| Self-determination skills improve transition-related outcomes for high school students with disabilities. The literature reveals a major gap in how they might acquire such vital skills. The purpose of this quasiexperimental study was to identify an effective curriculum for improving self-determination among high-school students with disabilities. A mixed factorial ANOVA design was used with a sample of 17 to 21 year old male and female special education students in a large metropolitan area in the Eastern United States in four disability classifications: learning disabled (LD), emotionally disturbed (ED), other health impaired (OH), and speech and language impaired (SI). Self-determination scores, as measured with the ARC Self-Determination Scale, were compared before and after the ChoiceMaker curriculum had been implemented in a 4-week intervention. A 2 (curriculum: pre/post) x 2 (gender) x 4 (disability type) mixed factorial design was used with 72 participants with self-determination scores (before and after participation in the curriculum) as the dependent variable. The results supported the main hypothesis that the curriculum intervention significantly increased self-determination skill scores (self-realization and total scores) among these students. No statistical differences were found for the subscale scores on autonomy, self-regulation, and empowerment. This study showed that the ChoiceMaker curriculum increased student self-determination skills, which may inspire teacher training and administrator implementation and provide students with valuable opportunities to learn and practice self-advocacy and self-reliance toward real world situations, which include obtaining and retaining employment. |
