Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities
Annual Report 2019 - 2020
A Note From the Director
Let me begin by acknowledging that 2020 has been a year of challenges and uncertainties. There is no question that we have all been asked to contend with so much in the recent past, including: facing uncertainty at the local, state, and national levels around COVID-19; dealing with issues in our communities
regarding racial and disability justice; and encountering personal struggles as we strive to support and connect with family and friends in safe ways. This year we learned that we are able -- even under uncertain conditions -- to take care of our health and that of our communities, to adapt our ways of doing things in order to move our projects forward, and to stay connected with our community partners and the people we are privileged to support.
I want to express my gratitude to every member of our team and our partners for the diligence, creative problem-solving, and commitment to our mission that has been demonstrated during the past year. I want to underscore that we could not meet our ongoing research obligations, submit applications for potential new projects to sustain our mission and center, or continue to provide core services to our community without your input each and every day. You are all crucially important to the success of our work, especially during these difficult times.
Karrie Shogren KUCDD Director
KUCDD by the Numbers
FY 2020 highlights
100
Conference presentations & posters
11,166
Training participants
21
Book chapters
119
What We Do
Research
Our research focuses on a variety of topics across the lifespan, including self-determination, early childhood, inclusion, transition, supported decision-making and more. For example:
An Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded grant in Maryland and Delaware is evaluating the efficacy of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) for high-school-aged students in inclusive, general education classrooms.
Another IES grant is evaluating how multiple factors, such as educational placement, influence post-secondary school outcomes for students with significant intellectual disability. We received a 5-year IES grant to explore the efficacy of the SDLMI and Peer Supports with students with autism spectrum disorders.
Community Services
The Assistive Technology for Kansans Project (ATKP) increases statewide access to assistive technology (AT) devices and services to people of all ages and abilities, providing evaluation and consultation about AT, loans devices to individuals, educates service providers, and more.
383 people with disabilities borrowed AT for use at home, school, work, or recreation
2419 stakeholders received training.
Telemedicine Clinics are a collaboration between KUCDD and the KU Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth at the KU Medical Center. They provide guidance for health care needs and problems that can be delivered virtually.
More than 100 children were screened and 69 were evaluated by community Autism Diagnostic Teams, resulting in 43 telehealth evaluations for children in rural areas.
100 families in the Behavior Support Clinic received additional telehealth services through the Center for Child Health and Development.
Training and Education
Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) training provides graduate and post-graduate level professionals from a variety of disciplines, as well as family members of children with disabilities, the
necessary preparation to become future leaders in the field of developmental disabilities.
21 long-term trainees completed the Center for Child Health and Development LEND curriculum.
4 post-doctoral fellows and 4 KU student employees
supported KUCDD efforts.
Information Dissemination
To more effectively provide information encouraging access and participation of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in needed community services, individualized supports, and other areas, we refreshed the KUCDD website. The new site launches in Fall 2020.
As a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) funded by the
Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the core functions of the
KUCDD are:
Research
Training and Education
Community Services
Information Dissemination
To learn more, visit the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) website:
www.aucd.org.
Partnership Helps Students Improve Learning
by Jennifer Humphrey
When Free State High School mathematics teacher Annette McDonald first learned about a possible way to improve learning by supporting students as they set their own learning goals, she was skeptical: her math curriculum was already set.
But a developing partnership with researchers at the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities (KUCDD) led to a revolution in how her students could learn by giving them a choice in their goals and a structure for evaluating their progress as they worked toward achieving those goals.
McDonald credits the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) with giving her the structure to engage students in the learning process. “I ask them what they want to learn,” she said. “We discuss their strengths and what they want to improve. Then I incorporate that into my teaching.” McDonald added that using the method reveals how students learn, whether it is through explanation, or practice, or working with a friend. That in turn prompts her to give them opportunities to learn in different ways by personalizing instruction. “This person wants to play football, so I want to bring some football examples into the class, or this person wants to be an aerospace engineer, so I should have an example that includes that.”
“At its core, the SDLMI is about setting a goal, creating an action plan to achieve it, and self-evaluating to inform the next goal,” explains Karrie Shogren, KUCDD Director.
Pioneered at KU by researchers at KUCDD, the SDLMI began with research on teaching models enabling students to become more self-determined as they set their own goals and work toward them. More recently, KU researchers in partnership with teachers have engaged in federally-funded projects in inclusive, general education classrooms in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania to determine how use of SDLMI affects the achievement of students with and without disabilities – especially those in high school, or what is known as transition age.
When Free State’s principal, Myron Graber, learned how McDonald was using the SDLMI, he enthusiastically encouraged other teachers to adopt it, noting that the SDLMI fits nicely with their focus on ensuring that graduates are self-directed learners prepared to transition to the next stage in their lives. KUCDD’s Sheida Raley trained McDonald to be an SDLMI coach for other teachers.
In the 2020-21 academic year, Free State is going schoolwide with the SDLMI and training all 120 teachers in the model so they can use it with over 1,800 students. KUCDD is also developing and testing the Goal Setting Challenge App with a small number of students and teachers this fall; this new web-based app supports students to set goals consistent with the SDLMI. It was developed with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences.
