Empowering Students with Disabilities: Collaborative Efforts in Education

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Cohesive Collaboration between Colleges and High Schools to Support Students with Disabilities Presenters Jennifer T. Biggers M.Ed., University of California, Riverside Laura Williams M.Ed., Riverside Unified School District Pamela J. Starr Ph.D., Riverside City College Scott Brown Ed.D., Riverside City College

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Conference Civility Statement We ask you to join us in creating a culture that reflects Access and Inclusion and Civility and Respect this week and in all aspects of our organization.

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Conference Civility Statement Agenda/Overview Introductions Institution Overview What does the research say? Cohesive Collaboration Efforts It Starts with an Invitation Show Me the Money Toolkit Q & A

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Learning Objectives Conference Civility Statement Participants will learn how to establish collaborative relationships and the benefits of collaborative programming with schools within neighboring districts. Participants will be able to identify the potential missing skills, knowledge and resources students may possess as they prepare to transition into postsecondary education. Participants will be able identify, establish or create appropriate resources to support a successful transition. Participants will be able to utilize the provided toolkit to adapt and develop a plan to implement within their own institution.

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 What we were seeing... Understanding differences: IDEA/Section 504/ADAAA Perception that accommodations will be the same as in K-12 Perception that documentation will be sent automatically to college/university Navigating process to register at college/university Need for Self-advocacy Desire for continued/expected parental involvement Concerns of "everyone" knowing your disability

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Addressing the Gaps: On-campus Tours High School Visits Parent Nights Workshops On-going Conversations Connection Collaboration Consultation Commitment

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Riverside USD Who We Are The 16th largest school district in California Serving nearly 42,000 students annually Diverse student programs including International Baccalaureate, Dual Language Immersion, CTE Programs

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Our Team-RUSD Transition Our district has a team dedicated to supporting Our district has a team dedicated to supporting transtion Transition Team, is comprised of 3 credentialed Teachers on Transition Team, is comprised of 3 credentialed Teachers on Special Assignment along with 2 classified Job Developers. Special Assignment along with 2 classified Job Developers. We serve 5 comprehensive high schools, 4 alternate education We serve 5 comprehensive high schools, 4 alternate education programs, Riverside Virtual School and STEM Academy as well as 7 programs, Riverside Virtual School and STEM Academy as well as 7 middle schools as well as our Adult Transition Program. middle schools as well as our Adult Transition Program. District Funding as well as a grant from the California Department District Funding as well as a grant from the California Department of Education (CDE) of Education (CDE) and a contract with Department of and a contract with Department of Rehabilition (DOR) fund the staffing of our Transition Team. (DOR) fund the staffing of our Transition Team. transtion. RUSD . RUSD Rehabilition

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 RUSD Populations Served in Grades 7+ 2,368 Students with Disabilities Specific Learning Disability: 47% Other Health Impairment: 21% Autism: 13% Intellectual Disability: 9% Speech: 5% Emotional: 3% Hard of Hearing: 1% Multiple Disability: 1% Traumatic Brain Injury: <1% Visual: <1% Orthopedic Impairment: <1%

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 RCC Who We Are Community College, established 1916, part of a three college District Serving 20,000 students annually, almost 100 programs of study Hispanic Serving Institution

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Our Team Director Director Administrative Assistant Administrative Assistant Support Services Specialist Aide Support Services Specialist Aide Disability Specialists: 3 Disability Specialists: 3 DRC Counselors: 3.5 DRC Counselors: 3.5 High High- -Tech Center: 2 Tech Center: 2 Senior Interpreters: 4 Senior Interpreters: 4 Hourly Interpreters: 40 Hourly Interpreters: 40 Student Employees: 30 Student Employees: 30

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Riverside City College Disability Resource Center Populations Served 1877 Students with disabilities served (2022-2023) Psychological Disability - 31.8% Learning Disabled - 20.7% Other Disability 13.2% ADHD - 11.1% Autism Spectrum - 7.3% Hearing Impaired - 6.2% Mobility Impaired - 5.6% Visually Impaired - 1.5% Developmentally Delayed Learner 1.4% Acquired Brain Injury - 1%

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 UC Riverside Who We Are UCR Services 26, 809 students 87% of undergraduate students receive financial aid 77% of those who receive aid have their full fees covered by grants/or scholarships Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) is under the division of Health, Well-being, & Safety (HWS).

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 UC Riverside Who We Are 38.7% |Hispanic or Latino 30.8% | Asian 12.9% | White 5.5% | Two or More Races 7.5% | International 3.0% | Black or African American 1.5% | Unknown 0.1% | Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.1% | Native American or Alaskan Native

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 SDRC at UC Riverside Populations Served 2000+ Students Supported Disability Percentage or # Disability Percentage or # Psychological 32% Manual Impairments 3% Autism 4.9% ( 109) Deaf n=4 ADHD 18% Other Hearing Impairment 1.4% Chronic Health 18% Blind n= 10 ABI 11.8% Other Visual Impairments 1.4% Learning Disability 3% Intellectual Disability n=3

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 UCR-Our Team Director Director Associate Director Associate Director Assistive/Accessible Technology Specialist Assistive/Accessible Technology Specialist Disability Specialists Disability Specialists Testing Center Coordinator Testing Center Coordinator Assistant Testing Center Coordinator Assistant Testing Center Coordinator Administrator Assistant Administrator Assistant Administrative Officer Administrative Officer Student Employees: 10 Student Employees: 10 SDRC Student Ambassadors: 3 SDRC Student Ambassadors: 3

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Conference Civility Statement And the Research Says... Students with disabilities entering college are not equipped with tools needed to be success in college (Gil); In a national longitudinal study, 35% of post-secondary students chose to inform their institution about their disability (Newman & Madaus, 2015); 66% of college students with disabilities fail to persist to graduation compared which is 17% higher than students without disabilities (Newman et al., 2011) Educators and service providers are unsure how to collaborate or had a lack of knowledge about transition resources (Jen-Yi et al., 2009, Riesen et al., 2014).

