We presented our published paper on the certificate training with seven of the graduates.
Paper Citation
Paper Abstract
The purpose of the article is to describe the impacts associated with completion of training as an advanced certificate of graduate studies. Over the 50 years since the Rehabilitation Act was passed, several challenges have emerged in ensuring that services are provided by qualified professionals. These challenges include (a) reduced funding for training (preservice and in-service); (b) no mandate requiring training for rehabilitation counselors and/or transition specialists/counselors; (c) a growing discrepancy between graduate training and rehabilitation practices associated with educating and serving the transition-age population; and (d) changed employment options for graduates of Rehabilitation Counseling education programs and/or transition-focused professionals/specialists. These challenges also provide opportunities for creating shortened courses of study focused specifically on areas of high-priority transition services including preemployment transition services and competitive integrated employment services. To better understand these opportunities, the impacts on professionals were invested at four levels of impact—reaction, learning, behavior, and results —using the Kirkpatrick Model as the theoretical frame in a transformative research design. Data descriptions, abductive analysis, and first-person reflective writing demonstrate how ongoing challenges are transformed by qualified professionals in ways that spark growth, advancement, and investment in practices of the highest quality and evidence. Keywords: rehabilitation; counseling; education; professional development; disability; transition
