A vocational transition model for disabled youth focuses on three stages: (1) school instruction (functional curriculum, community-based education), (2) planning for the transition process (involving parents and adult service representatives), and (3) placement into meaningful employment. (CL)

The essay critically examines the transition model proposed by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and summarizes a recent study of secondary special education, focusing upon needed improvement. Recommendations are offered for modifying the basic model of transition, and for improving high school programs as foundations of…

Traditionally, students with significant disabilities, such as autism, mental retardation, or multiple disabilities, receive transition services in a public high school setting until they are 21 or 22 years old. While this is an appropriate setting for students with these disabilities during ages 14-18, it may be neither an appropriate nor…

This paper describes a model for assessing transition skills of special needs students in an employment situation. The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensured that students with special needs would participate in the development of a transition plan by the age of 14. The requirement to include transition…

Describes programs and institutions that help to bridge the chasm between high schools and colleges, including Syracuse University's Project Advance and a middle college in Long Island City (New York). Presents the model for articulation of the Middle College High School and La Guardia Community College. (WD)

A transitional English class proved successful in helping learning disabled high school students reenter the mainstream. The class featured team teaching, variable grouping, and individualized grading criteria for such class activities as interviewing and writing. (CL)

Describes three transitional mathematics courses designed to upgrade high school math courses and lure more low-achieving students into college-preparatory math courses: California's Math A Program; Rochester, New York's Stretch Regents Program; and Buffalo, New York's University of Chicago School Math Project. Transcript data from 4,800 students…

Presents an examination of the prevalence and characteristics of mentally handicapped juvenile offenders; discusses the kinds of offenses committed by the group and how the juvenile justice system responds. Reviews existing training programs and makes a case for the implementation of programs that should provide skills necessary for these…

Discusses selected critical issues facing farmers who are now working and living on family farms and who are being forced or have been forced to pursue other occupations. Presents suggestions for career counselors who are interested in serving this group. (ABL)

Asserts that college graduates learn how to get jobs and perform work, but also need to learn critical transition skills. Notes that first year out of college and in the labor force requires special skills and strategies. Outlines 10 steps in teaching graduates how to go to work. Considers roles of both career center and employers. (NB)

U.S. observers of German apprenticeships are impressed with the quality of vocational training provided, the sense of purpose given to (part-time) academic schooling, and the smooth transition apprentices make from adolescence to adulthood. In Broome County, New York, Cornell University has initiated a Youth Apprenticeship Demonstration Project to…

To facilitate the school-to-work transition of students with disabilities, psychosocial factors such as those identified in Bandura's theory of self-efficacy should be considered. Performance accomplishment, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal can be used to increase success. (SK)

Compared the satisfaction levels with their mentor and mentoring relationship of first-year college students placed in either a dyadic or network mentoring relationship. No differences in satisfaction were found between the two types of mentoring relationship. Frequency of contact was positively correlated with satisfaction, but demographic…

Melanie Smart is a research associate at Sunfield School, Worcestershire, and a trainee clinical psychologist. In this article, she reports the results of a small-scale survey which looked at the views of 17 parents whose children with severe and/or complex learning difficulties had made the transition from a residential special school to an adult…

The "Starting School Research Project", based at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, promotes the involvement of children in research concerning their transition to school. Using examples of approaches that have been utilised to engage children as part of the research on their transition to school, this paper explores some of…