The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates transition services to prepare students with disabilities to live and work in the community as adults; the School-to-Work (STW) Opportunities Act requires that all students, including those with disabilities, have access to all STW activities. This paper overviews collaborative…

ASPIRE--"Assisting Special Populations in Readiness for Employment"--is a secondary special education transition program featuring coordinated services between the public and private sectors to integrate secondary level disabled students into subsidized private sector employment. ASPIRE was introduced into the Lake Tahoe Unified School…

Describes an attempt to evaluate the Transition Systems Change Initiative despite geographically dispersed program sites and different program goals, activities, and impacts. The design focused on common impacts and unique accomplishments of the projects by making maximum use of existing data. Project directors were involved in planning,…

Although financially overburdened, North Brunswick Township School District in Central New Jersey has committed to an ongoing inschool suspension plan aimed at reducing the numbers of at-risk students and providing some badly needed services. The district's high school eventually adopted the successful middle school model to reduce worsening…

These materials present information on implementing a collaborative team model in the delivery of transition services to students with disabilities. The materials provide charts and forms outlining strategies to be used by a local interagency transition team to assess its existing level of collaboration, to conceptualize its jointly endorsed…

This report examines the status of coordination at State and local levels between the activities funded by the Service Delivery Areas and other employment and training programs on the one hand, and between these programs and private sector employers on the other. The status of coordination in Fiscal 1983, the last year of the Comprehensive…

Secondary-to-postsecondary transition of agricultural education instruction and articulation of programs is the theme of this issue. Articles discuss aids to this transition, improving cooperative efforts between high school and postsecondary programs, and skills needed by students enrolling in postsecondary agriculture programs. (CT)

This paper describes transitional programs developed by Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC) to meet the needs of disabled students in rural areas. In cooperation with other public and private agencies, BHSSC provides comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services and community living programs to help individuals with severe…

Summarizes selected definitions of transition that are currently in use and analyzes them for characteristics which are generic to transition planning for handicapped youth. Identifies eight key elements which should be included in rural transition programs and discusses barriers to effective transition in rural areas. (JHZ)

A cooperative project of the University of Oregon and Springfield, Oregon, School District provided adolescents with emotional disturbances with a transition specialist to develop a service delivery plan and access services. Self-determination, competitive vocational placements, and educational support were emphasized. Project impact on…

This theme issue on transitions for individuals with disabilities contains nine papers discussing transition programs and issues. "Transition Issues for the 1990s," by Michael J. Ward and William D. Halloran, discusses self-determination, school responsibility for transition, continued educational engagement of at-risk students, and service…

The concept of transition of an individual with a disability from school to adult environments is presented from the perspective of the educator's role. The educator's role is perceived as: (1) an "expert" on the needs of individuals with mental disabilities and the barriers they face when they move from the educational environment to…

Describes challenges involved in ensuring successful transition for youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) and makes recommendations for improving transition services, including: maintain linkages with community agencies and businesses, write cooperative agreements, facilitate referrals to other agencies, and link students with…

This consensus statement was the result of a conference on school-to-work transition for youths with disabilities which brought together service providers, consumers, family members, researchers, and others. Consensus was reached on several principles, organized around six broad areas: (1) what school-to-work transition for this population is and…

This guide is intended to explain the types of partnerships that business can form with education to prepare students to enter and make a successful adjustment to the demands of the workplace. The first chapter discusses the consequences for business of an ill-prepared work force and examines the issues of the quantity and quality of workers, with…