Seamless Transition in ARkansas is a comprehensive, collaborative initiative that aims to address the underemployment of youth with disabilities and enhance their opportunities for competitive integrated employment. By leveraging existing strengths and partnerships with various state agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations, the STAR project of state state Division of Elementary and Secondary Education focuses on critical areas such as college preparation, skill development, and innovative collaboration models.
ELEVATE Transition is a leadership training grant that supports doctoral students learning from top faculty in the field of Secondary Special Education and Transition to Adulthood across six U.S. universities. This leadership training grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs through the Research to Practice 325H Competition. The purpose of the ELEVATE Transition program (standing for Equipping Learning, Empowering Vision, Achieving Transitions and Engaging Families) is to increase the quality and quantity of special educational leadership knowledgeable in transition services who also demonstrate competencies necessary to instruct or prepare future educators to provide evidence-based practices, interventions, and services to improve in-school and post-school outcomes of students with disabilities.
Leaders for Transition provides a unique, funded doctoral experience at the universities of Arkansas and Oklahoma seeking to be future assistant professors of Special Education or state/district leaders focused on transition services for youth with disabilities and their families. This leadership training grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. The application process is competitive for Razorback-Sooner Scholars. Successful candidates will receive free tuition and fees, an annual stipend for up to four years, travel support, space to work on campus, mentoring and other amenities. Besides the degree, scholars will receive graduate certificates in Special Education Transition Services on completion.
Teaming for Transition prepares educators and professionals to support youth with disabilities as they transition from school to adulthood. Through comprehensive coursework and practical experiences, students gain the skills needed to promote successful post-school outcomes in areas such as employment, education, and independent living. Transition specialization students will be connected to a network of professionals engaged in transition across disciplines. Students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Special Education Transition Services can apply for special funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. The coursework is fully online.
The PACE Program (Physical Activity and Community Empowerment) is designed to support adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in engaging in regular and meaningful exercise. In this program, qualifying adults in Arkansas and North Carolina are provided a structured 16-week program to increase physical activity at either the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill or to the University of Arkansas. Each participant works with a coach they select to set goals and track progress. In addition, PACE program participants will attend weekly, community-based exercise classes in an inclusive setting with trained exercise professionals at their campus.
Project VITAL
Project VITAL — VIrtual reality employment Transition Assessment for Learners with disabilities — explores how transition assessments are implemented with transition aged students with disabilities and how teachers, students, and families use data-based decision making to identify postsecondary goals and transition services. This research study, funded in spring 2025 by the WE CARE Strategic Plan of the U of A College of Education and Health Professions, looks to expand our understanding of transition assessment and determine where and how computer-based and virtual technologies can support the implementation of transition assessments and transition outcomes.
SIMPLE — School-wide Inclusive Mental Health Promotion for Learning and Coordinated Community Engagement — is a Model Demonstration Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. The focus of this model demonstration is to improve school-based mental health for students with disabilities. Project SIMPLE looks to collaboratively work with special education to establish, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve a model to enhance social, emotional and school-based mental health (SBMH) services for adolescents with disabilities.