The collaborative efforts of families, educators, and policy makers have merged vocational training with special education services for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 introduced mandates for schools to provide transition services for students with disabilities based on three areas of need: a) education, b) employment, and independent living. This legislation has led to more work-based learning programs that meet the postsecondary needs for students with disabilities. Despite this increase in work-based learning programs many students with disabilities are still unable to make successful transitions into postsecondary outcomes. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the impact of a Job Experience Training (JET) program on the executive functioning skills of seven young men (15 to 18 years of age) over the course of seven weeks at an assisted living facility. Results of the teacher evaluations showed the students were capable of completing tasks, making individual goals, and increasing executive functioning skills while participating in the JET program. Conversely, the results from the parent and student assessments showed little to no change in executive functioning skills once the participants were outside the context of the assisted living facility. Future research is encouraged to examine a longitudinal study across multiple job sites that evaluates and measures the students’ ability to transfer executive functioning skills to other contexts and further investigate mentoring as the core teaching strategy of a JET program.

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Catholic schools need to examine the barriers to, benefits of, and interventions needed when implementing inclusive practices into their institutions. Catholic schools are experiencing an increase in enrolled students identified with learning and behavioral needs; however, they frequently lack resources and expertise to provide the necessary support for these students and their families to succeed. Research studies identify teacher attitudes and perceptions regarding inclusive practices as vital factors to create successful culture change. A single group pretest-posttest design, incorporated into this action research study, measured the attitudes and stress of teachers before and after a 14-week long intervention for eight target students with ADHD. The Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES), adapted for this setting, was completed by 26 teachers. The Index of Teaching Stress (ITS) was completed by each teacher for each target student in their class for a total of 53 teacher-student dyads. Data analysis included two, one-tailed, paired-samples t-tests. A moderate effect (d= .471) that was statistically significant (p The implications of this study suggest the importance of providing appropriate interventions and accommodations to better support teacher-student relationships, and that a greater buy-in and understanding is needed by the teachers to change their overall attitudes toward inclusivity. Effective professional development is crucial for teachers and students alike to be better informed of the potential academic and social challenges of an ADHD diagnosis and how to best support these specific needs. Further, creating a more inclusive school environment requires stakeholders to develop clear mission statements, approve budgets that include wellness and resource programs, and design daily bell schedules that allocate time for support outside of the student’s normal classes. The limitations of this action research include generalization beyond a private high school setting, experimenter effect, teachers self-reporting, and not having a comparison or control group. Suggestions for further research include incorporating a qualitative component to better understand the effectiveness of an intervention, and running interventions for female groups, middle-school-aged students, and other specific diagnoses for comparative results.