Transition to Adulthood by Young Adults in Special Education: Teacher Perceptions
- ISBN-10
- 1369310943
- ISBN-13
- 9781369310948
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016
- Author
- Roneka Watkins Muhammed
Description
Disabled young people transitioning to adulthood are more likely experience chronic poverty, serial unemployment, poor lifespan health outcomes and endure lifetime dependence on social welfare. Over 500,000 children with special health care needs and learning disabilities transition to adulthood each year in the United States. 300,000 of the 1,000,000 disabled children in California, age 13 to 22, were registered as students in public schools in 2015. Special education teachers and School Nurses are intermediaries at the intersection between healthcare and education systems, both affecting the lifespan outcomes of this population. This cross-sectional, descriptive study sought to answer the research question: What are Special Education teachers’ perceptions about transitions to adulthood for special health and learning disabled students and what are their perceptions of the school nurse role in transition planning? A semi-structured interview tool was developed to collect data by in-person, audio recorded interviews from seven certified Special Education teachers with combined teaching experience of 157 years. The aim of this study was to explore Special Educators’ perceptions of barriers to successful post-school outcomes persistently experienced by transition-aged students and how school nurses impact this transition. Literature supported finding of teachers having a greater appreciation for school nurses for their knowledge as a clinical resource, than for the nurses’ clinical skills. Literature also supported results that teachers perceive School Nurses as outsiders unless presented in milieus as student advocates or in a central role providing school healthcare access for medically fragile students. Teachers did not recognize school nurses as necessary members of the students’ Individual Education Plan (IEP) nor transition team. The practice model suitable to address the five identified barrier themes developed from the study data analysis is The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model developed by the Center for Disease Control. This model provisions targeted efforts to strengthen sustainable health, education, community agency and organization partnerships with supportive design of a coordinated comprehensive approach to improve educational attainment, improve healthy development and better prepare the students for life. The opportunity for the school nurse to expand their role as community liaisons utilizing the WSCC model is in line with the 2010 Institute of Medicine recommendation for nurses to “practice to the full extent of their education.” School Nurses can lead change and advance student health to improve post-school outcomes by initiating innovative transformation of the IEP transition plan to reflect WSCC components. Three study findings are actionable: Day Program Curriculum; Advocacy Utilization Support; Professional Development. Improvement of Day Program reform is the current work of the federally mandated audit teams of the California state Department of Rehabilitation. The WSCC enhances the effectiveness broadly used education models and supports succinct, whole-school, student focused transition planning initiatives that include school nurse consultation and input. Other vital WSCC components, professional development and team empowerment promote augmentation of education administrators’ knowledge of special education legislation and community support matrix resources, better equipping them to support teachers on the front lines, thereby improving parental and student support.
