Education

Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology in Post-Secondary education (QIAT-PS)

Description

Students with disabilities encounter numerous barriers to full and equal opportunities in the education system. Individuals often need additional training and resources about how to navigate these barriers and advocate for their rights. Technology also can play an important role in ensuring students’ full and meaningful participation in different learning environments. This research addresses the lack of resources and training opportunities for individuals with disabilities regarding their rights and access to assistive technology as they train in post-secondary educational settings.

The focus of the QIAT-PS (Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology in Post-Secondary education) project is to develop a comprehensive set of indicators to enhance the integration of assistive technology in post-secondary education. Inspired by the success of similar indicators in K-12 settings, this project began in 2006 with the goal of identifying factors that affect the successful incorporation of assistive technology into college life. The resulting indicators are designed for both post-secondary institutions and individual students, providing a coordinated framework to support students with disabilities in higher education. These indicators align with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act, ensuring that students with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations in postsecondary education.

Objective

The main aim of the QIAT-PS project is to create a curriculum for high school students in grades K-12 and those transitioning to postsecondary education. This curriculum is designed to help students with disabilities learn about self-determination and how to make choices about the assistive technology and other support they might need in college or similar settings. It also teaches them how to acquire these tools and use them effectively. Another important part of the curriculum is teaching students about their legal rights to receive accommodations, including assistive technology, when they enter postsecondary education. Essentially, the project's goal is to empower students with disabilities to make informed decisions about the support they need and to advocate for their rights in higher education.

Intended Audience

This project is designed for high school students who have disabilities and receive special education services through Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans. It's specifically aimed at juniors and seniors who are in school-district-provided transition programs. These students have various post-high school goals, such as attending a regular 4-year college, a traditional 2-year community college, or a 4-year college with extra support for students with disabilities. It also includes those interested in fee-for-service college programs tailored to their needs, bridge programs to college, alternative college programs (TPSID), vocational trade or certification programs, and those planning to work in competitive job environments that involve extensive onboarding, job orientation, and ongoing training. In short, this project is meant to benefit a wide range of students with disabilities as they prepare for life after high school.

Impact

The project aims to achieve several potential outcomes. In the long term, it seeks to boost the confidence of high school and transition students with disabilities in utilizing accommodations, including assistive technology, to reach their academic and career goals. Additionally, it aims to enhance their ability to assess the effectiveness of these accommodations across different situations and to advocate for their accommodation needs and rights across various environments and systems. In the short term, the project aims to help students clarify their academic and career goals, evaluate the performance of their accommodations, articulate the impact of changes to these accommodations, make informed decisions about technology use, understand relevant rights laws, and express their goals and how accommodations, including assistive technology, influence them.

Publications

1. Gould, R., Heider, A., Harris, S. P., Jones, R., Peters, J., Eisenberg, Y., & Caldwell, K. (2022). Self-Determination and Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology in Postsecondary Education. Journal of Postsecondary Education & Disability, 35(1), 45-80.
2. Touring the Office of Disability Services (PDF) – This is a handout for students with disabilities tour college campuses with some important questions to ask about the Office of Disability Services.
3. Quality Indicators for AT within Section 504 (PDF) – The QIAT-504 indicators are a set of statements that describe the characteristics of high quality assistive technology (AT) services provided to preschool, elementary and secondary students with disabilities who are entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and receive protection under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for K-12.
4. Quality Indicators for AT in Post-Secondary Education (PDF) – An article published in the Closing the Gap Journal Oct. 2016 that introduces the Campus Self-Evaluation Matrix tool to improve service delivery of AT in post-secondary education.
5. QIAT-PS Guiding Student Questions (PDF) – An article published in the Closing the Gap Journal Dec. 2010 that offers guideline questions for students to pursue self-advocacy with related tasks to improve assistive technology transfer and use in post-secondary education.
6. 2009 AT Survey Report (PDF) – Results of the survey distributed to students with disabilities in post-secondary education nationally; results were compiled on June 22, 2009.
7. 2015 AT Survey Report (PDF) – Results of the survey distributed to students with disabilities in post-secondary education nationally; results were compiled on June 30, 2015.

Website

1. Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology in K-12 – Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology in the public school, K-12 education. The QIAT Community is a nationwide grassroots group that includes hundreds of individuals who provide input into the ongoing process of identifying, disseminating, and implementing a set of widely-applicable Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology Services in school settings.

Research Contacts

Daniel Cochrane, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences