Sheida K. Raley

• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Research shows that there is a close relationship between the promotion of self-determination and positive school outcomes, including academic goal attainment outcomes in general education classes. However, research is needed to investigate how students perceive the impacts of evidence-based self-determination interventions, like the Self-Determine...

Understanding the impacts of professional development (PD) on teachers’ perceptions of their knowledge, skills, and usefulness (KSU) of evidence-based practices is important, particularly for self-determination interventions in inclusive, secondary classrooms. Limited research exists examining the impacts of self-determination intervention PD on te...

Interagency collaboration (IAC) is mandated by federal legislation and is a well-established best practice in the transition literature. At the same time, there is limited research that examines the predictors of greater IAC, and the breadth of partners that secondary special educators collaborate with across school systems, service systems, and co...

People with disabilities consistently advocate for their right to be self-determined. Decades of research highlight the positive impacts of self-determination intervention on in-school and post-school outcomes of secondary students with disabilities. Increasingly, self-determination interventions are being implemented in inclusive contexts for all...

Under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, individualized education program (IEP) annual goals are required to enable students with disabilities to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum and to address other educational needs. This study reports findings from a content analysis of the annual goals in 88 IEP...

Being self-determined can improve in- and post-school outcomes for all students, including racially and ethnically marginalized students with disabilities. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is a flexible model of instruction educators can use to promote self-directed goal setting and attainment based on each student’s streng...

Self-determination is a predictor of postschool success. The importance of self-determination instruction for students with and without disabilities is increasingly being recognized. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) has been implemented in various settings and at various intensities with all students. Researchers have sugge...

Coaching is an essential component of supporting teachers to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) in classrooms. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), an EBP designed to promote student self-determination, uses a research-based coaching model with six guiding principles. This qualitative study analyzed the content of coach...

There is a need for a measure that examines teacher roles in implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) to advance equity in opportunities and experiences to build self-determination for all students, including students with disabilities and students of color with disabilities. In this study, the authors introduce a meas...

This study used the standard setting to establish cutscores for the fidelity of implementation of an evidence‐based intervention, the Self‐Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) designed to enhance goal‐directed actions in secondary students with and without disabilities. Cutscores were then applied to fidelity data from a large, randomiz...

The Goal-Setting Challenge App (GSC App) translates the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) to a web-based format, shifting responsibility from teachers to technology to address challenges in scaling-up implementation. The present descriptive study examines transition-age students’ responses to GSC App lessons to explore the degre...

All students go through a variety of transitions throughout their life (i.e., middle school to high school, high school to the workforce). However, students with disabilities tend to experience disparities compared to their peers without disabilities in regard to in-school and postschool outcomes. One way to enhance outcomes for students with disab...

Intervening to enhance self-determination has been linked to enhanced in-school outcomes (e.g., academic and transition goal attainment and access to general education) and post-school outcomes (e.g., competitive employment, community participation) for students with and without disabilities in inclusive schools. However, research is needed to exam...

Promoting self-determination is essential to effective transition services and supports. The Goal Setting Challenge App (GSC App) was developed to deliver self-determination instruction via technology, building on the evidence-based Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). This article presents data on goal attainment outcomes for stu...

General and special educators encounter both barriers and facilitators as they implement whole-school interventions with fidelity to make secondary schools inclusive for students with extensive support needs (ESN). This article translates research into practice by sharing guidance from secondary general and special educators with experience impleme...

Opportunities for youth with and without disabilities to develop and practice abilities, skills, and attitudes associated with self-determination (e.g., decision-making, goal setting, problem-solving) lead to positive in- and postschool outcomes. However, implementation of whole-school interventions to promote self-determination is complex. A multi...

This chapter defines the role of autonomy-supportive environments and interventions in advancing self-determination. Jointly focusing on the role of autonomy-supportive environments and interventions in a unique aspect of Causal Agency Theory that has potential to enhance both motivation and self-determined actions, creating contexts within which s...

This chapter highlights key themes from previous chapters in the text and identifies implications for ongoing theory, research, policy, and practice to advance equitable, self-determination outcomes. A key theme that emerged was the need to expand the simultaneous consideration of aligning (a) individualized supports for self-determination that are...

This chapter highlights four broad directions to guide ongoing efforts to challenge and eliminate the long-standing disparities faced by people with disabilities and other marginalized identities that limit opportunities for self-determined lives: (a) alignment of efforts to support all people, inclusive of those with disabilities, with parallel ef...

In this chapter, we focus on how to plan for systems of supports that enable self-determination. We posit building effective systems of supports is foundational to designing and delivering individualized supports for all people, inclusive of those with disabilities, that lead to equitable self-determination outcomes through assessment, environmenta...

This chapter focuses on enhancing self-determination for adolescents and young adults. A significant amount of attention within research and practice has focused on how to promote self-determination for adolescents and young adults as they prepare for the transition to adulthood. This period in the life course has been identified as a critical time...

Causal Agency Theory defines self-determination as a dispositional characteristic manifested as acting as the causal agent in one’s life. There are three essential characteristics associated with causal agency that develop over the life course: volitional action, agentic action, and action-control beliefs. In practice, we describe these essential c...

