“I think this program gave me what I needed in terms of being a better teacher to this age group... It wasn’t just theory – there were practical hands-on materials that I now have at my disposal... I have stuff now that I can utilize, which is really valuable.” TARA BEATTY, Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate Program, SPRING 2025
Providing the Best for Her Students
As a long-time special education teacher, Tara Beatty is passionate about providing the best possible support and learning opportunities for her students with disabilities. Tara feels fortunate to have experienced the unique opportunity of traveling with her students as they progressed in grade level, but she recognized gaps in her knowledge when it came to supporting her students in navigating the transition into adulthood. Returning to her alma mater, Tara enrolled in the Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate at the University of Connecticut (UConn). As she progressed through the program, she immediately began implementing the instructional and assessment resources provided in her courses. Tara now feels empowered with the knowledge and expertise to teach and guide her students at school and in her recently launched nonprofit for young adults with disabilities.
Traveling with her students
Earning her BS and MS from UConn many years ago, Tara has worked as a special education teacher in Guilford Public Schools for 25 years. Tara describes how her work in the schools has evolved over time: “A good portion of my career was in elementary special education. We started an autism program, which turned into more of a life-skills program that has traveled. So as the kids traveled up, I traveled with them: to middle school, then high school, and now the Transition Academy. So, while I didn’t have to relearn the students, I needed to relearn the age level, the material, and the stuff that went with it. It’s been a really unique experience that most people don’t get to do.”
Empowering students in an inclusive community
More recently, Tara and her friend (a speech pathologist who also traveled along with the kids) launched a nonprofit for young adults with disabilities, called Sound Life Connections. As Tara explains, “We teach life skills and social skills classes to a similar group of transition-age students. We have social events, such as our St. Patrick’s Day karaoke coming up tomorrow night, which is a huge hit. And then last year, we got a grant and bought a gelato truck, and we are in the process of opening a storefront gelato café so we can provide vocational training. We have been doing a lot with all that.”
Tara goes on to describe their vision for the gelato café, which is called The WAVE (Work, Advocate, Value, and Empower): “The café will provide for competitive employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We’ll have a training program that students can go through and learn all the different components of different areas to work in and have an assessment that is based off that. It will also be an inclusive social place, where people will feel comfortable to come and hang out. We’ll continue to offer our social skills gatherings there. It wasn’t that we were in the market to open a gelato café, it just fell into what made the most sense for us in terms of the space we had and coming up with a business idea that could be self-sustaining, while also providing that opportunity for social engagement. With a retail store, you don’t come and hang out, but we also didn’t want to do something that involved a ton of cooking either. There’s a limit to what I’m going to stretch with in learning new things. So, the café will have a coffee shop vibe. The gelato truck was a faster way to get going. We were able to get that up and going the end of last summer, so we did have the kids out working and they were just so happy. You know, they just want a place where they can work and feel included. So, it’s coming together, which is really cool.”
A need to learn more
With the aim of providing the best possible support for her transition-age students, Tara recognized she needed to learn more: “I had grown with these students, so I was learning continually as they were moving up, but there are so many unique things that come up in the transition age that I wanted to know more about, such as establishing connections to agencies, understanding the laws and rights, transition assessments, etc. This was an area that I hadn’t really had any professional development or training in. I felt like there was more that I needed to learn to be able to provide the best that I could for the students that I was working with. We just started a transition program in Guilford, so it’s all still really new. I didn’t have anybody to really go to in our district that had a wealth of knowledge that I could learn from, so I felt like I needed to go and do that on my own.”
Husky through and through
Searching for a program to help her fill these gaps, Tara chose to return to her alma mater and enroll in UConn’s Special Education Transition to Adult Online Graduate Certificate program: “I had actually looked at some programs that were online in other states, but I felt like UConn was more of a fit for me since I had done all my other work at UConn. This would also give me access to people who are doing the work in Connecticut because some things differ state to state. I’m a Husky through and through. I feel proud to have my degrees from UConn.” Beginning the 4-course, 12-credit certificate program in fall 2022, Tara completed her last course in fall 2024, graduating in spring 2025.
