Outcomes of Prior Projects
The DO-IT Center has directed projects to promote the successful participation of students with disabilities in college and careers since 1992. Project research and evaluation findings add to evidence that supports the implementation of practices employed in current projects. Data sources include staff observations and project records, the AccessSTEM/AccessComputing/ DO-IT Longitudinal Transition Study (ALTS), project reports, and published articles. Results published in peer-reviewed journals add rich detail to the more general strategies reported in the literature.
Student-Focused Interventions
Many of the specific activities supported by data collected in DO-IT activities can be found in publications created in AccessSTEM. They include:
Burgstahler, S., Lopez, S., & Jirikowic, T. (2007). Creating a transition program for teens with disabilities: How DO-IT does it and how you can do it, too. Seattle: University of Washington.
Burgstahler, S., (2006). Creating an e-mentoring community: How DO-IT does it and how you can do it too. Seattle: University of Washington.
The following links lead to resources that include specific findings and references that suggest positive outcomes resulting from activities directed by the DO-IT Center that are particularly relevant to current DO-IT projects and programs.
- Project records and staff observations
- ALTS
- Additional data from DO-IT participants
- STEM/transition/college preparation activities
- Mentoring, peer support, online communities
- Research experiences, internships and other work-based learning
Faculty- and Institution/Department-Focused Interventions
For faculty training, DO-IT projects lessons learned from three DO-IT projects funded by the Office of Postsecondary Education under the U.S. Department of Education in which dozens of 2-and 4-year institutions were engaged over a ten-year period. As revealed in the final project reports, outcomes from these projects were assessed with multiple measures, including a quasi-experimental research design that found evidence of increased knowledge and skills of faculty after training offerings and increased academic performance of students with disabilities in courses taught by trained faculty. (To review findings from these projects, consult Summary of Results from Grants from the Office of Postsecondary Education.) Listed below are key resources that guide DO-IT staff. They include references to published research, evidence-based practices and promising interventions, systemic change indicators, and training guidelines for making postsecondary programs more welcoming and accessible to students with disabilities.
- A peer-reviewed book (Burgstahler, S., & Cory, R. (Eds.). (2008). Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice. Boston: Harvard Education Press.
- Resources at the online Center for Universal Design in Education, which highlights research on Universal Design for Learning undertaken by CAST.
- Faculty training materials (Burgstahler, S. (Ed.). (2002). Building the team: Faculty, staff, and students working together - presentation and resource materials. Seattle: University of Washington. (ERIC Document-Reproduction Service No. ED481022).
- Student services training materials (Burgstahler S. (Ed.). (2005). Students with disabilities and campus services: Building the team presentation and resource materials. Seattle: University of Washington.
Publications in the following topic areas, many in peer-reviewed journals, also report findings of earlier DO-IT Center projects most relevant to current projects.