Victor Ambros has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine!

Search Close Search
Search Close Search
Page Menu

Translating Evidence to Support Transitions (TEST)

PI: Marsha Ellison, PhD
Co Investigators: Maryann Davis, PhD, Sloan Huckabee, PhD, Deanne Unruh, PhD, Catherine Fowler, PhD, David Test, PhD, Joann Starks, MEd, Mary Wagner, PhD
UMass Chan Project Personnel: Laura Golden, MA, Emma Pici-D’Ottavio, BA
Project Partners: The American Institutes for Research (AIR), the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT), and SRI International
Time Frame: 9/29/2015 - 9/28/2020
Funded By: The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR; grant number 90DP0080-01-00). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  

Description:
The goal of the newly funded Translating Evidence to Support Transitions (TEST) grant is to increase the use and adoption of research-based best practices in transition planning services for high school students with EBD receiving special education services.  Outcomes from TEST include the development of guides and curricula for practicing and implementing best practices in transition planning for students with EBD. We anticipate wide scale adoption and use of TEST practices by special education transition teams across the US, which will in turn improve employment and education outcomes for this vulnerable group.  All TEST activities will be built on an implementation science framework and guided by knowledge translation principles.  Over the five year project timeline, data and feedback will be collected at each step in order to continually improve TEST materials.

Visit Our Translating Evidence to Support Transitions (TEST) Website

Related Products and Materials

Practice Guides

Supporting Student-Led Transition Planning for Students with Emotional Behavioral Disturbance
November 2020
Kathleen Biebel, Laura Golden, Sloan Huckabee, Marsha Langer Ellison
Incorporating Career and Technical Education in Transition Planning for Students with Emotional Behavioral Disturbance
November 2020
Marsha Langer Ellison, Sloan Huckabee, Laura Golden, Kathleen Biebel
Partnering with Community Agencies in Transition Planning for Students with Emotional Behavioral
November 2020
Sloan Huckabee, Laura Golden, Marsha Langer Ellison, Kathleen Biebel

Tip Sheets

School that Makes Cent$: Taking CTE Courses
September 2020
Morgan Rao, Catherine Hodgewood Fowler

I’ve Got My Crew: Inviting Community Partners to Your IEP Meeting
June 2020
Morgan Rao, Laura Golden, Marsha Langer Ellison

You Got This: Taking a Leadership Role in Your IEP Meeting

June 2020
Morgan Rao, Laura Golden, Marsha Langer Ellison

Info-Comics

Adulting Shorts: The “TEA” on IEPs Part 3 (December 2022)
Adulting Shorts: The “TEA” on IEPs Part 2
(September 2022)
Adulting Shorts: The “TEA” on IEPs Part 1
(September 2021)
This four-part info-comic is for high school students to help them understand what an Individualized Educational Plan or IEP is, what transition planning is, and the importance of the student being involved in them.

Presentations and Posters

A Prismatic, Participatory Approach to Policy Research - Stakeholder Driven Policy Recommendations to Improve the Delivery of Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) to Students with Serious Mental Health Conditions
April 27, 2023 | 2023 UMass Chan Medical School Psychiatry Research Day
Emma Narkewicz, MPA; Marsha L. Ellison PhD, Hannah Seward, PhD

Transition Planning for Students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders: Making It Work
July 17, 2019 | 2019 PA Community on Transition Conference
Marsha Langer Ellison
TEST - Translating Evidence to Support Transitions: Improving Outcomes of Youth in Transition with Psychiatric Disabilities by Use and Adoption of Best Practice Transition Planning 1
April 4, 2019 | NARRTC Conference
Marsha Langer Ellison & Catherine Fowler (NTACT)
TEST - Translating Evidence to Support Transitions: Improving Outcomes of Youth in Transition with Psychiatric Disabilities by Use and Adoption of Best Practice Transition Planning 2
May 2019 | Capacity Building Institute (CBI) Conference
Sloan Smith (formerly Huckabee), Marsha Langer Ellison, Deanne Unruh (NTACT), Alycia M. Trakas, Missy Wrigley, Roberta Lucas

Webcasts

Incorporating CTE in Transition Planning for Students with Emotional Behavioral Disturbances
May 2022

Pathways to Self Sufficiency: Career & Technical Education for Youth with Emotional Disturbances
April 14, 2022
Marsha Ellison, PhD, and Colleen McKay, MA, CAGS
Best Practices for Transition Planning for High School Students with Mental Health Conditions
September 12, 2019
Marsha Langer Ellison, Ph.D. and Laura Golden
Research to Practice in the NIDILRR Community: Translating Evidence to Support Transitions
March 2018
Kathleen Biebel
Research to Practice in the NIDILRR Community: TEST Project
May 2017
Sloan Huckabee
Creating Career Pathways for Youth with Mental Health Conditions
February 2016
Marsha Langer Ellison & Sandra Miller

Research in the Works

Improving the Outcomes of Transition Age Youth with Psychiatric Disabilities through the Adoption and Use of Best Practice Transition Planning
December, 2015
Lauren Davis, Kathleen Biebel, Marsha Ellison, Sloan Huckabee, & Laura Golden

Articles and Reports

Career and Technical Education for Students with Emotional Disturbance →

Colleen McKay and Marsha Langer Ellison - April 30, 2021

Vocational Education Course Taking and Post–High School Employment of Youth With Emotional Disturbances

Wagner, M. M., Newman, L. A., & Javitz, H. S. (2017). Vocational education course taking and post–high school employment of youth with emotional disturbances. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 40(3), 132–143.

New grant to help teens with psychiatric disabilities become successful adults
February 17, 2016
UMassMedNow - Sandra Grey, UMass Chan Medical School Communications