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Personal Goal Statement
(Fall, 2009)

My goals have not changed dramatically since 2007, however, they have indeed become refined. I realize that my prime area of interest is transition from secondary school to post secondary training/schooling. I still have a primary concern about individuals who have become marginalized in our society because of intellectual disabilities. In this vein, the opportunity to collaborate with the L.I.F.E program at George Mason in either a GRA position and/or an internship has sharpened my focus to include learning the specifics about post secondary school options that could be instituted at either the community college or the four year college level in West Virginia.

My interest in transition in combination with reflection about my strengths as they relate to transitional issues has caused a switch in my choice of minor concentration. I still have an interest in involvement at the state policy level, but instead of Policy being my minor concentration, I have chosen to concentrate on Counseling and Development, and include classes in Special Education law and Special Education policy under my major concentration.

Finally, my work with Dr. Regan on refining and improving teacher preparation programs for high incidence special education teachers has inspired me to continue researching the promising area of universal design. If it is indeed as successful as initial studies have indicated, my goal would be to encourage in-service and later pre-service training in this vehicle of content delivery for both general education and special education instructors. This would mean working perhaps at the county,district, state and/or university level.

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End of Program Goal
Portfolio III
(Fall 2011)

My goal for my dissertation has changed dramatically since Portfolio II. During the process of doing research for my Independent Study with Dr. Brigham, my Counseling Assessment class, my Career Counseling class, attending this year's CEC conference in order to co-present, and my internship at MasonLife, I have decided to do a quantitative study which will replicate and extend another on the utility of assessment tools used to help individuals with intellectual disabilities prepare for and find a good job match. Through my literature and experiential research, it has become apparent that support systems at all levels must be modified so they can best support individuals with intellectual disabilities bridge the gap between their competencies and their environmental expectations, if they are to maximize their potential to live full, healthy adult lives. Since this population, in particular, needs to be provided with unique occupational preparation, which can include breaking down and practicing elements of skills to mastery, it is very important that such preparation be made as early as possible in their educational careers. This is the reason I chose to study elements of the Project Discovery, since it is a "work sample" type program which has been introduced into school districts in order to prepare students for careers that can match their interests and aptitudes. Most recently, they have even expanded their modules to include those with IQs below 55.

The Prevocational Assessment Screening tool which Project Discovery utilizes can be administered by teachers, and can indicate which aptitudes the student needs to work on, and which ones are relatively strong. From the research I gathered about this instrument, not only is its validity outdated, but its norms and content validity were also in question. What I want to know is whether this tool can be validated to serve its purpose, in particular to serve the ID population, or whether, perhaps, there is a better tool now available. At this juncture, since I have only been able to speak to the president of the company that produces it, and see sample reports, yet haven't been able to observe it being utilized, it is difficult to determine which other tool (or tools) to utilize for my study. I have permission from two other companies to utilize several options, but I will need to both speak to more to experts in the field, and make actual observations of the available tools, in order to make a determination. This qualitative exploration will need to be part of the proposal preparation phase for my dissertation study. My idea paper provides a skeletal structure for what my proposed study will include, but I will need more expert guidance in both the occupational rehabilitation field and the quantitative analysis options that are best to utilize in order to finalize the study that I will propose.