Perspectives on Transition Practices

Abstract

Effective transition programming is a crucial component in ensuring that individuals with disabilities receive an appropriate education. The current study addressed transition practices as viewed by special education lead teachers and district-level transition personnel in South Carolina. These individuals reported their various responsibilities. They also reported that teacher, parent, and student participation in transition planning meetings ranged from 82% to 89% and that the majority of schools offered school-based work experiences as well as an array of other school-based functional learning opportunities. Transition personnel rated their district's transition services better than the lead teachers did. The study also found that schools addressed certain areas of the transition process better than others. Several areas of transition services were not adequately addressed and need to be strengthened, including supported employment, advocacy and legal services, medical services management, community residential life, and approaches to providing life skills and functional skills instruction in relationship to state standards.

Rural High School Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Related to Structured Work Experiences

“…Structured work experiences are limited for individuals with disabilities, especially students living in rural areas. Zhang, et al (2005) also found that common transportation for a student in a rural area is school bus or personal transportation. These limitations on transportation may limit opportunities for structured work experiences.…”

“…Limited research has been conducted on the availability of structured work experiences for youth with disabilities. Zhang, Ivester, Chen, and Katsiyannis (2005) surveyed 105 middle and high school special education lead teachers and 37 transition professionals regarding their perspectives on how transition best practices were provided in school districts and what services and experiences students received. They reported that 83.8% of students in respondents' schools receive school based work experiences, 74.6% take vocational or occupational courses, 73.9% o receive career information, and 69.0% have an opportunity to job shadow.…”

“…They reported that 83.8% of students in respondents' schools receive school based work experiences, 74.6% take vocational or occupational courses, 73.9% o receive career information, and 69.0% have an opportunity to job shadow. Teachers reported that fewer than half of students experience supported employment or internship opportunities (Zhang et al, 2005). More recently, research has suggested that participation in structured work experiences is limited for any students with disabilities and unevenly available (Carter, Trainor, Cakiroglu, Swedeen, & Owens, 2010).…”

“…Limited community access creates barriers to implementing structured work experiences. A limited number of employment opportunities for students with disabilities could result in students being placed in experiences based on convenience rather than on individual interests and goals (Collet-Klingenberg & Kolb, 2011;Zhang et al, 2005). In a study of adolescents' career development activities during high school, Lindstrom et al (2014) found that structured work experiences were often unpaid service industry jobs that were easy to find but did not provide exploration or training in a variety career options.…”

“…have the opportunity to investigate a variety of career options (Lindstrom, Paskey et al, 2007), (b) participate in transition programs that focus on interest-job matching (Estrada-Hernandez et al, 2008;Lindstrom, Paskey et al, 2007), and (c) participate in a variety of structured work experiences during high school to build work skills (Lindstrom, Paskey et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2005). Students should be given the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of work though structured work experiences; this may be done by applying knowledge in contexts and putting their knowledge to use (Stasz & Brewer, 1998).…”