Flexibility to work at her own pace
With so many competing responsibilities, Tara appreciated the flexibility enabled by the asynchronous, online format: “I liked the way the program is set it up so that you can do it at your own pace, and you aren’t locked into a particular time. If you need to work at 8:00 at night, you can do that. With working and trying to do all these other things, to be able to have that flexibility to work at my own pace was very convenient.”
Faculty experienced and accessible
For Tara, the combination of having the flexibility to work at her own pace, while also having access to professors with expertise in the field struck the perfect balance. “The faculty were great. They all had a little bit different style, which was fine. There was one course where they also brought in some speakers from other places. All the instructors were able to speak from experience and not just provide materials. It’s a nice combo to have access to professors that are doing research and have experience working in the field. They certainly made themselves available if you wanted to meet with them or reach out to them. It was a good balance between having access to professors, but also having the flexibility to work on your own timeframe.”
Interactive opportunities to connect
Contrasting the certificate program with her previous online learning experiences, Tara appreciated the interactive opportunities to connect with her classmates via the HuskyCT/Blackboard discussion forums: “I did some online courses in the past, but this was a very different format. This was more interactive. I was able to connect with students on the discussion boards from different areas of the country, with different backgrounds and different levels of experience. So that was interesting to have those discussions. It can be a little awkward making connections through these discussion boards, but as you get to hear more and more about other students’ experiences, you form some relationships. One of the courses did have a collaborative project: that was interesting to work with someone through Zoom to create a presentation. So, there were a lot of different opportunities to connect, which was nice.”
Putting the resources into practice
A major highlight of the program for Tara was having access to practical resources that she could immediately implement in her work with students: “The courses were all very helpful. They gave a good comprehensive view of the assessment process and of the instructional process. The resources that they gave us were useful but not overwhelming – free resources such as manuals and templates that would have been harder to find on our own. It was just nice to be able to have that place where I was getting that information and material. I didn’t have to go hunt it all down myself. And then to know what was good, what was bad, and what people were utilizing was really helpful. As I was learning, I was able to put the resources I got into practice right away. I was able to take the assessments that we were provided and some of the instructional pieces and implement those as I was going. So, it wasn’t just theory – there were practical hands-on materials that I now have at my disposal, as opposed to just classes that were great information but didn’t give my anything in the moment. I have stuff now that I can utilize, which is really valuable.”
While she initially assumed that one course (EPSY 5119 – Policy, Law and Ethics in Special Education) would be redundant to her experiences, Tara was pleasantly surprised. “There was one course on education law, which was more of a refresher for me, but I actually found it really interesting. I thought it was going to be a little bit redundant to stuff that I’ve already been doing over the years, but it was actually really helpful because the laws are changing all the time. It was great to not only get a refresher but to also get some of the updates on where things are now. So, I was glad to have that course.”
Weaving it all together
Students in the program are required to complete a capstone project (during the course EPSY 5094- Capstone in Secondary Transition). Working on her project with the guidance of Dr. Tracy Sinclair was another major highlight for Tara. “With the capstone project, it was helpful to go through that process and be able to put everything all together. Working with Tracy, we talked through some design ideas that I had. It was really nice to be able to have that control in determining what would be most useful and valuable for what I was doing, rather than the project being assigned to you or selecting from preset options. They certainly had a framework to work from and some ideas to support you if you needed more help in designing that, but Tracy also left it pretty open to making it useful to what I was doing. So, I think that was really valuable.”
Tara goes on to describe her project’s immediate applicability: “I was able to utilize our nonprofit and create the training program that we now use for our gelato café. So that provided me actual tangible material that I could take back and use, which was really great. And then I was able to use that same system that I had created with the nonprofit in mind to create similar tools and assessments for the Transition Academy. So, it gave me stuff that I needed in the moment that I could then modify and utilize moving forward.”
Reflecting on the impact of completing the program and earning this credential, Tara adds, “I think this program gave me what I needed in terms of being a better teacher to this age group. It will also help me as we’re building this nonprofit to be able to refer to this credential to say, ‘You know, not only is this something I’ve had experience in, but this is an area of expertise for me now.’”
“The program is structured in such a way that it is accessible for working professionals with families, like me. My ultimate goal is to become a transition specialist in a school district near where I live in New Jersey. I know the certificate will help me in my job search, as it will highlight my knowledge in the field.” KELLY LESTRANGE, Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate Program, FALL 2020
Having had a younger brother born with autism, Kelly Lestrange has always held a special place in her heart for young people with disabilities. The Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate Program through the University of Connecticut helped her dramatically improve her ability to help high school students with significant disabilities make a successful transition to adulthood.
