Charting My Path SIGN-UP

Welcome to Charting My Path for Future Success!

This is a secure site that will allow you to sign up your child for participation in the project. Any information provided will be kept confidential and only accessed by the U.S. Department of Education project team.

Canyons School District is participating in an exciting, new research project to enhance transition services. As part of this project, your child's school is offering two new pilot programs meant to help students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) reach their goals after high school. The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring this project as part of research to learn more about ways to help students with disabilities get ready for their adult lives. Dozens of schools across the U.S. are taking part in the Charting My Path for Future Success research project.

The American Institutes for Research® (AIR®), a nonprofit group, is leading the project on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. The project team also includes the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, Social Policy Research Associates, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Your child has the opportunity to participate in this project! Please click the button below to continue.

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT

You are about to enter a federal government confidential website. The content on this website is confidential and intended for Charting My Path for Future Success Project purposes only. Sensitive information entered on this secure website is protected.

For more information about the project, please visit the Charting My Path for Future Success website.

About the Charting My Path for Future Success Project

Before deciding whether to give permission for you and your child to participate, please read the information below.

Who can sign up for the project?

The project is open to students in participating schools who:

Have an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
Are about two years away from graduating with a regular high school diploma in Fall 2024

How does the project work?

For all students signed up for the project, researchers at AIR will use a computer program to randomly place each student into one of three similarly sized groups. You cannot select the group in which your child is placed. Two of these groups will have access to Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) programs that go beyond what most schools now offer. Specifically, during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, at each project school, students will be placed as follows:

One third of students will be placed in the SDLMI-Transition program. This program teaches students about setting goals and making plans to achieve goals. The program also has check-ins with families to help their children succeed in the program.
Another third of students will be placed in the SDLMI-Transition with Mentoring program. This program has all of the activities of the SDLMI-Transition program plus 1-on-1 mentoring for students to take steps toward their goals.
The other third of students will keep receiving the usual special education services and transition supports offered at their school, based on their IEPs. This group is very important as a reference point for learning about the new programs.

What benefits could the project have?

Participating schools will set up new programs created based on years of research on how to help students with IEPs get ready for life as adults. There are many potential benefits to signing up, including the following:

Your child could receive extra supports to build skills and take steps toward their goals for adult living, work, and further learning after high school.
You could get the chance to check in with new study instructors on your child's progress and learn more about how to help your child work toward their goals.
Teachers, researchers, and others could learn how to support students with disabilities when they leave high school.
High school staff around the country could benefit in the years to come from findings about how well the programs work.

What information about my child will the project collect?

The project's research team will collect information about all students who sign up. The team will look at all three groups to learn how much the new programs help, beyond the usual services and transition supports. Specifically, the research team will:

Ask each student to take a short survey at school in Fall 2024, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026, to learn about changes in students' skills to set goals, make plans, and take steps to get ready for life after high school. Students will receive support for filling out the survey, as needed.
Collect students' school records at the start of the 2024-25 school year and for up to 4 additional years. These records will cover academic achievement, progress in school, IEP goals and transition plans, characteristics such as disability type, age, and race/ethnicity, and student information including date of birth.The research team will get these records from the school district after you agree for your child to be part of the project.
Collect records about students' use of Vocational Rehabilitation services, use of federal student aid, college enrollment, and work outcomes since the start of high school. With your permission, the research team will use your child's name, date of birth, and Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer ID to gather these records from the U.S. Department of Education, other federal agencies, and the National Student Clearinghouse for up to four years after the start of the 2024-25 school year. In years after that, the U.S. Department of Education may gather updated records from those sources. All of these records are important for learning how well the programs work.

Even if your child is not selected to participate in the programs, your child will continue to receive the usual supports. This group will help researchers better understand what does and does not work about the new programs.

How will my child's information be protected?

All information collected for this project comes under the confidentiality and data protection requirements of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, as required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Title I, Part E, Section 183).

The information will only be used for the purposes of research approved by the U.S. Department of Education. The project team will hold in strict confidence all collected information and only disclose it for routine use purposes (per 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)3).

Other than to request the records described above, the project team will not willingly share any information that could identify you, your child, or your child's school with anyone outside the team, except as required by law. AIR has many safeguards for storing and transferring information in ways that will maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the people and schools in the project.

Beyond this project, the U.S. Department of Education can authorize further research using de-identified project data without additional approvals from you or your child. That is, further research could use data files that do not have names, identifiers, or any other personal information.

Are there any risks to signing up for the project?

The project presents no foreseeable risks to you or your child. The project has been approved by AIR's Institutional Review Board, a group tasked with protecting the rights and well-being of people who take part in projects like this.

Does my family have to be part of the project?

No, participating in the project is voluntary. Students whose families do not to sign up for the project will keep receiving the usual special education services and transition supports offered at their school, based on their IEPs. Students who are not in the project will not be part of the information collection described above. And if you do sign up, you or your child can stop participating at any time without penalty.

Who should I contact if I have questions?

If you have questions about the Charting My Path for Future Success Project, please contact the project team at chartingmypath@air.org.

If you have questions about your child's rights as part of the project, please contact the Chair of AIR's Institutional Review Board: IRBChair@air.org, toll free at 1-800-634-0797, or c/o IRB, 1400 Crystal Drive, 10th Floor, Arlington, VA 22202.

I have read (or have had read to me) the information above. I have spoken with my child about the project. My child and I understand what being part of the project involves.