KU Center for Research on Learning
Soaring to New Heights
Division of Adult Studies
December, 2009
True collaboration.The Soaring to New Heights project has brought together five entities in a rare collaborative effort to achieve a common goal: the Center for Research on Learning, Wichita Public Schools, Kansas Rehabilitation Services, Kansas Health Policy Authority, and Kansas Youth Empowerment Agency.
“People cooperate. Agencies cooperate,” Johnson says. “But to collaborate means you’re giving up some stuff for the good of the whole. People are doing that. They’re willing to explore new ways of trying to meet needs.”
Future of the project
Soaring to New Heights staff have found that many juniors are not quite ready to think about post-graduation issues. As a result, the project has developed preliminary plans for a follow-up course for seniors that will focus on concrete steps, such as completing financial aid applications.
At the same time, staff and partners believe they are building a program that could expand beyond Wichita.
“It we can continue to make the kinds of impact that we’re making in the lives of these kids, KRS really sees the potential for this to be rolled out across Kansas,” Johnson says.
Conclusion
Early indications are that Soaring to New Heights is successful in its goal to help students with disabilities prepare for life after high school. But for Johnson, the success of this project is less important than finding the right way to help students with disabilities achieve beyond their limited expectations.
“It’s less about the success of a particular course, to me,” he says. “It’s more about finding ways to give kids a sense of their own competency and give them opportunities, real opportunities, to pursue. It’s too grandiose to say pursue their dreams, but pursue something concrete that helps them believe in themselves.”
* The ARC Self-Determination Scale was developed by Dr. Michael Wehmeyer of the University of Kansas and his colleagues. AIR Self-Determination Assessments were developed by American Institutes for Research (AIR), in collaboration with Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.
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