ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination

and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

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Self-Determination and the Education of Students with Disabilities. ERIC

Digest...........................................................................1

WHAT IS SELF-DETERMINATION?........................................ 2

WHY IS SELF-DETERMINATION IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS

WITH DISABILITIES?.................................................... 2

WHAT CAN EDUCATORS DO TO PROMOTE STUDENT

SELF-DETERMINATION?............................................... 3

REFERENCES.................................................................. 6

ERIC Identifier: ED470036

Publication Date: 2002-09-00

Author: Wehmeyer, Michael

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education Reston VA.

Self-Determination and the Education of

Students with Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

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ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

Page 1 of 8
Promoting self-determination has been recognized as best practice in the education of

adolescents with disabilities since the early 1990s, when the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act (IDEA) mandated increased student involvement in transition planning.

Promoting self-determination involves addressing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes

students will need to take more control over and responsibility for their lives.

Students with disabilities who are self-determined are more likely to succeed as adults,

and efforts to build self-determination skills are integrated into the practices of schools

that provide high-quality transition programs. However, promoting self-determination

should not begin in high school. Students in elementary and middle school need to

receive such instruction as well.

WHAT IS SELF-DETERMINATION?

Although the self-determination construct has been used in various disciplines for

centuries, its application in special education has been relatively recent. Field, Martin,

Miller, Ward, and Wehmeyer (1998) defined self-determination as:

"a combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs that enable a person to engage in

goal-directed, self-regulated, autonomous behavior. An understanding of one's

strengths and limitations, together with a belief of oneself as capable and effective are

essential to self-determination. When acting on the basis of these skills and attitudes,

individuals have greater ability to take control of their lives and assume the role of

successful adults in our society" (p. 2).

Martin and Marshall (1995) described self-determined people as individuals who:

"know how to choose-they know what they want and how to get it. From an awareness

of personal needs, self-determined individuals choose goals, then doggedly pursue

them. This involves asserting an individual's presence, making his or her needs known,

evaluating progress toward meeting goals, adjusting performance, and creating unique

approaches to solve problems" (p. 147).

Self-determined people are causal agents; they make things happen in their lives. They

are goal oriented and apply problem-solving and decision-making skills to guide their

actions. They know what they do well and where they need assistance. Self-determined

people are actors in their own lives instead of being acted upon by others.

WHY IS SELF-DETERMINATION IMPORTANT

FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES?

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Page 2 of 8 ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.
Self-determination is important for all people, including students with disabilities. The

skills leading to enhanced self-determination, like goal setting, problem solving, and

decision making, enable students to assume greater responsibility and control.

Moreover, when students with disabilities show they can make things happen and take

responsibility for planning and decision-making, others change how they view them and

what they expect from them. People with disabilities have emphasized that having

control over their lives, instead of having someone else make decisions for and about

them, is important to their self-esteem and self-worth (Ward, 1996).

Special education research has shown that students with disabilities who left school

more self-determined were more than twice as likely as their peers who were not as

self-determined to be employed one year after graduation, and they earned significantly

more. Three years after graduation, they were more likely to have obtained jobs that

provided benefits like health coverage and vacation and were more likely to be living

somewhere other than the family home (Wehmeyer & Palmer, in press; Wehmeyer &

Schwartz, 1997).

WHAT CAN EDUCATORS DO TO PROMOTE

STUDENT SELF-DETERMINATION?

The educational planning and decision-making process is an ideal situation in which to

teach goal setting, problem solving and decision making for all students (Powers, et al.,

1996; Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 1998).

Teach the skills and knowledge students need to become self-determined. The

educational programs of all students should promote the skills needed to:

* Set personal goals

* Solve problems that act as barriers to achieving these goals

* Make appropriate choices based on personal preferences and interests

* Participate in decisions that impact the quality of their lives

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ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

Page 3 of 8
* Advocate for themselves

* Create action plans to achieve goals

* Self-regulate and self-manage day-to-day actions

These are not only independent living and self-management skills, they also involve

students with disabilities in the general curriculum as required by the IDEA. Most state

and district standards include standards pertaining to goal setting, decision making, and

problem solving. For example, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) 6th

grade social studies standards require students to use problem-solving and

decision-making skills and to work independently and with others in a variety of settings.

Students are expected to:

* Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and

consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a

solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.

* Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather

information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a

decision (Texas Education Agency, 1997).

Instruction promoting components of self-determination should be infused throughout

the curriculum. Doll, Sands, Wehmeyer, and Palmer (1996) identified age-appropriate

activities addressing many of these components:

Early Elementary

* Provide opportunities for students to make choices, teaching them that they can exert

control and that most choices have limited options from which to select.

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Disabilities. ERIC Digest.
* Promote early problem-solving skills by encouraging students to think aloud as they

address simple problems. Teachers should model their own problem-solving processes.

* Provide feedback regarding the outcomes of their choices to begin to teach students

to link choices and consequences.

* Teach students to evaluate their work in comparison to a standard ("Does your paper

look like this?") to lay the foundation for later self-management skills.

Late Elementary and Middle School

* Teach students to systematically analyze potential options with related benefits and

disadvantages in order to participate in simple decisions, and to examine past decisions

to determine if the consequences were anticipated or desired.

