During our opening statement we mentioned that the Gender and Transition
Project is a 3-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The
study's aim is to assess the quality of transition planning for young women
with disabilities, contrast their experiences with the nature of transition
planning for young men with disabilities, and identify strategies for
promoting their successful transition. We are in the beginning stages of
our first study, in which we will be evaluating approximately 400 IEP
transition plans of young women and men in special education to discern
whether the plans of these youth vary in quality by gender of the student.
Given that we are in the early stages of our research, we would be
interested in hearing about any questions or hypotheses panel discussion
group participants have that we might be able to answer through the study.
As currently conceptualized, the questions we will be investigating through
the Transition Plan Evaluation Study include:
1) As evidenced by any career goals or employment experiences listed on
the transition plan, are young women more likely than young men to be
involved in/channeled towards stereo-typically feminine professions?
2) Are there differences between males and females with regard to
restrictiveness in special education placement?
3) Are the transition plans of female students less detailed than the
transition plans of male students (as evidenced by number of action steps
listed on transition plans)?
4) Are male students more likely to attend the IEP/TP meeting as
compared to female students?
5) Within different outcome areas (post-secondary education, vocational
training, integrated employment, continuing adult education, adult
services, community participation, transportation, housing, and health and
medical, etc?) are males more likely than females to have transition goals
listed on the IEP/TP?
6) We will be evaluating each transition goal for implementation (for a
particular goal, does the transition plan provide enough description of the
specific activities that implementation is feasible) and utility (if goal
related activities are implemented, what is the likelihood that the
activities will actually result in the desired goal? Will the goals for
male and female students differ significantly around implementation or
utility?
7) To what extent is there evidence that the student's desires have been
incorporated into the transition planning? Does this vary by gender?
8) Does the transition plan/IEP reflect student participation in
school-based extracurricular activities (varsity sports, student
government). Does this vary by gender?
9) Does the transition plan describe a student's previous work
experience? If so, was it 1) paid employment; 2) volunteer experience; 3)
vocational education. Does this vary by gender?
10) Is there any indication that the student has participated in person
centered planning or career planning? Does this appear to vary by gender?
11) Is there any indication that the student has received
coaching/instruction around self-determination or advocacy? Does this
appear to vary by gender?
12) Does the IEP/TP make reference to, incorporate or accommodate a
student's cultural values or beliefs? In addition, the questions listed
above will be analyzed to look for interaction effects between gender,
ethnicity, and type of disability.
Again, we are just beginning to implement our first study, and we would be
very interested in any additional questions or hypotheses that discussion
group participants generate. Any thoughts/ideas?
Eleanor Gil-Kashiwabara (Research Coordinator) <gilkashi@ohsu.edu>
Sarah Geenen (Principal Investigator)<geenens@ohsu.edu>
OHSU-Center on Self-Determination
Portland, OR
Panelists
OHSU-Center on Self-Determination
Portland, OR
geenens@ohsu.edu
gilkashi@ohsu.edu
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