Kathleen Oertle Ph.D.
Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling
Associate Professor, Transition Institute Director

Contact Information
Office Location: SCCE 417Phone: 435-797-3241
Email: kathleen.oertle@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Licensures & Certifications
Research Interests
Collaborate for Change (C2) The overarching purpose of Collaborate for Change (C2) is to develop competencies to advance secondary transition collaboration among special educators and VR counselors. The core goals of C2, in alignment with the needs in the field, are to more clearly define special educator and VR counselor transition collaboration roles, articulate expectations, and develop collaboration measurement models with strategies to improve efficacy.
Note. The contents of this project are being developed with Caren Sax, Sheryl Bobroff, and Henry Cohn-Geltner at San Diego State University in partnership with the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) and National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), and with the input of the C2 participants and the C2 National Liaisons and Field Contact Partners: Kimberly Osmani (Cornell University Institute on Employment and Disability), Rich Luecking (University of Maryland, Center for Transition and Career Innovation, TRANSCEN (RET)), Joyce Clark (Exceptional Family Resource Center), Jen Swope, The Institute for Effective Education (TIEE), and Catherine Fowler (University of North Carolina - Charlotte, National Technical Assistance Center on Transition – The Collaborative (NTACT – C). This project is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90IFDV0011-01-00). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this project do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Awards
University Fellowship, 2009
The University of Illinois, Department of Special Education, Urbana-Champaign
W. E. Albin & C. C. Young Scholarship, 2009
University of Illinois, Department of Special Education, Urbana-Champaign
William Chandler Bagley Scholar Doctoral Fellowship, 2009
The University of Illinois, College of Education, Urbana-Champaign
University Fellowship, 2008
The University of Illinois, Department of Special Education, Urbana-Champaign
W. E. Albin & C. C. Young Scholarship, 2008
University of Illinois, Department of Special Education, Urbana-Champaign
William Chandler Bagley Scholar Doctoral Fellowship, 2008
The University of Illinois, College of Education, Urbana-Champaign
Connections Award of Distinction, 2001
Connections Project and the Illinois State Board of Education/Center for Business, Community, and Family Partnerships
Graduate Fellowship, 1996
Rehabilitation Services Administration, the United States Department of Education,
- Oertle, K.M, (2021). Results-focused service delivery for the transition from high school to adult life. Chapter 21: Career Development, Employment, and Disability in Rehabilitation. Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
- Trach, J.S, Oertle, K., Plotner, A.J, (2014). Transition from school through process to outcomes.: Career Development, Employment, and Disability in Rehabilitation.. Springer Publishing Company
- Plotner, A.J, Oertle, K., (2011). Employment support facilitator (job coach). : Collaboration: A multidisciplinary approach to educating students with disabilities. . Prufrock Press Inc.
Publications | Book Chapters
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- McCall, C., Oertle, K., (2023). The Transition Engineered Collaborative (TEC): Promoting People with Disabilities in STEM through Interdisciplinary Transition Education. Journal of Rehabilitation, 89:3, 30-41.
- Oertle, K.M, Sax, C.L, Cohn-Geltner, H., Bobroff, S., (2023). Developing essential transition-specific collaboration competencies to collaborate for change [Special issue]. . Journal of Rehabilitation , 89:3, 18-29.
- Walter, C., Plotner, A.J, Oertle, K.M, (2023). Exploring perceptions of special education teachers on guardianship and alternatives for adult decision-making support. Journal of Rehabilitation , 88:2
- Oertle, K.M, (2023). Interdisciplinary foci on the transition of youth and students with disabilities [Special issue]. Journal of Rehabilitation , 89:3, 4-5.
- Walter, C., Anthony, P.J, Oertle, K.M, (2022). Exploring perceptions of special education teachers on guardianship and alternatives for adult decision-making support. Journal of Rehabilitation , 00:00, 00.
- Oertle, K.M, (2021). Evaluating a community rehabilitation program using a participatory framework for improvement of supported employment services.. Rehabilitation Professional , 29:3, 165-184.
- Oertle, K.M, Bobroff, S., Sax, C.L, (2021). Organizational policies and personnel factors that are incentives for and challenges to collaboration as identified by statewide transition supervisors. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 32:1, 36-50. doi: 10.1177/1044207320943544
- Fleming, A., Oertle, K.M, Plotner, A.J, (2019). Increasing rehabilitation counselors’ support for college students in academic, social, and career integration.. Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis, Special Issue: Transition , 19:1, 35-44.
