David J. Lillenstein, Ed.D., NCSP Edward M. Levinson, Ed.D., NCSP Christina Sylvester, B.A.

1. The Role of the School Psychologist in Transition Planning: A Comparison Between National and State Surveys David J. Lillenstein, Ed.D., NCSP Edward M. Levinson, Ed.D., NCSP Christina Sylvester, B.A. Erin Brady, B.A.

2. As compared to people without disabilities, people with disabilities: • experience increased unemployment rates (National Council on Disability, 2000) • are more likely to live in poverty (National Council on Disability, 2000) • have a higher school dropout rate (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2002; U.S. Department of Education 2001)

3. But things are improving… • The National Longitudinal Transition Study (1985-1993) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (2000-2009) track the experiences of 13 to 16 year olds throughout high school • Information is collected through telephone interviews, school surveys, student assessments, and transcripts • data from NLTS-2 show an improvement

4. NLTS (1987) 55% of youth with disabilities completed high school NLTS-2 (2003) 72% of youth with disabilities completed high school significant increase in the percentage of students with mental retardation, learning disabilities, and emotional disturbances, who completed school NLTS vs. NLTS-2

5. Why have things improved? • One reason could be transition planning • Transition planning helps students adapt to life after secondary school in the areas of: • Employment • Independent living • Post-secondary education

6. Transition Planning • Transition Plans became a required part of the Individualized Education Program in 1990 • When IDEIA was signed into law, transition planning became a requirement by age 16, rather than 14, and is to be more results-focused

7. Transition Planning • Transition planning is mandated under IDEIA • But… • it does not specify who is responsible • school districts often use special education teachers

8. Transition Planning • Transition planning should use a team approach (deFur, 1999) • each member acts as a representative • expands the range of expertise

9. Transition Planning • The team should be representative of many disciplines (Wehman et al, 1987) • better able to address the needs of individuals (Krieg, Brown, & Ballard, 1995) • participation of therapy-related service providers declines as students enter secondary education (USDOE, 1995)

10. School Psychologists and Transition • studies have found that more than 90% of practicing school psychologists believed they should be more involved in transition activities (Shepard, 1982) • a more recent national survey of school psychologists found that less than 1% of time was spent in vocational assessment (Carey, 1995)

11. School Psychologists and Transition • School psychologists possess many transition-related skills in the four NASP categories • consultation • psychological and psycho-educational assessment • direct services • program planning and evaluation

12. Consultation • in-service workshops • instructional consultant

13. Psychological and Psycho-educational Assessment • establish and test interventions • monitor progress • evaluate outcomes (Reschly & Ysseldyke, 1995)

14. Direct Services • social skills training programs • behavior management programs • meet with parents and students following an assessment

15. Program Planning and Evaluation • planning and implementation of program evaluation • assess the effectiveness of interventions • assess extent to which students are progressing

16. Purpose of Staab Study (1996) • National survey of school psychologists • involvement in transition • importance of involvement in transition • barriers to involvement in transition

17. Purpose of this Study • involvement of school psychologists in transition planning in Pennsylvania • importance of involvement • barriers impacting involvement • comparison between national (Staab, 1996) and Pennsylvania samples

18. Methods • adaptation of Staab’s (1996) survey • demographic information • tasks from each of the NASP categories • tasks • list of potential barriers

19. Methods • survey was sent to 450 school psychologists • follow-up was sent after 14 and 30 days • 150 school psychologists returned the survey

20. Study 150 school psychologists 38.4% male 61.6% female mean number of years of experience is 16.8 mean age - 44.6 years Pennsylvania 950 school psychologists (PDE, 1999) 38% male 62% female mean number of years of experience is 15.6 Demographic Information

21. Demographic information cont. • 8.1% urban • 48.8% suburban • 43.1% rural • 35.8% Western Pennsylvania • 39% Central Pennsylvania • 25.2% Eastern Pennsylvania

22. National (Staab, 1996) Needed more information - 50% Adequately Prepared - 33% Pennsylvania Not prepared - 9.6% Needed more information - 54.4% Adequately prepared - 25.6% Well prepared - 10.4% Preparation to participate Transition Planning

23. Training • 53.6% received training through in-service workshops • .8 % received their training through a graduate program in “transition”

24. Involvement vs. Importance • Independent samples t-tests compared involvement and perceived importance • Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991, p. 329) • Importance was greater than involvement for all tasks (p < .0001)

25. Involvement • Independent samples t-tests compared national and state samples on involvement • Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991, p. 329) • Significant differences were identified in each of the four categories

26. Consultation • similar level of involvement between national and state sample on 70% of tasks • national sample reported greater involvement in: • consultation to develop self-advocacy/self-determination • coordination of assessments to avoid duplication • participation in local Transition Council