Causal Agency Theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding the development of self-determination across the life course. Causal Agency Theory integrates multiple theoretical frameworks that describe factors that shape the development of personal self-determination and emphasizes (a) personal capacities for self-determination, (b) envir...

This chapter describes strategies to provide opportunities, supports, and experiences that advance self-determination in adulthood. Specifically, research on environmental factors, interventions, and supports that can be used throughout adulthood to promote self-determination across employment, postsecondary education, home, and community contexts...

This chapter highlights the history of self-determination assessment in the disability field and describes current and emerging directions in self-determination assessment. Assessment of self-determination must be aligned with intervention planning and evaluation and not simply used as an end in itself. Researchers and practitioners should collabor...

Self-determination has received significant attention in the disability field, largely as a result of advocacy movements led by people with disabilities and their supporters. This chapter highlights the long and rich history of the self-determination construct in the disability field as well as uses of self-determination construct in other fields,...

This chapter describes the importance of supporting all people, particularly those with disabilities and others who are marginalized in society, to have the opportunities, resources, and supports to act as causal agents over their lives, experiencing agency in ways consistent with their beliefs, values, and community. Shifts from deficit-based unde...

This chapter highlights research and practice in the use of autonomy-supportive interventions in providing opportunities, supports, and experiences to build self-determination. We discuss the critical role of ensuring the preferences, interests, values, and beliefs of people with disabilities in defining and shaping inclusive, culturally responsive...

In this chapter, we elaborate on research and practice that can inform the creation of autonomy-supportive environments, with a specific focus on education and employment. We discuss the critical role of people with disabilities in defining and shaping inclusive, culturally responsive, and autonomy-supportive environments. Focus has been placed on...

This chapter focuses on enhancing self-determination for children. A significant amount of attention has focused on how to promote self-determination for adolescents and young adults as they prepare for the transition to adulthood; however, increased attention is being directed to understanding how to support self-determination throughout childhood...

Differences in perceptions of disability between students and administrators can play a role in youth’s educational experience. This study used data from a cluster randomized controlled trial (C-RCT) of the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) to first compare student self-report of disability status to matched administrative data...

Self-determination is a predictor of positive in- and post-school outcomes, including access to general education, competitive employment, and community participation. Emerging research has focused on promoting self-determination for all students given alignments with college and career readiness frameworks and equity-based education. However, it i...

Although research shows that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can develop abilities and skills associated with self-determination (e.g., decision making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment) when opportunities and supports are provided, students with ASD tend to show lower levels of self-determination compared to their peers wi...

This chapter provides an overview of supported decision-making and its emergence in the disability field. The focus is on how supported decision-making aligns with strengths-based, social-ecological models of disability and how it provides an alternative to other-directed decision-making models, such as guardianship. We highlight theory and legal d...

Opportunities and experiences for all students, including students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to build self-determination abilities and skills are critical to enable positive postsecondary outcomes (e.g., competitive and integrated employment, community access participation). However, racially and ethnically marginalized stud...

As autistic adolescents and young adults navigate the transition to adulthood, there is a need to partner with them to identify strengths and needed supports to enable goal-directed actions. This article conceptually integrates research on self-determination, defined by Causal Agency Theory, and executive processes in autism to provide direction fo...

Implementation supports for teachers can significantly impact the degree to which evidence-based practices are used as intended with secondary students across settings and content areas. The present analysis focused on examining the impact of teacher implementation supports on the goals set by students with and without disabilities engaging in an e...

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) has been a leader in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities since its founding in 1876. Today, student and early career professionals make up approximately 8.5% of the organization, with their engagement supported by the Student and Early Career Profes...

There is limited research examining professional development for general and special education teachers implementing self-determination interventions. This study presents outcomes of a 2-day professional development training for the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) for general and special educators guided by key elements of pro...

In this study, we examined the structural validity of the Secondary Transition Fidelity Assessment (STFA), a measure of secondary schools’ use of programs and practices demonstrated by research to lead to meaningful college and career outcomes for all students, including students at-risk for or with disabilities, and students from diverse backgroun...

Students with disabilities experience pronounced inequities in the education system, which have been compounded by risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study sought to understand the experiences of students with disabilities and the strengths that facilitated their wellbeing during this period of adversity. In summer 2020, secon...

Objectives Focusing on using strength-based practices in special education broadens the perspectives of students with disabilities, their families, and people that provide supports (e.g., educators, counselors) regarding the positive traits that students with disabilities demonstrate and how they can use these attributes to achieve valued life outc...

There has been an increased focus on the tenets of implementation science in special education research, namely on the degree to which interventions are implemented as intended (i.e., fidelity of implementation) and factors that influence fidelity of implementation. For complex interventions, such as the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instructio...

Goal setting and attainment is often a targeted outcome in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field; however, standardizing the measurement of attainment of individualized goals is challenging. The purpose of this article is to introduce a four-domain framework that provides a series of questions to research and evaluation teams in pla...

