Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals

This article describes the relationships among the Self-Directed IEP, cultural values, self-determination, and transition. Educators must move toward understanding collectivist values to provide appropriate opportunities to succeed within an individualistic school culture for culturally and linguistically diverse students with Individualized Education Programs and their families. The Self-Directed IEP process is a tool for culture sharing, which has been identified as a best practice for meeting the needs, preferences, and interests of culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families. School districts may use the Self-Directed IEP process to bridge the chasm between the individualistic values of schools and collectivist values of culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families to facilitate culturally appropriate transitions to adulthood.

Effective transition programming is a crucial component in ensuring that individuals with disabilities receive an appropriate education. The current study addressed transition practices as viewed by special education lead teachers and district-level transition personnel in South Carolina. These individuals reported their various responsibilities. They also reported that teacher, parent, and student participation in transition planning meetings ranged from 82% to 89% and that the majority of schools offered school-based work experiences as well as an array of other school-based functional learning opportunities. Transition personnel rated their district's transition services better than the lead teachers did. The study also found that schools addressed certain areas of the transition process better than others. Several areas of transition services were not adequately addressed and need to be strengthened, including supported employment, advocacy and legal services, medical services management, community residential life, and approaches to providing life skills and functional skills instruction in relationship to state standards.

This study assesses the preparation of high school students with disabilities for postsecondary education. Transition planning information for 110 students from Grades 10 through 12 was reviewed. We found that (a) interest in attending postsecondary education declined from 77% to 47% over a 3-year period, (b) only four students had 4-year plans leading to postsecondary education, and (c) students were not enrolled in college preparatory classes or were transferred from college preparatory classes despite the students' expressed interest in postsecondary education. Recommendations are presented to address the continuing problem of preparing students with disabilities for postsecondary education.

Transition from adolescence to adulthood is especially challenging for youth and young adults with emotional/behavioral disturbances (EBD). The Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model serves to prepare and facilitate youth and young adults with EBD in their transition into adulthood roles through a person-centered and developmentally appropriate process. Using existing state and program data, this study compared the postsecondary outcomes (e.g., employment, postsecondary education, incarceration) of exiters from the Steps-to-Success Program, a TIP-based system serving secondary school students, to those of matched comparison groups of (a) other young adults with EBD who had services as usual and (b) young adults with no previous classification. Our results demonstrated the efficacy of the Steps-to-Success Program in improving postsecondary outcomes for youth with EBD.

In this study, the researchers analyzed the transition components of 399 Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). In many cases, transition goal areas mandated by the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) either were not addressed or were inadequately detailed. Effective practices, such as career planning and self-determination enhancement, were not incorporated within most plans, and the study indicated that students frequently were solely responsible for carrying out action steps to achieve their transition goals. Race and gender were not significant determinants of plan quality; however, disability type, projected diploma type, and district residence were associated with variations in transition planning activities. The authors discuss the implications of the findings relative to enhancing student preparation for adult life as envisioned by the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA.