Secondary special educators' transition involvement

Background Different roles and responsibilities are required of school professionals to facilitate students' successful transition from school to post-school lives. Special educators' involvement in transition services is essential for better post-school outcomes for students with disability. Method The Transition Involvement Survey with five domains was developed for the study and a total of 343 secondary special educators in the United States participated. MANOVA and post hoc discriminant analysis were used to examine group differences across the five domains. Results Special educators rated highly in their involvement in transition planning but less so in other domains. Receiving in-service training was significantly related to educators' transition involvement but receiving pre-service training was found to be only partly related. Conclusion The gap between special educators' knowledge and involvement in extending transition services affects the provision of services. Recommendations from this study support stronger personnel preparation to improve this situation.