Audrey A. Trainor
Professor of Special Education; Content Director, Programs in Special Education
Teaching and Learning
212-998-5205
Audrey A. Trainor, PhD, studies equity and diversity in special education, focusing on postsecondary transitions for adolescents identified with learning and behavioral/emotional disabilities, including multilingual young people. A central purpose of her work is to improve inclusive transition education and post-school outcomes for people who are made vulnerable by limited access to educational opportunities and encouragement. Using capital theory, her projects examine how economic, cultural, and social capital coalesce and function as levers for power and agency in special education processes.
From 2017-2022, Audrey served as principal investigator for the IES-funded project, Factors Associated with Postsecondary Success for English Language Learners with Disabilities: A Mixed Methods Exploration. This study included secondary analyses of the NLTS studies' data on transition experiences and post-school outcome data of multilingual learners with disabilities and qualitative explorations of these experiences and outcomes for high school and postsecondary students in New York City. Her books and articles focus on qualitative research methodology and ethics, in addition to special education transitions from high school to adulthood. Trainor is a past president (2012-13) of the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Career Development and Transition.
In 2023, the journal Multiple Voices awarded Audrey and her colleagues the journal's Publication Award for their paper, Secondary students receiving special education and English learner services: Identity informed transitions. Audrey's other awards include the 2015 DCDT Sitlington Research Award and named the 2014 Gershman/Ahler Distinguished Lecturer in Qualitative Research. Prior to her career in postsecondary education, she was a special education high school teacher working with students with disabilities for nearly a decade.
Selected Publications
Books
- Trainor, A. A. (2017). Transition by design: Improving equity and outcomes for adolescents with disabilities. New York: Teachers College Press.
- Trainor, A. A., & Graue, E. (Eds.). (2013). Reviewing qualitative research in the social sciences. New York: Routledge.
Guest Editor of Special Journal Issues
- Trainor, A. A., Bettini, E., Scott, L. A. (Eds.). (in press). Special issue. A necessary step in pursuit of equity: Developing a racially/ethnically diverse special education teaching force. Remedial and Special Education.
- Trainor, A. A., & Leko, M. (Eds.). (2014). Special issue on qualitative research in special education. Remedial & Special Education, 35(5).
Recent Journal Articles
- The QR Collective* (2023). Reflexive Quality Criteria: Questions and Indicators for Purpose-Driven Special Education Qualitative Research. Exceptional Children, 89(4), 449-466. Special issue on quality indicators in applied research. https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029231168106*alpha order: Banks, J., González, T., Mueller, C., Pacheco, M., Scott, L., A. & Trainor, A. A.
- Romano, L., Trainor, A. A., & Newman, L. (in press). Triad transition planning for students receiving special education and English Learner services, families, and teachers. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals.
Trainor, A. A., Romano, L., Sarkissian, G., & Newman, L. (in press). The pandemic as a tipping point: The precarity of transition for students who receive special education and English language services. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Trainor, A. A., Newman, L., & Romano, L. (2022). Contextualizing school engagement during transition for students receiving special education and English learner services. Journal of Special Education, 1-12.
Anderson, C. A., Brinck, E. A., Trainor, A. A., Hartman, E., Schlegelmilch, A., Roskowski, M. A. (2021). Connecting youth receiving SSI to transition services: The role and perspective of family advocates. Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Journal.
Hartman, E., Jones, W., Friefield, R., Brinck, E. A., Trainor, A. A., Reinhard, A., Fuller, R. K. Schlegelmilch, A., & Anderson, C. A. (2021). Demographic and transition service predictors of employment outcomes for youth receiving supplemental Social Security income. Career Development and Exceptional Individuals, 44(2), 97-109.
Newman, L., García, E., Trainor, A. A., & Chong, M. (2021). National picture of the self-determination characteristics of secondary school English learners with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 44(4), 216-228.
Riesen, T., Trainor, A. A., Traxler, R. E., Padia, L. B., & Remund, C. (2021). Understanding internships for transition-aged students with disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Individuals, 54(4), 286-294. Riesen, T., Trainor, A. A., Traxler, R. E., Padia, L. B., & Remund, C. (2021). Understanding internships for transition-aged students with disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Individuals, 54(4), 286-294.
Trainor, A. A., Carter, E. W., Karpur, A., Martin, J. E., Mazzotti, V., Morningstar, M. E., . . . Rojewski, J. W. (2020). A framework for research in transition: Identifying important areas and intersections for future study. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 41, 5-17.
Trainor, A. A., Bettini, E., Scott, L. A. (Eds.). (2019). Special issue. A necessary step in pursuit of equity: Developing a racially/ethnically diverse special education teaching force. Remedial and Special Education, 40(4).