Federal legislation requires that students with disabilities receive services to assist them in the transition from high school to post-secondary life. Transition services must address students' understanding of their disability, learning strengths and weaknesses, career decision-making skills, and preparation for the increased demands of postsecondary education. This study surveyed coordinators of special services for students with disabilities at 74 colleges and universities in New York state. Respondents provided their perceptions of how well the students they served had been prepared by the transition services they had received in high school. Overall, little satisfaction with transition services was expressed. Respondents were most satisfied with high schools' provision of updated evaluations for students prior to enrollment in college, and they rated students' preparation for self-advocacy as the greatest weakness of current transition services.

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Two studies examined developmental outcomes associated with services in inclusive and self-contained preschool classrooms. In Study 1, the effects of classroom inclusion on the developmental and social growth of preschool children with disabilities were investigated on 15 pairs of children (N = 30) matched for chronological age, gender, initial level of functioning, related services received, and attendance schedules. Progress was measured with the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development-Revised using a pre-post design. Results indicated that children functioning at a lower level of social and emotional functioning performed equally well in inclusive and specialized settings, while children functioning at a relatively higher level performed better in inclusive settings than in specialized settings. In Study 2, the relationships between developmental progress and the length of the school day and the amount of related services received per week were investigated on 66 participants. Children in full-day classrooms had greater developmental delays but achieved higher rates of progress than their half-day peers in the areas of social and emotional development and overall development.

The utility of two teacher rating scales, the Differential Test of Conduct and Emotional Problems and the Emotional and Behavior Problem Scale, to discriminate between emotional disturbance (ED) and social maladjustment (SM) was investigated in the study reported here. Participants were 135 students in the age range 12 to 15 years. The ED group was composed of 85 students, all of whom were classified as emotionally disturbed and received full-time special education services. The SM group was made up of 50 students who were in regular education middle school settings. All students in the SM group had experienced either internal or external suspension during the school year in which the data were collected. The overall pattern of scores on these scales suggests that students who are socially maladjusted and students who are labeled emotionally disturbed do not display separate, distinguishable behavioral syndromes. Implications for educators and for public policy makers are discussed.

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