UConn is one of six universities leading a new program funded by the Department of Special Education, Office of Special Education Programs to develop a cohort of leaders in secondary transitions for students with disabilities.

UConn is joined by the University of Oklahoma, University of Arkansas, University of Kansas, Ohio State University, and Sam Houston State University on this $6.5 million grant. UConn will receive $1.1 million for the five-year project titled ELEVATE: Equipping Learning, Empowering Vision, Achieving Transitions, and Engaging Families—A Doctoral Leadership Initiative.

From the Neag School of Education, Joseph Madaus, professor of educational psychology, and Tracy Sinclair, assistant clinical professor of special education and the director of the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates, are leading the project at UConn.

This project seeks to address a critical equity gap between students with disabilities and their peers who do not have disabilities in the post-high school transition.

The outcomes for students with disabilities after high school in the U.S. are significantly lower than their peers who do not have disabilities in terms of employment, access to post-secondary education, and, for some, the ability to live independently.

The law in the U.S. currently mandates that secondary planning for students begins at age 16, after many students are already set on a particular track in terms of college or joining the workforce.

“There’s a real need to focus on secondary transition planning and transition planning that starts at younger ages,” Madaus says.

The grant will address this problem by funding doctoral students at the six participating institutions. These students will be trained to either become administrators in K-12 schools, or university faculty members who will pass these teachings on to a new generation of special education teachers.

Each institution will hold seminars and trainings for all the students supported by the program. Faculty leaders will bring students to conferences where they will have the opportunity to learn from and share current research while developing their professional networks.

“It’s a unique opportunity to build this cohort…to collaborate together across institutions across the country to really look at transitions in special education nationally,” Sinclair says.

Each institution is a leader in the field of secondary transitions for students with disabilities, and each has areas of specialization within this field. UConn’s strength lies in its focus on transitions to post-secondary education.

“That is an emphasis area that we can bring in more depth than some of the other schools,” Madaus says.

UConn’s Graduate Certificate Program in Secondary Transition to Adulthood has been accredited by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Career Development and Transition since 2021. UConn is one of only five programs nationwide to hold his accreditation.

“It brings a level of professionalism to the field that will be unique for the doctoral students and the future leaders in the field we will develop,” Sinclair says.

In the first year of the grant, the researchers are recruiting participants who will be trained in each university’s Ph.D. or Ed.D. program for the next four.

UConn will recruit three students who will start in fall 2025. Each of the other institutions will recruit three or four students.

The universities involved in this program are aiming to recruit, prepare, and retain diverse high-quality scholars from linguistic, cultural, ethic, and racial diverse backgrounds, identities, and disability status.

The program will emphasize equity and social justice in special education training, ensuring these future education leaders are well-prepared to meet the needs of the diverse populations they will serve.

“The teaching force is primarily female and primarily white, and that is not always reflective of the students who are in the classroom, and that’s especially true in special education settings,” Sinclair says. “We want to make sure that we are producing leaders in the field who can appropriately meet the needs of all the students that are represented and do so in culturally responsive and sustaining ways.”

Through this program, students will receive the training they need to become leaders in research, administration, and instruction on secondary transitions for students with disabilities.

“What we’re doing is creating this group of new professionals who will be the face of the field in research and leadership for the next 15, 20 years,” Madaus says.