1 / 49

Where have all our students gone? School to Post-School Transition in Australia

Where have all our students gone? School to Post-School Transition in Australia. Des English Memorial Lecture. Australian Association of Special Education, Melbourne, April 16-17, 2009. Denis Meadows, Educational Consultant, Brisbane. Denis.Meadows@optusnet.com.au. Lecture structure.

edda
Download Presentation

Where have all our students gone? School to Post-School Transition in Australia

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Where have all our students gone? School to Post-School Transition in Australia Des English Memorial Lecture. Australian Association of Special Education, Melbourne, April 16-17, 2009. Denis Meadows, Educational Consultant, Brisbane. Denis.Meadows@optusnet.com.au

  2. Lecture structure • Australian literature into post-school outcomes for persons with a disability • Post-school outcome data from a recent Queensland study • Some thoughts on future actions

  3. Australian outcomes literature • Very little in refereed journals • Some project reports but mostly descriptive with little outcome data • No comprehensive literature review of Australian studies • Queensland literature review included Australian outcomes studies from 1990-2005 (Meadows et al, 2005)

  4. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2005) • In 2003, 53% of persons with disability participated in the workforce • This number has decreased since 2003 • Underrepresented in vocational training and training systems • Noted poor links between state school and post-school programs • People are trapped in Business Services

  5. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2007) • Australian employment rates for persons with a disability ranked 13 out of 19 countries • Lowest of 16 countries for employment of persons on a disability related benefit • Highest of 16 countries for persons on a disability related benefit who engaged in no paid work

  6. The N.S.W Transition initiative • One of the most significant and influential Australian initiatives • Began in 1989 in NSW by the Department of School Education • See Riches (1996) for a comprehensive review

  7. Key features of the initiative • Systemic support and funding • Individual transition planning (students, parents, teachers, post-school agencies) • Provision of appropriate school curricula • Links to post-school agencies prior to leaving school • Ongoing professional development (workshops, conferences, university) • Community involvement and local planning • Interagency collaboration

  8. N.S.W initiative • Emphasis on teaching students to be involved in their own goal setting • Dedicated transition coordinators to assist schools with interagency collaboration • Large work experience component in the final year (up to 60%)

  9. N.S.W. outcomes Study 1(N=57) • Mostly students with intellectual impairment • Employment at award wages 32% • Sheltered employment 19% • Unemployed and stayed home 26% • Post secondary training 18% • Work experience linked to employment • TAFE while at school linked to post-school enrollment in training

  10. N.S.W. outcomes. Study 2 (N= 544) • Riches, Parmenter and Robertson, 1996. • Interviews with school leavers 1989-93 • All categories of disability • Most with mild, moderate or severe II • Data on: • Living arrangements • Income support • Recreation and leisure • Transport • Employment

  11. Employment outcomes • Mild II • 50% on award wage • 42% unemployed • 5% sheltered employment • Moderate II • 28% award wage • 28% unemployed • 40% sheltered employment

  12. Employment outcomes • Severe II • 18% award wage • 69% unemployed • 13% sheltered employment

  13. Other outcomes • Most used public transport (36%), taxi (5%), or traveled with family and friends (35%) • Disability support pension received by 86% • 88% lived at home with parents • Variable data over most areas

  14. Self determination (Laragy, 2004) • The South Coast Transition Model (Clarke, 1994) • School leavers, 1992-1994 • 66% full time employment • Stressed student and family involvement • 70% of transition plan goals achieved 3 years after leaving school • Importance of post-school follow up • Startright South Australia: No outcome data

  15. Dedicated transition support officers • Centre for Disability Research & Development, WA. (1995): • Improvement in independence through work experience, self esteem, independent living skills • Stressed importance of dedicated transition support personnel • No clear outcome data

  16. Transition to supported employment (Wade, 2003) • Reviewed five Australian school transition programs linking students to Business Services • Provides useful recommendations and a transition model • No outcome data