A Passion for Special Kids
In her current role as Special Education Teacher at Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway, NJ, Kelly Lestrange knew she needed to get a better handle on helping her students successfully transition out of high school. “Everything I had learned about special education transition I learned piecemeal—from a workshop here and there, readings on my own—but I knew I needed more formal education,” notes Kelly, who says growing up with a brother born with autism was a strong motivating factor for choosing a career to help young people with disabilities make a successful transition to adulthood.
Kelly graduated from New York Law School with a Master of Arts, Mental Disability Law Studies, in May 2008. After several years teaching special needs children, she became a Special Education Teacher in the Multiple Disabilities Program at Morris Knolls High School in 2014. About three years ago, she moved into a position working with 18- to 21-year-old kids when the previous teacher retired. As she explains, students with significant disabilities in New Jersey can remain in school through the age of 21. “When I took over that position, my focus changed from academic teaching to helping students gain independent living skills. That’s when I knew I needed a stronger foundation in helping these kids transition into the world beyond school.”
Useful skills for a working teacher
Kelly was specifically looking for a certificate program in transition studies. During her research, she discovered the University of Connecticut (UConn) Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate Program. “As I learned more about it, it seemed like it was the most useful of all the programs I was looking at in terms of content. I felt that I would be able to use what I was learning immediately on the job.”
And she was right! By far, the most helpful skill she learned was how to develop transition plans for individual students. “My job is to bridge the gap between the school and adult agencies available to help students with disabilities,” says Kelly. “I learned a great deal about all the different laws and policies that apply to my students. Thanks to the program, I was able to practice writing transition plans that took full advantage of those resources.”
No disruption during the pandemic
Kelly also greatly appreciated the online delivery method. With two small children and a
full-time job, she needed a program that would accommodate her home and work life. To top it off, she began the program just before the pandemic hit. Because it was fully online, she was able to continue without disruption. “I was able to do my coursework in a flexible way rather than having to report to an actual classroom every day. And the way the program was structured with virtual meetings and the HuskyCT/Blackboard discussion forums allowed me to get to know many of my classmates—just like I would have in a face-to-face classroom setting.”
While some of the other students in the program took two courses at one time, Kelly decided to take one each semester. “That was very manageable for me,” she says and adds: “The content from one course to the next built upon the previous course. I found that the courses were very relevant to what I was doing in my job—and up to date with all the changes that the pandemic brought to the classroom. So I was able to immediately apply the knowledge I was learning to my daily work life.” And she says, “All four of my instructors could really relate to what we were going through in our own jobs because they had all worked in a classroom setting, versus just teaching the content. So that was incredibly helpful.”
Capping it off
The last course, EPSY 5094 – Capstone in Secondary Transition – is designed to give students the chance to independently create a project tailored to their specific interests, then complete project activities in a real-world setting, so that they could have a portfolio of work to help advance their job search. But because Kelly was enrolled in the course during the fall of 2020—right in the middle of the pandemic—Dr. Allison Lombardi, who taught the Capstone course, had to switch gears completely. “Instead of the traditional Capstone project, we had the opportunity to attend three online conferences. I got a tremendous wealth of information and resources out of each of them,” says Kelly. She notes that she also had to write a report about all the various learnings she gleaned and how she could apply those to her classroom setting.
In summary, Kelly says that she recommends the program for anyone in an educational setting who is interested in learning more about helping students with disabilities transition after high school. “The program is structured in such a way that it is accessible for working professionals with families, like me. My ultimate goal is to become a transition specialist in a school district near where I live in New Jersey. I know the certificate will help me in my job search, as it will highlight my knowledge in the field.”
“I’m no technical wizard, but even so, I didn’t have any problems getting online or finding assignments; everything was structured around weekly modules, with the content laid out in a well organized fashion, so that I always knew exactly what to expect each week. Plus the program was progressive, with each course building on the knowledge we learned in the previous course.” PAT DANIELS, Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate Program, Spring 2018
A Career in Transition
Pat Daniels had a hard time getting a teaching position right out of college. But she stayed focused and over the next two decades, she eventually worked her way into her current position as a Special Education teacher. As she discovered, her real passion is helping students transition successfully into the next phase of life after high school. With the Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate, she now feels well equipped to arm her students with the skills they need to transition into adulthood.