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 And the Research Says: COLLABORATION Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0 Person-Process-Context- Time (PCT) Human development Regular and reciprocal interactions Influence person's development over time Student-focused planning Student development INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION Family engagement Program structure

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Early Outreach: Local School Districts In conjunction with RCC Outreach: Parent Resource Night High Schools Presentations Campus tours Incorporate DRC

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Early Outreach: Local School Districts-2 Tabling High School College Fairs High School events specifically for students with IEP/504 College & Career Fair with the Chamber of Commerce Deafestival

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Early Outreach: Local School Districts-3 Virtual Programming: o University Night o Transition Readiness Presentations- at Chamber of Commerce

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Early Outreach: Local School Districts-4 Dual Enrollment/Concurrent Enrollment Make sure students know to register with you for their accommodations

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Early Outreach: Local School Districts-5 Community Resources Providing space in your department to meet with students Youth Summit Southern CA Resource Services for Independent Living

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Inland Empire Collaborative Grant $1,000,000 over three years Neurodiverse students Transition from local high schools to RCC Transition from RCC to UCR Non-credit skills curriculum development Dedicated professional at each college Link to Article: bit.ly/Collaborative_Grant

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Connections: Four-Year Colleges Housing Partnership UC Riverside Workshops for Accepted Students Meet and Greet with local 4-year colleges disability services

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Collaborative Community Events Autism Goes to College Movie Screening

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Solo Office: Connecting and Collaborating Connect with Special Education Departments at local high schools Attend Parent Nights Host summer transition workshops Collaborate with your Enrollment Management Outreach Build relationship with Athletics/Coaches Word of Mouth

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 It all Starts with an Invitation How would you set up a college fair? Community resources/agencies Invite yourself to visit programs State agencies, such as Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Developmental Services https://www.nasddds.org/state- agencies/ Who needs to be involved K-12 (Transition team, Health and Wellness), Outreach, Admission, Financial Aid, Disability Services CTE Engagement Centers Veterans, Foster Youth Career Centers

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Show Me the Money How to create maximum impact on a minimal budget: Creativity Community Awareness Volunteers Student Employees/Student Leaders Collaboration for equity monies Discretionary funds Grants Department of Education State Agencies

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Coordination within your own Institution Transition Departments Individual High School Counselors Local Colleges Admissions Outreach Disability Services

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Room to Grow New Grants Summit Transition Information on website Mini Ally Workshops (UCR to RUSD) Peer Mentors (UCR to RUSD) Ongoing Collaborative Meetings Parent Presentations with RUSD, RCC, UCR

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Toolkit Access to Presentations from each institution Timeline for adapting and developing a plan bit.ly/AHEAD_2024_Toolkit

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 This is our WHY! "As a student making use of disability accommodations, the transition from RCC to UCR was very smooth thanks to the similarities between the systems. The best thing about moving between programs was that I did not lose any support in the transition, or any accommodations in the process. The DRC at RCC and SDRC at UCR both put a lot of effort into making higher education accessible to disabled students, and assisting in the transition from a community college to the UC system. Having consistent meetings with a disability center advisor has been a major help in finding my place in a brand new system here at UCR..." S.Anderson Major: Biochemistry John W. North Alumn

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Program Share https://bit.ly/Noteworthy_Projects

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 References Francis, G. L., Gross, J. M. S., Magiera, L., Schmalzried, J., Monroe-Gulick, A., & Reed, S. (2018). Supporting students with disabilities, families, and professionals to collaborate during the transition to adulthood. International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities, 71 104. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irrdd.2018.07.004 Francis, G. L., Gross, J. M. S., Magiera, L., Schmalzried, J., Monroe-Gulick, A., & Reed, S. (2018, January 1). Chapter Three - Supporting Students With Disabilities, Families, and Professionals to Collaborate During the Transition to Adulthood (M. M. Burke, Ed.). ScienceDirect; Academic Press. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211609518300046 Horn, A., Layden, S., & Holloway, K. (n.d.). Building Collaborative Partnerships to Increase Postsecondary Education Opportunities for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved June 4, 2024, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1284373.pdf Lalor1, A., Madaus2, J., & Newman3, L. (n.d.). Leveraging Campus Collaboration to Better Serve All Students with Disabilities (Practice Brief). Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 33(3), 249. Retrieved June 4, 2024, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1280915.pdf

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 "Effective transition planning emphasizes early collaboration between educators, service providers, families, and students with disabilities" Francis, G. L., Gross, J., Magiera, L, Schmalzried, Monroe-Gulick, A., and Reed, S., 2018 Thank you for attending!

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Presenter Information Scott Brown, Ed.D. scott.brown@rcc.edu Riverside City College Jennifer Biggers jennifer.biggers@ucr.edu University of California, Riverside Laura Williams LWilliams@riversideunified.org Riverside Unified School District Pamela J Starr, Ph.D. pamela.starr@rcc.edu Riverside City College

Baltimore, Maryland July 15-19, 2024 Who we are together 30+ years of collaboration Multi-modal presentations "As a student making use of disability accommodations, the transition from RCC to UCR was very smooth thanks to the similarities between the systems. The best thing about moving between programs was that I did not lose any support in the transition, or any accommodations in the process. The DRC at RCC and SDRC at UCR both put a lot of effort into making higher education accessible to disabled students, and assisting in the transition from a community college to the UC system. Having consistent meetings with a disability center advisor has been a major help in finding my place in a brand new system here at UCR..." S.Anderson Major: Biochemistry John W. North Alum