Previous research reported differences in student self-determination based on disability status. Specifically, students without disabilities consistently self-report higher self-determination compared with their peers with disabilities, suggesting differential opportunities and supports for self-determination exist within school contexts. To furthe...

A major instructional focus of interventions designed to promote self-determination, such as the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), is to engage students in learning to set their goals, identify action plans, and evaluate their performances. However, little is known about how students define their goal attainment outcomes, or th...

Federal law requires that schools provide students receiving special education services and their parents/guardians with notice, 1 year before the student reaches the age of majority, that all of the educational rights previously afforded to the parents/guardians will transfer to the student once they reach the age of majority. During this “transfe...

Objectives Almost every state includes content standards that are closely related to skills associated with self-determination (e.g., decision making, planning, problem solving, goal setting and attainment). Additionally, research in both general and special education has demonstrated a close relationship between the promotion of self-determination...

The Self-Determination Inventory (SDI) is a suite of tools developed to measure self-determination. The SDI: Student Report was recently validated for adolescents aged 13 to 22 with and without disabilities across diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. A parallel, proxy report version to be completed by teachers or parents, the SDI: Parent/Teacher Repo...

There is a strong link between the development of skills associated with self-determination (i.e., choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-management, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and self-knowledge) and positive school (e.g., academic achievement) and postschool (e.g., employment, community ac...

This study examined the convergent validity of scores on the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, a newly developed assessment of self-determination aligned with Causal Agency Theory with related assessments associated with hope theory (Children’s Hope Scale; CHS), self-determination theory (Perceived Choice and Awareness of Self Scale; PC...

The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI: SR) was developed to measure the self-determination of adolescents and was recently validated for students aged 13–22 with and without disabilities across diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. The SDI: SR is aligned Causal Agency Theory and its theoretical conceptualizations of self-determined act...

Researchers have separately explored applications and implications of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Causal Agency Theory in the school context; however, limited attention has been directed to examining the relations between constructs emerging from SDT (agentic engagement, motivation, and basic needs satisfaction and frustration) and the...

Implementation science examines the process of how programs are put into action to produce outcomes and represents an emerging approach for analyzing the utilization of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in school settings. When EBPs are implemented effectively, they result in positive student outcomes. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instructio...

Researchers have linked the promotion of skills associated with self-determination with positive school and post-school outcomes for students with disabilities and there is an ongoing need to promote greater access to instruction that enhances student self-determination. To that end, curricula have been developed that provide teachers with content...

Promoting self-determination is critical to enabling young people to achieve education-related goals and positive postschool employment, community participation, and quality of life outcomes. By developing skills associated with self-determination such as choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, planning, self-m...

Skills associated with self-determination (e.g., self-regulation, problem solving, goal-setting, planning) are infused throughout all secondary content standards, including career and college readiness standards for which all students are responsible. Given research demonstrating the link between self-determination and positive school and post-scho...

The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR) was developed to address a need in the field for tools to assess self-determination that are aligned with current best practices in assessment development and administration, and emerging research and best practices in promoting self-determination. The present study explored patterns of diff...

The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) is an evidence-based practice designed to enable teachers to teach students to self-regulate problem solving to set and attain educationally relevant goals. This study reports on findings and outcomes of the first year of a statewide implementation of the SDLMI by teachers working with stude...

The Self‐Determination Inventory: Student Report (SDI:SR) is a newly developed measure of self‐determination. The purpose of this study was to explore of personal factors, namely age and gender on scores on the SDI:SR. Separate multigroup confirmatory analyses were conducted for age cohorts (13‐ to 15‐, 16‐ to 18‐, and 19‐ to 22‐year‐olds) and for...

The Self-Determination Inventory–Student Report (SDI-SR) was developed to address the need in the field for new, theoretically aligned measures of self-determination. The purpose of this study was to establish the most robust and efficient set of items to assess the self-determination of adolescents with and without disabilities on the SDI-SR. Conf...

Given the increasing enrollment of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in postsecondary education and the potential impact of self-determination on postsecondary outcomes, this study analyzed data on the self-determination status of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities completing their first year of a post...

This article reports the results of an examination of the endorsement, reliability, and factorial validity of the VIA-Youth and assessment of character strengths and virtues developed for the general population in youth with and without intellectual disability. Findings suggest that, generally, youth with intellectual disability endorsed character...

Background: A new measure of self-determination, the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report (Spanish version), has recently been adapted and empirically validated in Spanish language. As it is the first instrument intended to measure self-determination in youth with and without disabilities, there is a need to further explore and strengthen...

Causal Agency Theory describes volitional action as action that is intentionally conceived (planned) and self-initiated. Volitional actions involve the initiation and activation of causal capabilities—the capacity to cause something to happen—in one’s life. Acting in an intentionally conceived, self-initiated manner is therefore a critical element...

La promoción de la autodeterminación en el ámbito escolar sigue siendo una tarea pendiente en el contexto español, a pesar de la existencia de diferentes instrumentos orientados a la enseñanza de habilidades relacionadas con la conducta autodeterminada. Algunos instrumentos, como el Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction o Modelo de Enseñanz...