Building a Continuum of Transportation Education

1. Building a Continuum of Transportation Education ATI National Conference August 2013 Judy L. Shanley, Ph.D., Director, Administration for Community Living, Mobility Management, & Student Engagement Projects, Easter Seals Transportation Group, Washington, DC Michael J. VanDekreke, Manager Accessibility, RTA Chicago Nathan Neely, Travel Instructor, Chicago, IL

2. Today’s Agenda • Overview of Easter Seals Project ACTION - Judy • Rationale for this Work - Michael • Knocking on the Door of School Districts - Judy • Strategies to Build a Continuum of Transportation Education & Travel Instruction - Judy • Student-Family Summits – Nate • Activities and Discussion

3. Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) • Mission: promote universal access to transportation for people with disabilities… • Supports Transportation and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) • Begun by Congress twenty three years ago to build bridges of understanding between the Transportation and Disability Community • Cooperative Agreement funded by the Federal Transit Administration and Administered by Easter Seals • Aligned with Easter Seals work to improve the lives of children, youth, and adults with disabilities

4. Four Functional Areas to Help Local Organizations Build Accessible Transportation Capacity • Training Events – travel training, webinars, online training • Technical Assistance – 800#, email, in-person coalition building events • Applied Research – fund catalyst and gap filling programs to stimulate academic inquiry and leverage new product development • Outreach – build awareness & create partnerships

5. A Poll What is your experience with Project ACTION? • I participate in ESPA events, trainings, and use products - Project ACTION is a must have resource! • I have heard of Project ACTION – and that’s about it • I have never used resources - I am so excited to learn more about Project ACTION and can’t wait to find out about events, trainings, and products!

6. A Message from a Transportation Perspective Michael VanDekreke, Manager Accessibility, Regional Transportation Authority, Chicago

7. An Introduction to this Work • How did this work come about? • What was the process? • Why does it matter? • Lessons learned for others to replicate

8. Transportation education creates a culture, accompanied by a coordinated set of practices, to connect students, families, educators, pupil transporters, and public transportation professionals to ensure students have knowledge, access, and choice regarding a continuum of accessible transportation options across grade levels, and especially as they transition from school to postsecondary education, employment, and independent living.

9. Voices from Youth I feel like I am independent. I don’t need to depend on my mom and dad to take me places. Now I can ride the bus to get to my job and to the movies with my friends Spontaneous Choice

10. Travel Instructors Can Knock on School Doors and Leverage • Existing school reforms and programs • Work around college & career readiness • Focus on common core state standards • Focus on Employment First – Inclusive post-school outcomes • Factors that get school districts in trouble • High drop out rates • Poor transition plans and services • Poor post-school outcomes • Legal requirements of IDEA

11. Align Transportation Education With…. Ready by 21 Insulated Pipeline College and Career Readiness Transportation, Health, Mental Health, Housing, Financial Families Peers Community Members http://www.readyby21.org/

12. Align Transportation Education With… Implementation of the Common Core Standards

13. Transportation Content can be Integrated Across the IEP

14. IEP Goals and Benchmarks Example (Literacy and Transportation Content) • Given picture representations of 25 community signs or symbols with which he is unfamiliar at the start of the IEP year, and the verbal prompt “What (sign or symbol) is this and what does it mean?”, Manuel will independently verbally state the name and meaning of each one in 5 of 5 trials to demonstrate mastery. • Benchmarks can fade level of prompting • Benchmarks can increase number of correct responses • Benchmarks can increase number of signs/symbols Think Forward • To increase his skills with a future goal, the context might be recognizing those same signs/symbols when out in the community as part of community-based instruction.

15. Examples of Post-Secondary Outcomes • After graduating from high school, Andrew will independently travel to and from work using public transportation. • After completing high school and moving to college, Mikela will utilize campus transit options to attend her weekly classes. • After completing high school and while continuing to live with his family, Devon will, with assistance, use pedestrian skills to walk to business in his community for shopping opportunities.

16. A Poll Have you had experience in working with schools on programs that integrate transportation content and other school programs?