  17. Persons with Autism • Outcomes for 28 persons with ASD (Burrows, Ford & Botroff, 2001) • Half had moderate to severe II • 1 in open employment • 12 employed in sheltered or supported employment • 6 in day activity programs • 9 attending further education • Most lived at home and caregivers supported access to post-school activity • No data on wages, hours of work, pension support

  18. Persons with Autism • School to post-school training for one day per week (Lynch, 2005) • TAFE accredited program • Work experience • Good program rationale and description • Stressed importance of interagency collaboration • Anecdotal and qualitative data • No quantitative outcomes data

  19. Positive Australian employment outcomes (Jobsupport, CWO Updates, 2007) • Jobsupport and the N.S.W. Department of Ageing, Disability and Home care: • 130 completed Community Work Options • 72% moved to open employment • 48% of these earn award wages • Use of real work settings for training • Training targeted towards individually set goals • Use of skilled experienced staff • Link to open employment placement service

  20. The Queensland Quality Outcomes Study Sponsored by the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts. Executive Summary available at: http://education.qld.gov.au/apps/owa/search.actionquery?p_text_input=5&p_text=Quality%20outcomes%20for%20students%20with%20a%20disability

  21. Motivation for the study • Recommendation from the Ministerial Task Force on Inclusive Education That the Minister establish a rigorous research program in all schooling sectors in Queensland along the lines of the Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study, which examines the link between pedagogic practices in classrooms for students with disabilities and the outcomes achieved by these students

  22. Aims: • To conduct a literature review identifying practices indicative of successful transition outcomes for students with II, ASD, II/ASD • To construct, based on the literature review, a benchmarking instrument designed to assess levels of agreement, and implementation of, recommended transition practices (Teacher Survey). • To investigate outcomes for students who had left school from 2000-2005 (Parent Survey). • To make recommendations regarding school to post-school transition for Queensland schools

  23. Components of the study • A literature review • Teacher benchmarking instrument • A parent/past student questionnaire • Parent/past student focus groups • Teacher/post-school service provider focus groups • Report & recommendations

  24. Study Structure • All sections of the study were structured around Kohler’s Taxonomy (Kohler & Field, 2003). • Student development • Student focused planning • Family involvement • Interagency collaboration • Program structure • Taxonomy available at: http://homepages.wmich.edu/~kohlerp/research7.html - Taxonomy

  25. Parent questionnaire (Davies & Beamish, In Press) • School leavers 2000-2005 • The questions addressed: • Background information • Data on paid work • Activities other than paid work • Data on school experiences • Quantitative data and parent perspectives • 800 distributed-218 returned

  26. Background information

  27. School type

  28. Background information

  29. Daytime activity 30% of SHS leavers 16% of SEU leavers 65% of Spec School leavers 70% of SHS leavers 43% of SEU leavers 15% of Spec School leavers 0% of SHS leavers 41% of SEU leavers 20% of Spec School leavers

  30. Paid work-open employment • 53 (25% of sample) • 31 (47% of SEU & state high school); 22 (15% of state special school) • 32 employed for 2 years or less • Earnings per week: • < $50 (25 %) • $50-$100 (21%) • $100-$200 (30%) • over $200 (23%) • Hours of work • <10 hours 25% • 10-20 hours 37% • 20-30 hours 17% • > 30 hours 21%

  31. Business services • 28 (13% of sample) • Earnings per week: • < $50 (63%) • $50-$100 (30%) • $100-$150 (3.5%) • $150-200 (3.5%) • Hours per week: • < 10 hours (11%) • 10-20 hours (33%) • 20-30 hours (33%) • over 30 hours (23%)

  32. Day activity centre (not paid) • 110 (50% of the sample) • 12 (18% state high school leavers); 98; (68% state special school leavers) • Hours of attendance: • <10 hrs pw (20%) • 10-20 hours (48%) • 20-30 hours (30%) • >30 hrs pw (2%) • One third participated in volunteer activities

  33. Tertiary education • 47 (22% of the sample) attended a tertiary institution • TAFE (69%) • Universities (7%) • other courses (24%)

  34. Community activities

  35. Community supervision and contact with others

  36. Activity summary • 87% participated in work (open or supported employment) or a day centre program • Involved < 20 hours per week (62%, 44%, 68%) • 82% are looked after by parents at home when not participating “The family became emotionally dysfunctional and were unable to cope. Mother resigned from a $60,000 a year job (and RESENTS it) to assist”.

