Consortium for Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

A National Training Initiative of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities . Funding Provided by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities CFDA# 93-632 Grant No. 90DD0659 10/1/2008 – 9/30/2013

The Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston has collaborated with seven University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) (Delaware, Minnesota, Hawaii, South Carolina, Tennessee [Vanderbilt], Ohio, California) and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) to establish the Consortium for Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities . The Consortium conducts research, provides training and technical assistance, and disseminates information on promising practices that support individuals with developmental disabilities to increase their independence, productivity and inclusion through access to postsecondary education resulting in improved long-term independent living and employment outcomes. The Consortium is a national resource for knowledge, training, materials, and dissemination about the participation of individuals with developmental disabilities in postsecondary education.

The three main goals and activities of the Consortium are:

1. Research and Planning: Conduct participatory action research with four groups including middle, high school, and adult students with developmental disabilities and a key stakeholder group (e.g., parents and professionals) to identify their positive and challenging experiences related to postsecondary education (PSE), develop and validate promising practice quality indicators, identify gaps in information and materials, and identify and collaborate with other related national initiatives.
2. Develop and Test a National Training Initiative: that supports replication of promising practices and addresses gaps in information for postsecondary institutions that are developing new or expanding existing programs for students with developmental disabilities using a multimodal approach with traditional (e.g., replication guide, fact sheets, monthly e-newsletter, research-to-practice briefs, enhanced ThinkCollege.net web site, annual regional face-to-face Capacity Building Institutes, State-of-the Practice Symposium at AUCD annual conference) and non-traditional strategies (e.g., universally designed self-paced web-based training modules such as, Role of Coaches or Universal Course Design; instructor lead web-based credit bearing courses, a Community of Practice for individuals interested in postsecondary education for students with developmental disabilities; and student engagement in participatory action research using multimedia tools.
3. National Dissemination and Sustainability of the National Training Initiative: through partnering with ADD Technical Assistance Centers and other national organizations for large-scale dissemination of the training program.

Executive and Advisory Committees guide all project activities. The Executive Committee is composed of representatives from: PACER Center, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Association of Higher Education and Disability, National Down Syndrome Society, TransCen, Inc. and the National Healthy and Ready to Work Center for Students with Disabilities and Complex Health Care Needs.

The Project Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, SRI International, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center, and HEATH Resource Center as well as college and university faculty, college disability services staff, parents and college students.