ABSTRACT
Society has witnessed significant improvements in the lives of students receiving transition services over the past 30 years. The field of transition has developed an array of evidence-based interventions and promising practices, however, secondary school reform efforts have often overlooked these approaches for youth without disabilities. If we are to see improvements in postsecondary outcomes for all youth, reform efforts must begin with active participation of both general and special educators and critical home, school, and community stakeholders. In the Division on Career Development for Exceptional Individuals' position paper, we discuss the evolution of transition in light of reform efforts in secondary education. We review and identify secondary educational initiatives that embrace transition principles. Finally, recommendations are provided for advancing alignment of transition services with secondary education reforms.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Different roles and responsibilities are required of school professionals to facilitate students' successful transition from school to post-school lives. Special educators' involvement in transition services is essential for better post-school outcomes for students with disability. METHOD: The Transition Involvement Survey with five domains was developed for the study and a total of 343 secondary special educators in the United States participated. MANOVA and post hoc discriminant analysis were used to examine group differences across the five domains. RESULTS: Special educators rated highly in their involvement in transition planning but less so in other domains. Receiving in-service training was significantly related to educators' transition involvement but receiving pre-service training was found to be only partly related. CONCLUSION: The gap between special educators' knowledge and involvement in extending transition services affects the provision of services. Recommendations from this study support stronger personnel preparation to improve this situation.
