About CIRCLES
Current Implementation and History
Although post-school outcomes for students with disabilities have improved in the past 10 years, students with disabilities still consistently experience poor outcomes in the areas of education, employment, and independent living when compared to their peers without disabilities. CIRCLES is a transition-planning service delivery model designed to guide schools in implementing interagency collaboration at three teams, including Community-Level Team (CLT), School-Level Team (SLT), and the IEP team, with a focus on student involvement and leadership throughout the process. Based on previous research with the model (Aspel, Bettis, Quinn, Test, & Wood, 1999; Povenmire-Kirk et al., 2015). In 2017, Dr. David Test received a grant from the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) to explore CIRCLES as a large-scale implementation in multiple school districts and see what the effects were on students' self-determination and IEP goals (R324AQ110018).
We have recently received a grant from the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES) to evaluate the CIRCLES intervention to generate evidence that CIRCLES improves proximal student, teacher, and community agency personnel outcomes and subsequent distal student outcomes (R324A220161). This efficacy study will address limitations of the original efficacy using a rigorous design that meets the IES What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) design standards, and addressing issues related to implementation fidelity and outcome measures. The CIRCLES intervention aims to improve transition outcomes for students with disabilities by improving interagency collaboration among teachers and community agency personnel to increase (a) student self-determination, (b) knowledge and perspectives of the transition planning process, and (c) secondary and postsecondary engagement.
Understanding the Circles Project
The above infographic describes how the CIRCLES Project works. It has an arched header "Building Collaborative Partnerships: CIRCLES". Below there is a grid with 8 cells with green borders, the first cell has a globe symbol with 4 profile symbols circling, and it has the headline "Implementation". The second cell has 3 profile symbols with a gear symbol above the headline "Assessment". The third cell has three symbols at the top with a woman standing and pointing, a chart with a pencil, and 3 currency bills, below it reads "Spring 2023, - Training on implementation fo CIRCLES, - Training on CIRCLES assessments and data collection, - $1,000." The fourth cell has a chart symbol and 3 currency bills, below it reads "Spring 2023, - Training on CIRCLES Assessment and data collection, - $500". The fifth cell has symbols for 4 profiles linked in a circle, a chart on an easel, and 3 currency bills, below it reads "Fall 2023-Spring '27", - Begin implementing CIRCLES with coaching & support - Annual data (shared in summer of each year) - $3,000 per school year. The sixth cell has 3 symbols at the top: a paper check list and pen, chart on an easel, and 3 currency bills, below it reads "Fall 2023 - Spring '27, Begin CIRCLES data collection, - Annual data (shared in Summer of each year), - $2,000 per school year. the seventh cell has 3 papers entering a box, with text below that reads " 2024-2026 - Student postschool outcome data". An eighth cell has 3 symbols at the top: a symbol with 3 pages entering a box, a woman pointing and 4 profile symbols linked in a circle, below it reads "2024-2026 Student postschool outcome data, 2026 - Circles training, - Circles implementation with coaching & support for the 2026-27 school year."