this review demonstrated a critical need to expand the quality and quantity of intervention research on coaching supports provided in inclusive, secondary classrooms, including (a) a need for more studies that examine coaching interventions in inclusive, secondary classrooms, (b) improved reporting on the intervention context and associated outcomes, and (c) enhanced rigor in reporting the outcomes of coaching interventions on implementers (e.g., general and special education teachers) and students. As the research base grows on coaching interventions used in inclusive, secondary classrooms, further analyses can address gaps in the knowledge base related to characteristics of effective coaching interventions that lead to enhanced student and implementer outcomes.

Implementation science examines the process of how programs are put into action to produce outcomes and represents an emerging approach for analyzing the utilization of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in school settings. When EBPs are implemented effectively, they result in positive student outcomes. The "Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction" (SDLMI) is an EBP shown to promote positive educational and post-school outcomes for students with disabilities; however, the process of implementing the SDLMI on a large scale poses significant challenges. We describe efforts to implement the SDLMI state-wide with transition-aged students with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the lens of implementation science. Key factors and issues that need to be addressed in ongoing research and practice to further advance student outcomes are highlighted. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED585868.]

The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR) was developed to address a need in the field for tools to assess self-determination that are aligned with current best practices in assessment development and administration, and emerging research and best practices in promoting self-determination. The present study explored patterns of differences in self-determination scores across students with and without disabilities (i.e., no disability, learning disabilities, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, and other health impairments) of varying racial-ethnic backgrounds (i.e., White, African American or Black, Hispanic or Latino[a], and Other) as well as the impact of receiving free and reduced price lunch (as a proxy for socioeconomic status) on self-determination scores in these groups. Findings suggest an interactive effect of disability, race-ethnicity, and free and reduced price lunch status on self-determination scores. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) has been a leader in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities since its founding in 1876. Today, student and early career professionals make up approximately 8.5% of the organization, with their engagement supported by the Student and Early Career Professional Interest Network (SECP). An article by Havercamp et al. (2003), "Who Will Lead the Field Beyond 2020?", recommended organizational changes that have been largely addressed in the years following by SECP. The present research replicates Havercamp et al.'s (2003) original survey of the organization's student and early career professionals, and results support the effectiveness of SECP as a welcoming platform from which students and early career professionals can establish themselves in the organization.

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.

Supporting the development of skills associated with self-determination (e.g., goal setting and attainment, problem solving) and providing opportunities to practice those skills impacts valued school and postschool outcomes of students with complex communication needs. To address this need, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is designed to enable practitioners (including those with special education expertise) to teach students to self-regulate goal setting and attainment processes and self-direct their learning to achieve meaningful goals. When using the SDLMI with students with complex communication needs, there are specific supports that are particularly useful; therefore, this manuscript describes strategies that practitioners can use when implementing the SDLMI with students with complex communication needs to enhance overall self-determination and positive postschool outcomes and provides guidance for the inclusion of students with complex communication needs in self-determination research.

The "Self-Determination Inventory" (SDI) is a suite of tools developed to measure self-determination. The SDI: Student Report was recently validated for adolescents aged 13 to 22 with and without disabilities across diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. A parallel, proxy report version to be completed by teachers or parents, the SDI: Parent/Teacher Report is also available; however, limited research has explored the congruence of ratings made on the self and proxy report versions. The present study utilized multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to compare ratings on the SDI made by adolescents and their teachers. Findings suggest that the same set of items can be used to measure self-determination using the "Self-Determination Inventory" across students and teachers, but that there are low correlations between self- and proxy-scores. Teacher respondents tended to report that adolescents had lower levels of self-determination, although the discrepancy between adolescent self-report and teacher proxy-report varied based on the disability status and race/ethnicity of the student. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Students with disabilities experience pronounced inequities in the education system, which have been compounded by risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study sought to understand the experiences of students with disabilities and the strengths that facilitated their wellbeing during this period of adversity. In summer 2020, secondary students (6th to 12th grades) with disabilities in the United States (n = 21; 57% male) participated in a semi-structured interview and completed the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR). Qualitative analysis was used to generate rich description of students' lived experiences. Thematic analysis resulted in hierarchical coding, with categories and themes clustered around each research question. Students' personal resilience was identified in categories related to their educational experiences, individual attributes, and interpersonal connections; and subthemes emerging within each category. Eighty-six percent of students reflected on the role of self-determination in navigating the pandemic. Finally, analysis of students' overall reflections on COVID-19 yielded three emergent themes: (a) adaptability, (b) increased social awareness, and (c) disability identity. We conclude with a discussion of how student strengths should be leveraged as we move beyond the pandemic and continue to work to address long-standing educational inequities for students with disabilities and other students at risk.

People with disabilities consistently advocate for their right to be self-determined. Decades of research highlight the positive impacts of self-determination intervention on in-school and post-school outcomes of secondary students with disabilities. Increasingly, self-determination interventions are being implemented in inclusive contexts for all students, including students with and without disabilities. To enable implementation with high fidelity, further examination of the supports needed by teachers is required. In this study, the authors examine the impacts of differing intensities of teacher implementation supports (online modules only vs. online modules + coaching) on the initiation of the self-determined learning model of instruction (SDLMI) by schools and teachers and outcomes for students that arise from more intensive implementation when schools and teachers do initiate. Results suggest that intensifying teacher implementation supports has a positive impact on a cascading series of outcomes for schools, teachers, and students. In this study, the authors discuss the implications of the results for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]