KUCDD is also developing and testing the Goal Setting Challenge App with a small number of students and teachers this fall; this new web-based app supports students to set goals consistent with the SDLMI. It was developed with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences.
Anthony Lewis, superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools, has also taken an interest in SDLMI. He often says that “students should become CEOs of their own learning;” the SDLMI supports teachers and students in making that happen.
“With more funding, the SDLMI could be implemented at more schools in Lawrence, and in more grade levels,” notes Raley. “Everyone can benefit from learning through self-determination.”
The Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) honored Karrie Shogren and Sheida Raley for their partnership with Free State High School. KNEA presented them with the Friend of Education Award in November 2019. They were nominated by mathematics teacher Annette McDonald of Free State High School.
Year in Review
July
KUCDD Director Karrie Shogren and Beach Center Director Michael Wehmeyer were honored for their service as co-editors for the journal, Inclusion.
August
Joshuaa Allison-Burbank, a project coordinator at KUCDD, received the Native American 40 Under 40 Award from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.
September
Sheida Raley collaborated with research partners at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education for fidelity and coaching training to support the
Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI).
October
KUCDD was proud to host a retreat of research partners with the SIS-C Project focusing on planning and implementing supports in inclusive classrooms that enhance engagement and learning.
November
Sheida Raley and Karrie Shogren received the 2019 Friends of Education Award from Lawrence Public Schools for their ongoing collaboration with Free State High School to use the SDLMI.
December
KUCDD partnered with Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, Disability Rights Center of Kansas, and Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging to host their first ACL-funded state-wide planning session focused on improving access to decisional supports for people with disabilities and older adults.
January
KUCDD had a strong representation at the LSI
Collaboratory at the Kansas Union.
February
KUCDD researchers Karrie Shogren and Evan Dean received three grant awards around supported decision-making research.
March
The KUCDD team modified protocols and shifted research activities in the light of COVID-19-related limitations. Research, training, outreach, and communication took place virtually to ensure the safety of all involved.
April
Congratulations to KUCDD’s UCEDD doctoral trainee, Hunter
Matusevich, on her role as an AUCD Emerging Leader.
May
KUCDD researchers Karrie Shogren and Jim Thompson were honored for their contributions to disability studies in National Honors Recognizing Significant Contributions in the Field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
June
Sheida Raley gave the graduation speech at the KU School of Education
KU TPE Prepares Students to Thrive
by Jennifer Humphrey
When COVID-19 prompted the closure of the University of Kansas (KU) campus, Dana Lattin had faith that students in KU Transition to Postsecondary Education (TPE) could adapt to their new online experiences “because TPE is based on developing problem solving, creativity, and resiliency.”
Established with a five-year federal grant in 2015, TPE supports students with intellectual disability an inclusive KU experience including academic, career development, and student life experiences that prepare them for life and career. Students in TPE enroll in KU courses, have career internships, participate in student clubs and activities, and can choose to live in KU student housing. They meet for study sessions with KU undergraduate peer academic coaches, and graduate in two years with a TPE Certificate, an official undergraduate certificate through the KU School of Education and Human Sciences that is included on their KU transcript.
Carleigh LaVoy, a second-year TPE student, used the skills she learned in TPE to thrive at KU, and adapt to the challenges of COVID-19. While she had to deal with canceled choir performances and the closure of the Spencer Museum of Art, where she was an intern, by the end of the spring semester she had adapted to managing her courses and her social life by using online applications; this included a final class presentation over Zoom.
TPE student Carleigh LaVoy at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Credit: Meg Kumin, KU Marketing Communications
As TPE’s grant funding nears its end, Lattin and the team at KUCDD is hopeful that private foundation funding and other grants will keep it going. Eleven students were admitted for the fall 2020 semester: eight enrolled in KU through KU TPE, and deferred enrollment due to COVID-19 concerns. Prospective students have already contacted KU for more information and individual visits for fall 2021 enrollment through TPE.
LaVoy can’t say enough about her time at TPE and can’t wait to be back on campus. “I'm ready to get back,” she noted. “I love the campus, the people, the buildings. I love it.”
"TPE is based on developing problem
solving, creativity, and resiliency."
Fiscal Year 2020 Funding
Funding Increase
KUCDD has seen a steady rise in the amount of funding received since FY2017. This resulted in an increase in our ability to conduct research, and to provide training and services to the community.
You may contribute to
our mission through the
Support KUCDD link
provided on our website
kucdd.ku.edu.
US Dollars
FY2020 Overall Funding by Source
Other: 1% Foundation: 4%
Federal: 95%
Fiscal Years 2017-2020 Total Funding
7,000,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0
FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20
Funding Sources
In FY20, KUCDD received more than $6,000,000 in funding from a variety of sources, including the United States Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
FY2020 Federal Funding Breakdown
Other: 6% Health & Human Services: 12%
The mission of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities is,
through research, training, technical assistance, and community service activities,
to enhance the quality of life, self-determination, and inclusion of Kansans with
developmental disabilities and their families.
KUCDD, 3134 Haworth Hall, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045 785-864-7600