27. Psychological and Psycho-educational Assessment • similar level of involvement between national and state sample on 67% of tasks • national sample reported greater involvement in: • interviewing students on interests/preferences for future planning • explaining test results to students to understand strengths/needs

28. Direct Services • similar level of involvement between national and state sample on 67% of tasks • national sample reported greater involvement in: • providing student training on interpersonal/social skills • identifying “at-risk” students and initiating transition planning

29. Program Planning and Evaluation • similar level of involvement between national and state sample on 89% of tasks • national sample reported greater involvement in: • developing social skills training programs for students

30. Importance • Independent samples t-tests compared national and state samples on importance • Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991, p. 329) • Significant differences were identified in the Consultation and Direct Services categories

31. Consultation • similar level of importance between national and state sample on 90% of tasks • national sample reported greater importance of: • providing student training on interpersonal/social skills

32. Direct Services • similar level of importance between national and state sample on 57% of tasks • national sample reported greater importance of: • attending secondary IEPs where transition is discussed • providing student training on interpersonal/social skills

33. Current Involvement vs. Perceived Importance of Involvement • differences between perceived importance and current involvement in transition activities were compared for the two samples • for each item, the involvement rating was subtracted from the importance rating and these scores were compared between samples • Bonferroni procedure was used to maintain a family wise error rate of .05 (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991, p. 329)

34. Consultation • similar level between national and state samples on 90% of tasks • larger difference for state than national for: • consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination

35. Psychological and Psycho-educational Assessment • similar level between national and state sample on 83% of tasks • larger difference for state than national for: • explaining test results to students to understand strengths/needs

36. Direct Services • similar level between national and state sample on 71% of tasks • larger difference for state than national for: • attending secondary IEPs where transition is discussed • identifying “at-risk” students and initiating transition planning

37. Barriers to transition involvement • a z-test compared the responses from participants in the national and state samples • percentage of school psychologists listing each barrier was computed • percentages were compared between groups

38. Barriers • no significant differences between the two samples on the ratings of 63% of the barriers • transition is not part of job description • lack of interest in transition activities • lack of training in transition • high caseload • number of buildings served

39. Barriers • significant difference between samples for the barriers: • referral backlog • PA 71.2 % • National 56.8 % • little secondary work • PA 17.6 % • National 40.6% • role restrictions • PA 36.8 % • National 58.6 %

40. Discussion • many similarities in the perceptions of the role of school psychologists in transition planning • similar involvement, perceived importance of involvement, and differences between involvement and importance • both indicated the need for additional training

41. Differences in Involvement • The school psychologists in the national sample reported greater involvement than the state sample on several tasks: • consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination • coordinating assessments to avoid duplication • participating in the local transition council • interviewing students on interests/preferences for future planning • explaining test results to students to understand strengths/needs • providing student training on interpersonal/social skills • identifying “at-risk” students and initiating transition planning • developing social skills training programs for students

42. Importance vs. Involvement • both samples reported greater importance than involvement • this is consistent with existing literature (Levinson, 1990; Reschly & Wilson, 1995; Staab, 1996)

43. Differences in Importance • National sample reported greater importance than state sample on several tasks • participating in the local Transition Council • attending secondary IEPs where transition is discussed • providing student training on interpersonal/social skills • identifying “at-risk” students

44. Differences between Involvement and Importance • State sample reported larger differences than national sample on several tasks • consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination • explaining test results to students • attending IEPs where transition is discussed • identifying “at-risk” students

45. Differences between Involvement and Importance cont. • differences on the tasks, consulting to develop self-advocacy/self-determination, and explaining test results to students, are attributable to greater involvement in these tasks by school psychologists in the national sample

46. Differences between Involvement and Importance cont. • differences between groups on attending IEPs where transition is discussed, and identifying “at-risk” students, are attributable to differences in involvement

47. Barriers • A larger percentage of participants in the national study perceived “little secondary work” and “role restrictions” as barriers • A larger percentage of participants in Pennsylvania reported “referral backlog” to be a barrier

48. Reasons for Differences • several factors may explain these differences • 50% of national sample respondents worked at the secondary level • 20% of the Pennsylvania respondents worked at the secondary level

49. Reasons for Differences • 89.6% of the Pennsylvania sample reported that “assessment” was their primary role • previous studies have suggested that school psychologists nationally spend 50% of their time in “assessment-type” activities (Benson & Hughes, 1985; Goh et al., 1981; Gutkin & Conoley, 1990; Hutton et al., 1992; Reschly & Wilson, 1995)

50. Reasons for Differences • differences may also be attributable to the presence or absence of a "transition coordinator"