Speakers & Sessions

Monday, February 20
Transition to Employment: A Shared Responsibility
Teresa A. Grossi, Ph.D., Indiana University
Work is a central part of people's lives. When students transition to employment, it becomes a shared responsibility. However, the importance of home and school activities from elementary through high school helps make those dreams come true. Understanding what to expect and how to plan as early as possible becomes a key to developing meaningful and fulfilling lives. Participants will examine what we are doing in the content of school services to improve employability skills and outcomes for students. Type of experiences, information gathered and documentation to meet the expectations of adult providers and employers will be reviewed. Finding the right job match is a three prong approach which includes the perspectives of the student, employer and support agencies. Making all perspectives come together creates the right job match and improving employment outcomes for students.

Teresa A. Grossi, Ph.D.
Dr. Grossi is the Director for the Center on Community Living and Careers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, the Indiana's University Center for Excellence (UCE) at Indiana University. She has extensive background in education and employment for individuals with disabilities where she has worked in North Carolina and Ohio as a community-based instructor, transition coordinator, job coach and managed a vocational training program and a supported employment agency.

Tuesday, February 21
Quality Indicators of Transition: Moving from Compliance to Quality Services
Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D., University of Kansas
This presentation provides an overview of a model of transition that considers quality indicators of transition (e.g., transition planning, curriculum & instruction; assessment; family involvement, student focused planning, inclusion and access, and interagency collaboration). Examples of effective practices in each of these critical transition domains will be included. A process for completing a self-evaluation of district and school programs will be shared and participants will have time to reflect on current status of indicators of quality transition services.

Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D.
Dr. Morningstar is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas and Director of the Transition Coalition, which offers online transition training and resources for practitioners. She coordinates the online masters program in transition and teaches several classes related to secondary education and transition including vocational training and employment, interagency and community services, and transition assessment. She also coordinates the teacher education program for teachers of students with significant disabilities.