  37. School experiences

  38. Work experience • 147 (67% of the sample) participated in work experience • 24% - 1 work experience • 31% - 2 work experiences • 10% - 3 work experiences • 24% - 4 work experiences

  39. Duration of work experience

  40. Satisfaction with the school program

  41. Involvement with transition goal setting

  42. Adjustment to family life

  43. Comments on adjustments • Parental reduction or cessation of work • Transport difficulties • Disruption from an increased caring role The family became emotionally dysfunctional and were unable to cope. Mother resigned from a $60,000 per year job (and RESENTS it) to assist. Because we resided 54 klms west of (regional city) there was no transport to bring her in to the day program. We tried bringing her in each day 1,000 klms a week but we found this was too expensive and wearing so we moved into (regional city). Organizations dictate the hours of care,10-2pm.Anything I need to do must be accomplished in 4 hours. My whole life is an adjustment

  44. Overall recommendations • Improved interagency collaboration • Interdepartmental liaison • Role of school transition officers • Program structure • Clearly articulated philosophy, policies & procedures at the systemic and local levels • Professional development modules http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=35370 • Program evaluation (student follow-up)

  45. Overall recommendations • Student focused planning • Few parents felt their child was involved in goal setting • Early development of these skills • Student development • Ecologically valid instruction earlier in the students secondary education • Family involvement • Begin earlier in the transition process

  46. Concluding comments • Our conclusions similar to past Australian and overseas studies • Made over a period of time (NSW initiative late 1980s) • Front line transition teachers find systemic change difficult • Knowledge of evidence based practices can influence systemic decision making

  47. References Burrows, M., Ford, J., & Botroff, V. (2001). The post-school outcomes of young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Australasian Journal of Special Education, 25(1&2), 34-48. Centre for Disability Research and Development. (1995). Report on the evaluation of the 1994 Western Australian Transition Support Program for students with disabilities. Perth: Edith Cowan University. Davies, M., & Beamish, W. (In Press). Transitions from school for young adults with disability: Parental perspectives on “life as an adjustment”. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability. C.W.O. Updates, (2007). Retrieved on March 23, 2009 from http://www.jobsupport.org.au/main/content/view/19/36/ Carke, G. (1994). Vision driven. The South Coast Transition Model as facilitated by the Post Schol Options Advisory Service. Paper presented at the Triple-O- Forum. Making the links for people with disabilities who have hogh support needs. Education, training and work through the 90s. Griffith University, Brisbane.

  48. Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. (2005). People with a disability in the open workforce: Final report of the national enquiry into employment and disability. Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm Laragy, C. (2004). Self-determination within school transition programs for students with a disability. Disability and Society, 19(5), 519-530. Lynch, M. (2005). Preparing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder for work: A school to work training program and the importance of relationships. Paper Presented at the Australian Association for Special Education, Melbourne. Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development. (2007). Sikness disability and work. Volume 2: Australia, Luxembourg, Spain and the United Kingdom. Available from OECD from http://www.oecd.org/document/11/0,3343,en_2649_33933_39780427_1_1_1_1,00.html

  49. Riches, V. (1996). A review of transition from school to community for students with disabilities in NSW, Australia. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilitiy, 21(1), 71-88. Riches, V., Parmenter, T., & Robertson, G. (1996). Youth with disabilities in transition from school to community. Sydney NSW, Australia: Unit for Community Integration Studies, Macquarie University. Wade, J. (203). Transition to supported emploment for students with a disability. Australian Council for Rehabilitation of the Disabled (ACROD), Sth Australian Division. Retrieved 7th September, 2005 from http://www.nds.org.au/SA/default.htm

More Related