- Oertle, K.M, Riesen, T.J, (2019). Responsibility to inform: Rehabilitation counselors, students with disabilities, alternatives to guardianship, and self-advocacy instruction. . Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis, Special Issue: Transition , 19:1, 55-68.
- Oertle, K.M, (2019). Serving transition-age youth and students with disabilities.. Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis, Special Issue: Transition , 19:1, 7-8.
- Plotner , A.J, VanHorn-Stinnett, C., Oertle, K.M, (2019). The emphasis on secondary transition services in rehabilitation counseling journals revisited. . Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, , 50:3, 300-310. doi: 10.1891/0047-2220.50.4.300
- Brady, A., Burke, M., Landon, T., Oertle, K., (2019). Siblings of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Their knowledge and perspectives on guardianship and the alternatives. . Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32:5, 1078-1087. doi: doi:10.1111.jar.12597
- Riesen, T.J, Oertle, K., (2019). Developing paid and unpaid work-based learning experiences for transition-age students with intellectual and development disabilities: An exploratory of study of employers’ perspectives. Journal of Rehabilitation, 85:2
- Oertle, K., Sax, C.L, Chesley, E., (2018). Characteristics and descriptions of secondary transition content on special education and rehabilitation graduate program websites.. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education., 32:1
- Oertle, K., Sax, C.L, Chesely, E., (2017). Statewide special education and vocational rehabilitation transition leaders’ expectations for their staff’s collaboration activities. . , 83:3, 3-20.
- Fleming, A., Oertle, K., Plotner, A.J, (2017). Student voices: How colleges and universities can support students with disabilities better.. The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability., 30:4, 309-326.
- Fleming, A., Plotner, A.J, Oertle, K., (2017). College students with disabilities characteristics and the academic environment: Predicting performance. . The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability., 30:3, 209-221.
- Oertle, K., O'Leary, S.J, (2017). The importance of career development in constructing rehabilitation transition policies and practices.. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 47:1, 407-423.
- Plotner, A.J, Oertle, K., Reed, G.J, Tissot, K., Kumpiene, G., (2017). Centers for independent living and their involvement with transition-age youth with disabilities. . Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation , 46:1, 39-48. doi: 10.3233/JVR-160841
- Fleming, A., Oertle, K., Plotner, A.J, Hakun, J., (2017). Influence of social factors on student satisfaction among college students with disabilities. . Journal of College Student Development, 58:2, 215 - 228.
- Oertle, K., Plotner, A.J, (2015). Opportunities, satisfaction, and the importance of leadership development and mentoring among community rehabilitation professionals. . Journal of Rehabilitation Adminstration , 39:1, 43-50.
- Plotner, A.J, Oertle, K., Kumpiene, G., (2015). Directions in rehabilitation counseling: Secondary transition planning and services for state/federal vocational rehabilitation counselors. Directions in Rehabilitation Counseling, 25, 225-240.
- Oertle, K., Seader, K.J, (2015). Research and practical considerations for rehabilitation transition collaboration. Journal of Rehabilitation , 81, 3-18.
- Plotner, A.J, Trach, J.S, Oertle, K., Fleming, A.R, (2014). Examining differences in transition service delivery among transition focused VR counselors and general VR counselors.. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 57, 109-115.
- Oertle, K., Bragg, D.D, (2014). Transitioning students with disabilities: Community college policies and practices.. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 25:1, 59-67. doi: 10.1177/1044207314526435
- Oertle, K., Trach, J.S, Plotner, A.J, (2013). Rehabilitation professionals' expectations for transition and interagency collaboration. . Journal of Rehabilitation, 79, 25-35.
- Oertle, K., Trach, J.S, (2007). Interagency collaboration: The importance of rehabilitation professionals' involvement in transition.. Journal of Rehabilitation, 73, 36-44.
- Hu, X., Oertle, K., Dong, X., (2007). Rehabilitation education and services: A Chinese perspective.. Rehabilitation Education, 21, 251-258.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Teaching
Creative Works | Other
- Heumannizing Transition: A Collaborate for Change (HTC2) Summit II Remembering Judy: Celebrating, Sharing, and Rolling On, Other, Research and Development Summit - 2023
- Heumannizing Transition: A Collaboration for Change (HTC2) Summit Featuring Judy Heumann, Other, Research and Development Summit - 2020