Kansans for Equal Access to Transition Services advocate for the improvement of post-secondary outcomes for the culturally and linguistically diverse youth of Kansas.

Recent Awardees!

2016-2017 Equity & Access Leadership Awards

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Project SEARCH - a Sedgwick County Developmental Disability Organization - is a high school transition program for youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, focused on the goal of achieving competitive employment. Project SEARCH provides real world work experience combined with classroom instruction for students in their last year of high school.

Centro Hispano Resource Center of Lawrence - was started in the fall of 2006 to address the needs of Lawrence's growing Hispanic population. Centro Hispano helps to bridge the gap between people's needs and the available community resources by providing translation and interpreting services, and empowering people by making them aware of how they can best utilize their resources.

Camp Wood YMCA - in Elmdale, was established 100 years ago by a small visionary group of Kansas farmers, civil servants, business owners, and teachers who believed in the power of summer camp and its value to the young people of Kansas. Their summer residence camp, year-round outdoor education, and event hosting programs are guided by a commitment to youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.

The Disability Rights Center of Kansas (DRC) - is a public interest legal advocacy agency empowered by federal law to advocate for the civil and legal rights of Kansans with disabilities. The DRC assists Kansas youth in securing their rights to transition and vocational rehabilitation services, and can be contacted at 877-776-1541 or info@drckansas.org.

The Summer Food Service Program - paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the Office of Child Nutrition and Wellness, in the Kansas State Department of Education, aims to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. The program reimburses schools, public agencies, and private nonprofit groups for food services. Free meals often are paired with summer education or recreation programs. The program is open to all children 18 or younger, and no proof of residency or income is required. Organizations interested in serving meals to children through a summer program should contact Kelly Chanay at KSDE, 785-296-2276 or visit www.kn-eat.org and select "Summer Food Service Program."

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Kansas State University - is being recognized as a special "Directors's Choice" for this year's Equity and Access Leadership Awards on account of K-State's active recruitment of high-school graduates who are undocumented immigrants. Although Kansas law protects in-state tuition for qualifying immigrant high school graduates who are applying for residency or citizenship, undocumented youth from Kansas City, Missouri, high schools are generally not accepted at Missouri colleges and universities, but they are welcomed at K-State and many quality for special scholarships to enable them to afford to earn a college degree and progress towards their dreams and goals. K-State administrators believe that many of these students will eventually become contributors and donors supporting scholarships for new generations of Hispanic students at K-State, because K-State provided them with an opportunity.

An Introduction to the Study of Multicultural Transition

An Overview of the Unique Challenges and Opportunities Facing African American Youth

An Overview of the Unique Challenges and Opportunities Facing Native American Indian Youth

An Overview of the Unique Challenges and Opportunities Facing Hispanic/Latino Youth

Honorees from Previous Years

2015-2016 Equity & Access Leadership Awards

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SKIL Resource Center Inc. - A southeast Kansas based group that provides peer counseling services, independent living skills training services, and home and community-based services, driven by and focused on persons with disabilities, their families, and communities

Seeds of Hope - A Garden City based group that helps incarcerated and recently released individuals successfully transition out of the corrections system to lead safe, stable, productive lives and become contributing members of their families and communities.

2014-2015 Awardees

Teens Reaching Adult Independent Living (TRAIL) - Pathway Family Services, Inc.

El Centro “Mary Lou Jaramillo Scholarship Fund” - Academy for Children (AFC)

Maria Boyd - Indigenous Empowerment Summit at Haskell Indian Nations University

2013-2014 Awardees

Familias Unidas de Garden City!

Kansas LULAC and Elias Garcia!

2012-2013 Awardee

Topeka High School!

Send in your nomination today for the 2014 Equity and Access Leadership Awards! Winners will be announced via state-wide media in April, 2014.

To nominate, send an e-mail to Awards@keatsks.org with the name of a school, district, agency, organization, or individual, an explanation of the ways they are meeting the transition needs and concerns of culturally and linguistically diverse youth, and please provide contact information for the key individuals responsible for your great transition outcomes!

Download a flyer with details here!

KEATS Advisory Panel and Leadership Awards Judges

Dr. Katherine Sprott
Coordinator of Professional Development, Midwest Equity Assistance Center, Kansas State University

Melanie McKay-Cody
Doctoral Candidate in Linguistic Anthropology, University of Kansas

Dr. Robin Morales Cabral
Director, Student Support Services, Wichita Public Schools

Raynor Stuart Roberts
Managing Member and Founder, Urban Education Partnership of MD, LLC

Heather Giselle Scott
Graduate Student in Social Work, University of Kansas

David B. Hopkins
Cross-Cultural Trainer, Author, and Spokesman

Monty Thompson
Owner and Operator, Mantra Designs, Lamar, Colorado

KANSANS FOR EQUAL ACCESS TO TRANSITION SERVICES!

Dedicated to the Improvement of Post-Secondary Outcomes for All Students!

Related Information:

Doctoral dissertation by Robert Bruce Scott, Founding Director, Kansans for Equal Access to Transition Services

Do Kansas schools address multicultural needs of exceptional students in transition practices? A survey of special educators in grades 9-12 with direct experience in transition planning for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students

Degree: Doctor of Education, Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs
Major Professor: Warren J. White

Abstract:

Since 1990, IDEA has required a transition-focused IEP for adolescents with special needs. There have been limited data on whether culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) students in Kansas were receiving transition services to mitigate or remedy their marginalized, disenfranchised, and dis-empowered status. This study examined transition practices for CLD students with special needs in Kansas. The hypothesis tested was that Kansas schools address the multicultural needs of exceptional students in transition practice. There were two research questions. First, do considerations of multicultural needs figure into transition practices in Kansas schools? Second, are multicultural needs taken into account to a greater extent in certain areas of transition? A review of research literature yielded multicultural considerations relevant to the five domains of transition: 1) self-care, domestic living; 2) recreation and leisure; 3) communication and social skills; 4) vocational skills; and 5) community participation skills. An Internet survey with 22 Likert items covering these multicultural needs and concerns was administered via e-mail. A total of 582 valid e-mail addresses were used, comprising contact information developed from a sample frame of a KSDE database of resource-room teachers. The survey e-mail and follow-up were sent to every contact, covering 190 of the 293 unified school districts of Kansas. The completed sample was 178, for a response rate of 30.58%. Data were analyzed from the 93 participants whose responses indicated experience as caseworkers in the past three years on transition-focused IEP teams for at least one student in any of the three CLD groups of interest in the present study—African Americans, Native American Indians, or Hispanic/Latinos. Means and standard deviations were calculated for the frequencies of choices on the 22 Likert items. Pearson's chi-square testing was used to determine significance. Survey results indicated that on 17 of 22 items there was 80% or higher agreement among caseworkers that their school communities were addressing the multicultural needs and concerns of students and families in transition practices. Discussion includes participants' comments. Recommendations are given to increase the roles of cultural and linguistic heritages in transition in Kansas schools, especially in the skill-areas of community participation and communication-and-social skills.

FREE PDF LINK
http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/handle/2097/13095