Successful Transition Into School-Based Special Education Services:

Considering Unique Urban Factors of Diverse Families ruedenau@unlv.nevada.edu

Heike Rdenauer, Dipl. SP.(FH), M.S., M.Ed. - University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Motivation and Problem Societal Relevance? The So-What! Where are we now?
Personal Experience: Early intervention Importance of Successful Transitions IF Hypothesis were to be true... 1. Literature review
In a
9, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 25, 33, 34 d
providers often unsure or not purposeful in their 6, 15, 28, 31, 35 s ociet emocrat 2. Define target population
transition planning. y w e i c 3. Develop tool
Increased family involvement Lack of appropriate services for already e nsur need
tr e hi g to
Literature: Many families feel ill-prepared, Better family-teacher-communication traditionally underserved families a nsitio h quali 4. Tool validity
disconnected, and discouraged. This is especially a ll n s e r ty 5. Find appropriate research site
Increased positive outcomes (academic & non- Lack of appropriate services for vulnerable famil v i c es
i es w for
true for families with culturally and linguistically academic) families who need the most support 6 e serve 6. Become sponsored
diverse backgrounds. 1, 13, 22, 28 Avoiding inappropriate special education referrals Unacceptable additional risks for school failure . 7. IRB University
Literature: We need to start considering transition 8. Human research permission from school district
factors related to linguistic and cultural diversity, Research Question 9. Involve teachers
and low income situations.14, 15, 25, 26, 27 10.Distribute surveys
Literatue & Previous Research How do diverse urban families experience their young child's 11.Distribute follow-up
transition into school-based special education services? 12.Collect responses
Collaborative 13.Analyze responses
Transition
Keeping timelines
Purpose of THIS Research: Pilot Study Potential Outcomes
14.Draw conclusions regarding further research
Oriented on disability- 15.Report backYES,to university and school
practices in results indicate thatdistrict
a lack of
the last related needs 16.Prepare future research asofindicated

research
Do Urban consideration culturally relevant

MORE
decades Family friendly Experiences // Recommendations
Factors practices and urban factors may impact

Look At
Individualized families transition experiences
School readiness come into
Start
Is the
Demographic Social skills Family Satisfaction and Opinion play NO, results indicate that there are no

DIFFERENT
With at all?

research
changes in 1
, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 24, 32, 33, 34 Family p ro b l e m apparent connections between urban
recent years11, 17, 18, 20, 23, 28, factors, lack of culturally relevant practices,
worth
29, 31 Experiences Patterns across Urban Factors and families transition experiences
28
Increase of students
fu rt h e r
Transition
with linguistically and
a t i o Future Research
success for
es t ig
diverse urban culturally diverse Design and Methods 3, 4 inv Expand sample
families?1,22,28 families 18, 29 n? Explore regional differences
Cross-sectional research design Invited: 120 (All families fulfilling criteria in ES)
Increase of percentage
of people living in urban
Family survey Expected return rate/n: 14-18 surveys Explore differences of transition
Includes quantitative-like items Criteria: Caregiver/guardian of a child in
Do we miss areas 17, 23, 29
(demographics, income, culture, school-based special education services
practices between districts and states
something Increase of percentage transiency) Urban elementary school Adding interviews and observations
? of low income families Includes qualitative-like items Demographics similar to the U.S. average
in urban families 17, 23, 29 (open ended questions, experiences Final participants: Volunteers from the pool Implication for Teacher Education
of families) of invited families. TBD
Design Sample IF data indicates need for increased attention to
What are Urban Factors? Invitation and survey distribution in
culturally relevant transition practices and urban factors:
increase of classes for multicultural awareness
Cultural Diversity Cultural barriers 11, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23, 31 Invitation and consent Materials Procedures homework folder
Paper-pencil-survey
Increase of classes for serving linguistically rich
Linguistic Language barriers 11, 18, 22, 29, 35 Giving consent: complete survey, return.
Diversity Pre-stamped return envelopes No consent: disregard survey families
Time poverty Including content about impact of financial hardships
Follow-up letter After approximately 1 week: Follow-up letter
Transportation challenges and poverty on families, students, and academic
All in English and Spanish for increasing participation
High transiency rates, instable needs into teacher education programs
Low Socio- Analysis of returned surveys
economic Status housing New approaches need to be implemented in early
Frequent switch of providers and Data Collection Tool: Family Survey intervention programs and school-based programs
service locations 11, 15, 17, 23, 26 Increased exchange and contact between direct
Demographics & General Urban Factors Tool Details Validity
High teacher turnover service providers in early intervention and school-
Age, race, gender-identity Language, culture Anonymous, voluntary Supported by literature,
High support staff turnover based special educators / transition teams
Urban School Possibly more new teachers Age of child at transition, Income HIPAA and FERPA compliant Content validity check
Districts

Teacher demographics dont match Transition details of child Transiency, moves English & Spanish (professionals and families) Limitations
students 2, 21, 30, 31 Prior services Provider changes Duration: 30 45 min Test run

Hypothesis Analysis Incorrect

Hypothesis
Unfit
Sample
Tool Needs
Improvement
Transition practices may not
have been adapted to Compare with current transition
demographic changes of the Qualitative-type Information recommendations References and Resources
Quantitative-type
- Lean coding of data Scan QR Code and find this poster,
population we serve. Therefore, information
- Determining overarching themes references, and links to resources here!
diverse urban families may not - Descriptive statistics Combinations of urban factors
- Determining frequency of themes Or check out:
receive the high quality and negative experiences
http://ruedenauer-plummer.weebly.com
services they need.
www.postersession.com