* Coach them in setting and committing to personal and academic goals, including

identifying steps to achieve goals and obtaining support to monitor progress.

* Encourage them to evaluate task performance and reflect on ways to improve and

enhance performance.

Junior High and High School

* Encourage students to make decisions that affect their day-to-day activities, including

academic goals, post-school outcomes, schedules, and others.

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ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

Page 5 of 8
* Emphasize the link between goals that students set and the daily decisions and

choices they make, and teach them to break long-term goals into short-term objectives.

Promote active involvement in educational planning and decision-making: The IDEA

requires that from 14 years onward, transition needs and services be addressed on a

student's IEP and goals related to these services be based on student needs, interests,

and preferences. Transition planning provides a powerful context in which to both teach

and practice skills like goal setting, problem solving, effective communication and

listening skills, assertiveness and self-advocacy, and decision-making. Younger

students (in elementary and middle school) should be involved in planning activities as

well.

Teach students to direct their own learning: Research has shown conclusively that

students with disabilities can learn and use strategies like self-instruction,

self-monitoring, and self-evaluation, and antecedent cue regulation to learn academic

content such as reading or math skills or to improve performance in such areas as

vocational education and independent living skills. Teaching students to self-direct

learning promotes self-determination and autonomy.

Communicate high expectations and emphasize student strengths and uniqueness.

One simple yet powerful activity that can promote student self-determination is to have

high expectations for students and communicate those expectations to students often.

Students with disabilities are often all too aware of what they cannot do, and they often

are not as aware of their unique strengths and abilities.

Create a learning community that promotes active problem solving and choice

opportunities: Students who learn to solve problems do so in classrooms that value

diversity in opinion and expression and create a 'safe' place for students to provide

answers that might be incorrect, knowing that they will be provided the support to learn

from mistakes and, eventually, solve problems successfully. Such learning communities

often emphasize collaborative efforts, including classroom rule setting, and enable

students to make choices about when, where, and how they learn what they need to

achieve (Sands, Kozleski, & French, 1999).

Create partnerships with parents and students to ensure meaningful involvement. A

focus on self-determination is not a license to exclude parents and family from

decision-making and educational planning. While much can be done at school to

promote self-determination, unless parallel activities occur at home, these efforts will not

be sufficient. Parents are a student's first and longest lasting teachers, and it is

important that from elementary school on, teachers work to ensure the meaningful

involvement of parents, family, and students in educational planning and decision

making.

REFERENCES

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 6 of 8 ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.
Doll, E., Sands, D., Wehmeyer, M. L., & Palmer, S. (1996). Promoting the development

and acquisition of self-determined behavior. In D. J. Sands & M. L. Wehmeyer (Eds.),

Self-determination across the life span: Independence and choice for people with

disabilities (pp. 65-90). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Field, S., Martin, J., Miller, R., Ward, M, & Wehmeyer, M. (1998). A practical guide for

teaching self-determination. Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Martin, J. E., & Marshall, L. H. (1995). ChoiceMaker: A comprehensive

self-determination transition program. Intervention in School and Clinic, 30, 147-156.

Powers, L., Wilson, R., Matuszewski, J., Phillips, A., Rein, C., Schumacher, D. &

Gensert, J. (1996). Facilitating adolescent self-determination: What does it take? In D.

J. Sands & M. L. Wehmeyer (Eds.), Self-determination across the life span:

Independence and choice for people with disabilities (pp. 257-284). Baltimore: Paul H.

Brookes.

Sands, D.J., Kozleski, E., & French, N. (1999). Inclusive education in the 21st Century.

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Texas Education Agency, (1997). Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Austin, TX:

Author.

Ward, M. J. (1996). Coming of age in the age of self-determination: A historical and

personal perspective. In D. J. Sands & M. L. Wehmeyer (Eds.), Self-determination

across the life span: Independence and choice for people with disabilities (pp. 1-16).

Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Wehmeyer, M. L., Agran, M., & Hughes, C. (1998). Teaching self- determination to

students with disabilities: Basic skills for successful transition. Baltimore: Paul H.

Brookes.

Wehmeyer, M. L., & Palmer, S. (in press). Adult outcomes for students with cognitive

disabilities three years after high school: The impact of self-determination. Education

and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

Wehmeyer, M. L. & Schwartz, M. (1997). Self-determination and positive adult

outcomes: A follow-up study of youth with mental retardation or learning disabilities.

Exceptional Children, 63, 245-255.

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ED470036 2002-09-00 Self-Determination and the Education of Students with

Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

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Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education, under Contract No.

ED-99-C0-0026. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect

the positions of OERI or the Department of Education.

Title: Self-Determination and the Education of Students with Disabilities. ERIC Digest.

Note: Digest number E632.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for

Exceptional Children, 1110 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22201. Tel: 800-328-0272

(Toll Free); Fax: 703-620-4334; e-mail: ericec@cec.sped.org. For full text:

http://ericec.org.

Descriptors: Decision Making, Disabilities, Elementary Secondary Education, Problem

Solving, Self Determination, Self Efficacy, Self Management, Student Empowerment,

Teacher Expectations of Students, Teaching Methods

Identifiers: ERIC Digests

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