Latest News

Importance of Inclusive Collaboration

Coming Soon: Updates to Developing Job Shadow Experiences

Through our work with the Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN), CCTS is updating our Developing Job Shadow Experiences training course with new recommendations that support inclusion for all students. The updated course content will be available by September 30, 2025.

The following excerpt from the course highlights some of the benefits of inclusive collaboration and building partnerships to support work-based learning experiences for all students, with a focus on Black students with disabilities and students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

• Expands access and opportunity: Collaboration with employers, community organizations, and service providers helps identify and create meaningful work-based learning opportunities that accommodate diverse learning styles and support needs, ensuring Black students with disabilities and students with IDD can access experiences that match their strengths and career interests.
• Improves Post-School Outcomes through Equity-Focused Planning: Research from NTACT:C shows that interagency collaboration combined with inclusive educational practices and strong family engagement significantly improves post-school outcomes for students with complex support needs. When students actively participate in collaborative planning alongside school staff, families, adult service providers, and community partners, they can co-design culturally responsive supports that make work-based learning experiences accessible and meaningful.
• Leverages diverse expertise and resources: Community partners bring real-world knowledge, specialized accommodations, and unique perspectives that complement educators' skills. This combined expertise helps create more robust support systems and innovative solutions for students with IDD and other disabilities.
• Creates sustainable support networks: Collaboration establishes lasting relationships between schools, families, employers, and community organizations that extend beyond individual students, building a foundation for ongoing inclusive practices and advocacy.
• Ensures culturally responsive and individualized approaches: Working with diverse community partners helps ensure that work-based learning experiences are culturally affirming and responsive to the specific needs of Black students with disabilities, addressing both disability-related barriers and systemic inequities.
• Strengthens advocacy and systemic change: When multiple stakeholders collaborate, they create a unified voice for policy change and resource allocation that promotes inclusive work-based learning opportunities and challenges discriminatory practices that disproportionately impact students with disabilities.

Inclusion Resources

Developed by students with CoDesign Works

Through CoDesign Works and OSPI's Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN), a team of students with disabilities (ages 15-22) created inclusion-focused materials drawing from their firsthand experiences navigating social and academic life as young adults.

They encourage sharing these resources widely on social media and in communities, including printing posters for schools or community spaces. The materials feature students sharing their reflections about what they hope adults, their disabled and non-disabled peers, and policymakers will understand about inclusion and belonging.

Inclusion Posters

• Disability Myths Poster Set
• Ableism & How to Repair Poster Set

Student Reflection Video

• 6-minute reflection video
• 1-minute highlight reel

DDCS Information for Educators

New resource from the Developmental Disabilities Community Services Division (DDCS, previously DDA)

DDCS is excited to share a new landing page for educators on the DDCS website. It includes helpful resources and answers to frequently asked questions designed specifically for educators supporting students with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families.

If you have suggestions for additions to this page, please contact DDCS's Educational Liaison Program Manager, Rose Spidell at Rose.Spidell@dshs.wa.gov

Post-School Outcome (PSO) Data

2022-23 Special Education Leavers

Are you curious to know about your former students’ education and employment activities after they leave high school? PSO data reports are available on the CCTS website by county and ESD. If you work for a school district, you can access district-level reports from our secure data collection platform, the TSF2.

• Outcome categories include Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education, Other Employment, and No Engagement.
• Outcomes are disaggregated by exit category, gender, race/ethnicity, disability, and language proficiency. Data on connections with adult service agencies are also included.

School districts can use these reports to evaluate the effectiveness of their special education programs. If you have questions about accessing or understanding the data, please send us an email at ccts@seattleu.edu. 

CCTS Presentations and Training

Presentation Library

Slide decks, summaries, and recordings are available for selected CCTS presentations on our Presentation Library page. Topics center on secondary transition planning strategies and tools for students with IEPs.

Free Transition Training Materials

Each of CCTS’s self-paced training courses can be accessed free of charge from the CCTS website. Courses include modules and activity workbooks that can be completed individually or with a group.

• Writing Effective Transition Plans (10 modules)
• Student-Led IEPs (7 modules)
• Developing Job Shadow Experiences (4 modules)
• Partnerships for Inclusion: Special Education and Career Technical Education (6 modules)

Visit CCTS’s Secondary Transition Training page for details.