Employment has historically provided a person with value and the ability to live a self-determined and independent life. Interagency collaborations have been found to play a key role in promoting employment for those with special needs. However, there is little research on identifying the needs of the field for collaborations between vocational…

Supporting students returning to school after a mental health crisis often involves more training than many school staff members receive. With the increase in youth mental health diagnoses, there has also been an increase in the number of youth requiring psychiatric emergency department visits and hospitalizations. As such, this study employed a…

Transition services, particularly those that feature work-based learning experiences, often require designated staff to spend the majority of their time in the field. They also require that staff have the skills and supports to properly and effectively deliver these services. Training and monitoring these staff is critically important to ensure…

This article shares the results from a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study of a promising transition-focused professional development approach. The 12-week team-based intervention resulted in positive outcomes among intervention group participants' knowledge and capacities. The intervention group exhibited statistically significant changes in…

Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEPs) help connect youth to opportunities for career exploration, skill development, and mentorship. Despite heightened investment in SYEPs, research regarding positive impacts is limited. Most of the common SYEP evaluation strategies are rooted in deficit thinking and focus on outcomes such as reducing violent…

Secondary transition has traditionally been the domain of special education, but recent research has explored potential avenues for school psychologists to become involved in secondary transition. The purpose of this study was to explore school psychologists' knowledge of and involvement in secondary transition. Using a survey methodology, 3.5% of…

Education professionals (n = 41) in special schools were interviewed about supporting their autistic pupils transitioning to adulthood following the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014. Our participants explained how they lacked the time to fully implement knowledge gained from training, leading to growing reliance on experiential…

There is a growing urgency to equip transition-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities for competitive, integrated employment. Prior research demonstrates the positive effects of job coaching, yet no known training exists for educators to learn how to provide appropriate employment-related supports to promote student…

In 2021, California committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and expanding access for income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025-2026. California UPK includes several early learning programs, including transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start, and locally funded early…

This study relied upon the lived experiences of deaf communities to develop community-driven solutions for eliminating employment and educational attainment gaps within deaf communities. "Community conversations," a community-based participatory research model, was used to engage a broad cross-section of deaf community members and…

This paper focuses on job transitions and professional development of immigrants in the United States. Using narrative as a method and exploring Bulgarian immigrants' personal experience stories, this report shares some of the findings from the author's dissertation. Upon coming to the United States, the Bulgarian immigrants experienced a…

This study investigates the extent to which transition programs are offered to students at international secondary schools. Components of professional development, orientation and departure programs, and transition support teams were examined. Participants included school administrators at 11 international schools across five continents. Findings…

The pendulum is shifting from teacher-directed approaches in childhood education towards child-directed learning where developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) inform curriculum and instruction. This study explored the perspectives of teachers and administrators towards the supports and barriers of DAP and play in Transitional Kindergarten (TK)…

This report represents the first of three that will be released over the course of the study. It answers two primary questions: (1) How has Boston Coaching for Completion (BosC4C) been implemented? and (2) What was the cost to implement the program? Over the 2015-16 academic year, the study collected data, including by conducting intensive…

For graduating teachers, the bridging period between formal teacher preparation and joining the profession is a time of high anxiety and great excitement. While this transition influences efficacy, job satisfaction, career length and future teaching quality, it is widely recognised to be inconsistent, poorly planned and resourced and largely…