17. A Curriculum to Build the Knowledge of Educators, Human Services, Families, and Transit regarding Transportation Education and Travel Instruction http://www.projectaction.org/Initiatives/YouthTransportation/TransportationEducationCurriculum.aspx

18. J. Shanley, Easter Seals, 2013 Easter Seals Transportation Group Building an Accessible Transportation Continuum for Students with Disabilities to Support Transition Students & Families Interconnected Systems and People www.cec.sped.org http://www.dcdt.org/ http://www.rehabnetwork.org http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/ http://www.apta.com/ www.ctaa.org http://www.napt.org/ www.nasdpts.org http://tsdconference.com/ www.ahead.org

19. What you will learn Module 1 Modules 2, 3, 4 Modules 5, 6 Module 7 Module 8 Module 9

20. Activity • How Can You Contribute?

21. Building a Continuum of Transportation Education • Moving up the Tiers • Fewer numbers of students • More defined services • Greater time & resource commitment • Specialized training and competence of providers Intense Services - Travel Training - Paratransit eligibility - OT/PT/Behavioral Interventions Focused Transportation Assessments & Education - Travel Training Assessments - OT/PT Behavioral assessment - Travel Instruction - Familiarization • District-Wide Transportation Education • Provide professional development to educators around • accessible transportation supports • Engage families & students in transportation ed in early grades • Integrate transportation content across grade levels and curriculum • (ELA, Math, geography, etc.) • Rely on transit for community-based experiences • Invite transit into schools and programs • Establish linkages across educators, pupil transportation and public transportation; Provide travel instruction and orientation

22. What Are you Doing at Each Tier? What Can you be Doing at Each Tier? Can you integrate transportation content in any current reforms?

23. Some Ideas….Strategies to Integrate Accessible Transportation and Transition Services • Engage families, students, and colleagues – hold a transportation summit • Invite students who use transit, businesses, Voc Rehab • Conduct resource mapping of transportation resources & travel training services – shared services (church, school, business) • Connect with transit organizations and mobility management systems • Federal Untied We Ride – www.unitedweride.gov • Contribute to IEP goals around accessible transportation • Invite transit professionals into events

24. Strategies to Integrate Accessible Transportation and Transition Services • Use & visit transit – field trips • Embed transportation content into curriculum and instruction • Look for grant opportunities to focus on accessible transportation • Connect with local teacher education and rehabilitation preparation programs • Integrate transportation content into professional development • Understand travel instruction and its components • Consider offering travel instruction services • Partner with human services organizations, transit agencies, State agencies

25. Yellow School Buses as the First Step • Relationships with Pupil Transportation (National Association for Pupil Transportation www.napt.org and National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services http://www.nasdpts.org • Simulate public buses • Establish fare cards • Use public transit signage • Invite public transit drivers on school grounds • Develop schedules and route maps • Provide students/clients computer route maps • Mimic driver alert systems on buses • Replicate social variance on bus

26. Engaging Students, Families, Transportation, and Other Key Stakeholders Module 3

27. Interconnected Systems and People • Students and their families drive the process • Educators and transition coordinators include content in teaching and develop IEP goals around transportation skills. Working with related services professionals such as occupational and physical therapists, educators inform transportation planning in areas such as: • Student learning styles and instructional methods • Behavioral and social performance • How transportation content can be aligned with academic content and classroom instruction

28. Interconnected Systems and People • Pupil transportation and college campus professionals can offer information about school and college based transportation services. • Pupil transportation professionals participate in IEP meetings and share information about student mobility, travel and transportation options • Public transportation can support school content related to the use of public transportation and the services provided in particular areas.

29. STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGING STUDENTS

30. Engaging Students Students are critical informants to transportation education Integrating transportation content into academic standards and curriculum (Module 5) will help students become more involved in transportation content and discussions about transportation options as they move across grades Providing students with opportunities to express their preferences and interests in transportation options will better ensure that choices are aligned with student needs Using tools, such as the social and sensory scans, can help engage students Assisting students in developing a self-advocacy plan teaches self-determination

31. Social and Sensory Scans for Students One way for students to become involved is to help them understand their own preferences and styles Students have sensory and social preferences which are factors that may affect their choice to participate in a particular activity These preferences can influence their choices in selecting particular modes of transportation Students can build transportation plans that are aligned with these preferences

32. Self-Advocacy to Enhance Transportation Choice: Tools to Assist Students in Identifying Transportation Options Based on Preferences These materials are part of the Integrated Self-Advocacy (ISA) Curriculum developed by Dr. Valerie Paradiz, an internationally recognized researcher and educator. Dr. Paradiz adapted the ISA Sensory Scan™ and ISA Social Scan™ for ESPA to help students understand and address sensory and social challenges. This increased knowledge and awareness enables students to build a self-advocacy portfolio around accessible transportation that is aligned with sensory and social needs.

33. Social and Sensory Preferences Webinar Transportation and Self-Advocacy Education to Support Student Transition to Post-school Settings http://www.projectaction.org/Initiatives/YouthTransportation/SelfAdvocacyCurriculum.aspx • This ESPA webinar, conducted with the support of nationally recognized researcher Dr. Valerie Paradiz, introduces both educators and students to basic self-advocacy and ways to develop advocacy plans related to using transportation.

