The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) requires local education agencies to provide students with disabilities exiting high school with a Summary of Performance document, which includes academic and functional performance information and recommendations for helping the student reach postsecondary goals. However, the federal mandate…

This paper reviews literature concerning best practices in facilitating transition from school to work or postsecondary education for secondary students with disabilities. Practices cited frequently included vocational training, parent involvement, interagency collaboration and service delivery, social skills training, paid work experience, and…

Twenty-seven disability technology specialists identified facilitators and barriers when moving from secondary education to post-secondary settings and from post-secondary settings to adult life. Common themes include increasing professional knowledge, improving student self-determination, using best transition practices within assistive…

This article presents a conceptual model for analyzing the process of implementing policies for school-to-work transition of individuals with disabilities. The model identifies explicit and implicit directives, describes policies and practices, contrasts practices with policy directives, assesses quality of local implementation, and identifies…

The editors of this journal comment on an article by John Johnson and Frank Rusch (EC 606 176), which reported that few of the recommended "best practices" in transitional services are actually supported by empirical data. The editorial urges greater empirical investigation in the field of career development, especially research on "best…

This paper reviews issues related to transition services to meet the postsecondary needs of individuals with disabilities. It focuses on follow-up and outcome studies, identification and analysis of best practices in transition, policy research, and analyses of applications for federally funded model demonstration projects. (JDD)

This paper describes the vocational programs and transition planning services needed and received by 553 students with and without disabilities during their last year of high school in Oregon and Nevada. Results are discussed in terms of regular and specialized vocational instruction, school-sponsored work experience, vocational skills…