Back in 1978, it was a tough road ahead for new undergraduates wishing to become teachers – at least that’s what Pat Daniels discovered. So Pat turned to the non-profit sector instead, becoming a Workshop Supervisor for the Society to Advance the Retarded in Norwalk, CT. She got married and had a family. Then in September 1992, she was hired as a Para-Educator for the Meadowside Elementary School in Milford, CT, a job she had for the following seven years. “I remember in the summer of 2000, my principal said to me, ‘Pat, you should become a teacher,’ which was what I wanted to do all along. I was ‘grandfathered’ in, and finally got my first teaching position in October of that year, working at the Meadowside Elementary School in Milford, CT,” she notes.
Then in August 2005, the local high school had an opening for a full-time Special Education teacher at the Jonathan Law High School in Milford, CT. Pat was hired; her primary responsibility that first year was to work with five boys, supporting them so that they could succeed in the general education program. While in this position, she worked closely with the school social worker, creating and co-teaching a transition class. “That’s when my focused changed, and I became passionate about wanting to prepare young people with special needs for the challenges and opportunities ahead after they have left high school,” explains Pat, who in 2010, earned a Master’s of Art from the Graduate Institute in Bethany, CT.
In 2017, Pat attended a State of Connecticut Education Resource Center workshop, where she heard quite a few people talking about the Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate program given by the University of Connecticut (UConn). While she felt like she was doing everything she could to prepare students for life after high school, she realized that she needed new skills and knowledge, especially in the areas of current legal issues and best practices. “I had been to various workshops over the years, but the information was piece meal and repetitive. So I contacted UConn, and spoke with Donna Campbell, who is the enrollment services expert for the e-campus offering. She was incredibly patient. She told me all about the program and explained everything I needed to do to sign up for classes.”
So easy to get up to speed
For Pat, the HuskyCT/Blackboard platform was a big plus. As she discovered, she could create a more flexible timeline to complete course assignments. She also especially appreciated how the program was structured to promote interaction with other students. “We’d have great conversations, posting comments back and forth with one another in response to a question posed by the instructor,” notes Pat, who adds: “I’m no technical wizard, but even so, I didn’t have any problems getting online or finding assignments; everything was structured around weekly modules, with the content laid out in a well-organized fashion, so that I always knew exactly what to expect each week. Plus the program was progressive, with each course building on the knowledge we learned in the previous course.”
She also found that all three professors she had were extremely responsive. “I would email them and get a response back, typically that same day, but always within 24 hours. And each was very knowledgeable in their subject matter.”
Drawing upon her new skills
Pat has put her new knowledge to good use already. As she was going through the courses, she downloaded a great deal of the content and organized it into binders that she uses on a daily basis. “Now I can easily get my hands on the right assessments for students with specific needs,” she says, and adds: “I use these on a regular basis.”
Pat is also taking advantage of the information she gleaned to help her write new lesson plans. “This coming year, I am adding lesson plans for budgeting, interviewing skills, and other skills of daily living like using an ATM machine, which most of us take for granted. During the program, we were shown how to write lesson plans in a specific format so that if any other teacher picked up one of our lesson plans, they could easily step in and teach that lesson. And we also learned how to imbed transition into students’ Individual Education Plans.”
A passion for helping students succeed in adulthood
Going forward, Pat is hoping to become a transition coordinator for her school, with transition becoming her sole focus. Toward this end, she is planning to teach two transition courses, and she is working in three learning centers with students who need academic help in addition to transition support. “We start with the freshmen, assessing their transition needs, then creating individualized plans that support their requirements. I believe our students are given the best chance to leave high school with the skills to be successful. In fact, we have had many success stories, like one young man with autism who is going to the University of New Haven. Another student is now a journalist at a local newspaper and is a guest speaker in my classes, addressing the challenges he faced having autism, as well as getting adjusted to life after high school. I give a lot of credit to the Special Education Transition to Adulthood Online Graduate Certificate program for helping me sharpen my skills so that I can help students be as successful as possible.”