34. ESPA tools you can implement in your classroom • ISA Sensory Scan™ for Transportation • This is an activity that can be done in or out of class (or both). Students can work in pairs or solo (then share with the group). The worksheet prompts you to assess your individual sensory experiences in the environment you are scanning. For students who need support, a fellow student can assist with the scan, or a teacher or other classroom staff can fill out the worksheet by student self-report or by staff observation. The scan can be completed first in the classroom setting for practice, then again later in a transit setting. Link to ESPA resources.

35. ESPA tools you can implement in your classroom (cont.) • My Self-Advocacy Experience • This is an in-class activity that educators and students can do to identify the three steps of self-advocacy by reflecting on an experience from their own lives Link to ESPA resources • My Sensory Experience • This is an in-class activity for educators and students to support the exploration of the different sensory systems and what they do. The activity also provides opportunity to explore one’s own sensory experiences Link to ESPA resources

36. Strategies for engaging families

37. Engaging Families Families may be fearful or hesitant to let their children explore a continuum of transportation options Providing forums for families to express their concerns is important Facilitating connections across families whose children have successfully received a continuum of services, with those families who may be fearful, can demonstrate the positive outcomes related to transportation education Organizing events such as a summit is one way to engage families Scroll here to click forward arrow

38. Developing Student-Family Summits to Engage Families Determine targeted audience Determine the number of attendees Secure a location Set a date/time Create an agenda Market the event by flyers, phone calls, emails, and mail Reach out to potential panelists such as: Students and their families of students who have learned to use public transit, employers, educators, vocational rehabilitation counselors. Link to Summit Planning Template Link to Summit Agenda

39. Developing Student – Family Summits • Prep panelists on questions before the summit • Meet with facilitators and review breakout session questions • Do a walk through at location prior to the summit Link to Sample Facilitator Notes Link to Sample Summit Flyer

40. Activity • In small groups, use the Summit Planning Template to plan for a student-family summit • Discussion Questions • What are critical elements in your planning? • What challenges could you potentially have? • What are the outcomes of the summit?

41. Learn how Pete Meslin, Director of Transportation, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, CA Works with Educators Click here for a transcript Meslin Video Strategies for Engaging Pupil Transportation professionals

42. A Poll Do you collaborate with school pupil transportation professionals? • Describe the activities. • What do you think contributes to the success of these relationships?

43. Engaging Pupil Transportation Professionals The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) www.napt.org is the school transportation industry’s largest and most diverse membership organization, providing cutting-edge education and timely information services for its members throughout the world.  NAPT’s vision is to be first and foremost in leading, supporting and developing world-class professionals who provide safe and efficient pupil transportation for our children.  The NAPT mission is CLEAR: Communication; Leadership; Education; Advocacy; Resources. Review the ESPA Presentation conducted with pupil transportation professionals to learn about ways to collaborate

44. Strategies for Engaging PUBLIC Transportation professionals

45. Engaging Your Local Transit Agency • Most public transportation agencies have an ADA Compliance Officer that would be a good initial contact • Transit agencies are invested in increasing fixed route use while reducing paratransit ridership costs • Highlight your efforts in increasing the use of the fixed route system rather than paratransit • Ask your transit system how you can partner with their Travel Training Program if they offer a program • Ask transit professionals about local transit policies and fare programs for people with disabilities

46. Person-Directed Mobility Management Mobility management works at the community level by ensuring that transportation is accessible and the pathways to transportation are accessible. At the community level, mobility managers connect with transportation service providers and communities on developing coordinated transportation plans and policies that promote accessible transportation and accessible pathways for people of all abilities http://www.projectaction.org/Initiatives/MobilityManagement.aspx

47. A Poll Are you Involved in Coordinated Transportation Systems or Transportation Advisory / Planning Committees?

48. Guided by Several Projects • Easter Seals • Mobility Management Independent Living Coaches Program • National Center for Mobility Management • Partnership across Easter Seals, Community Transportation Association of American, and the American Public Transportation Association • Strengthening Inclusiveness Transportation Partnerships

49. We Learned about Specific Strategies… • Participate in advisory groups • Encourage cultures that welcome a diverse range of perspectives through accessible meeting venues, by varying meeting times, and using materials in multiple formats. • Provide input regarding the accessibility of varying media and technology platforms. • Collaborate with transit and human service organizations to: • write products; • review materials; • conduct presentations; • co-host forums and events; • write grants and seek funding together; and • develop policy and practice statements.

50. We Also Learned… • Consider career pathways for persons with disabilities and older adults: • Connect with guidance counselors, school transition professionals, employment centers, Dept. of Labor one-stop centers. • Serve as a venue for internships, placements. • Implement job shadowing, job sharing, and mentorship programs. • Share equipment and technology. • Attend professional development forums together – including online forums. www.transitplanning4all.org