Despite extensive transition provisions in the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the post-school outcomes for students with disabilities continue to be disappointing. The IDEA designated those transition provisions as priority targets for federal and state compliance monitoring to assure that schools are attaining the goal…

Disparities in postschool outcomes between student groups associated with intersecting historical marginalizations such as ableism, racism, classism, and linguicism remain stark. Critical research methods have contributed to the development of equity-focused research. In this conceptual paper, we examine intersectional research, one critical…

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework can be applied to a variety of instructional contexts and activities, and individualized education program (IEP) meetings are one such context. The primary principle of the framework is to provide teachers with guidelines for designing and implementing instruction that can be adapted to meet the…

College and career readiness is crucial to success in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. The College and Career Readiness for Transition (CCR4T) assessment is valid and reliable and can assist in transition planning for students with disabilities. The CCR4T assessment was designed for planning with students with and…

School counselors are trained to holistically serve all students' personal and academic development while also fostering college and career readiness (CCR). However, many school counselors inadequately serve students with disabilities due to a lack of training and/or time. Transition specialists are professionals staffed in the special education…

Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) aspire to participate in a variety of activities after high school, such as attaining paid employment, enrolling in postsecondary education, being involved in their communities, living independently, and building friendships. However, complex and longstanding transition barriers require…

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 requires that vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies set aside at least 15% of their federal VR services grant funds to assist students with disabilities. These students are entitled to receiving pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS). Pre-ETS include job exploration counseling,…

Postsecondary education opportunities for students with intellectual disability (ID) steadily increased between 2015 and 2020, in part due to a federal model demonstration program called the Transition and Postsecondary Program for Students with Intellectual Disability (TPSID). This program, implemented by the Office of Postsecondary Education,…

In addition to supporting the academic goals of students with learning disabilities, secondary special education teachers are tasked with providing services designed to improve post-school outcomes. To improve these offerings, special education teachers should ensure collaboration with vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors during the…

We conducted a qualitative analysis of written transcripts from nine teacher-led middle and high school IEP meetings for students with learning disabilities to determine common themes regarding student roles during these meetings and the meeting process itself. We found two overall meta-themes (e.g., instant vision and out of focus), seven themes…

Students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) need information and advice specific to their needs when they are in the process of making the transition from the school years to their adult lives. This chapter outlines disability-specific needs, instructional strategies, school professionals involved in teaching…

This article reflects on the experience of applying a person-centred approach to promote organisational change in an educational context. A detailed example is drawn from a Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) process with a group of school staff. The article considers existing research into person-centred approaches and explores key…

A meaningful curriculum is one that is individualized, inclusive of the individual's unique needs and interests, and focused on building independence in current and future environments. A meaningful curriculum addresses an individual's needs and prioritizes instructional programs based on what is, potentially, most important to their lives and not…

More than 725,000 of California's K-12 students qualified for special education services in 2018-19, but they entered a system that is often ill equipped to serve them. This brief summarizes the findings from 13 research publications produced as part of the PACE Policy Research Panel "Special Education: Organizing Schools to Serve Students…

Translating multicultural research and theory into practices that improve transition outcomes for all children especially, youth who come from predominantly culturally and ethnically diverse (CED) communities, remains a substantial challenge for career transition specialists (CTSs) today. The purpose of this article was to consider the state of…