Learn Transition: Transition 101

Transition 101 will help you build transition knowledge or review concepts you learned earlier in your career. Many resources exist about transition, and it’s easy to get information overload. The resources here have been used by others who found them useful.

Contents

Transition basics
Legal requirements
Free online training modules
Competencies and standards
National transition websites
State transition websites

Transition basics

If you are new to transition, work through the following resources to get a basic grounding in transition concepts:

1. Complete an online training module: Helping Students with Disabilities Plan for Postsecondary Settings is a free online training module from the Iris Center at Vanderbilt University. It focuses on the transition process from high school to postsecondary settings and takes about 90-minutes to work through, using a combination of reading, videos and audios.
2. Watch an overview of transition planning. If you like to learn by watching, try Jim Martin's one hour Transition 101 overview of transition planning, recorded at the 2020 NTACT:C Capacity-Building Institute. He covers a lot of interesting territory, including evidence bases and eight big ideas.
3. Learn about transition IEP requirements. The Transition IEPs module covers what must be part of the process and what must be written into the IEP itself. Work through the module to learn or to remind yourself about Indicator 13 requirements and best practices. There are numerous short video interviews with Dr. Ed O’Leary and Dr. Steve Bigaj who recorded short interviews on elements of the transition-driven IEP process and Indicator 13 IEP requirements. The interviews provide clear, high-level overviews that capture the essence of good transition planning.

Picture of Ed O'Leary

Browse introductory articles:

- - Transition Education and Services from Birth to Adult for Individuals with Disabilities, from NTACT, is a one-page summary chart that shows the different focuses of transition planning as a child grows up.
  - Life After High School Transition Tool Kit is an 80-page guide for New Hampshire families from the NH Parent Information Center. Skim it for a good overview.
  - A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities (PDF, 60 pages, 2020) is a comprehensive overview of how state, local school districts and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) work together with students and families to plan for the future. It links elements of good transition planning back to the related legislation. From the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services U.S. Department of Education.
  - Many examples of transition services and course of study: Revised Transition Services: Helping Educators, Parents, and other Stakeholders Understand Postschool Outcomes, Course of Study, and Coordinated Set of Activities (MSWord, 28 pages, 2009)

Review the Preservice Transition Competencies. Keene State College developed a set of transition competencies for preservice special educators. They’re also useful for experienced educators and higher education faculty to enhance their own knowledge base.

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Legal requirements

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Free online training modules

- Helping Students with Disabilities Plan for Post-High School Settings, from the Iris Center at Vanderbilt University, focuses on the transition process from high school to postsecondary settings. Among other topics, it discusses IEP planning, engaging students in the process to make them better advocates for their own needs, and the importance of outside agencies such as vocational rehabilitation.
- The CEEDAR Center offers course enhancement modules (CEMs). This one, Transition Planning and Services, teaches preservice candidates and in-service teachers a framework for designing effective transition programs and services. It is divided into six hours of content, with each hour building on previous information and resources. However, the sessions can stand alone with content embedded into a class or professional development session.
- The Transition Coalition at the University of Kansas provides ten free research-based online training modules for professionals and others involved in transition planning. These modules use up-to-date research and were tested by practitioners across the country. The modules include best practices in transition, working with families, transition assessment, career development, transition for youth with ED/BD, cultural diversity and self-determination.
- Developing a High-Quality Transition Plan, from Transition Tennessee, contains eight video lessons with additional reading and resources. They cover compliance and best practices for the transition component of the IEP, as well as how to involve students in their own IEP meetings, and the roles of other key players in the IEP meeting. The lessons range from five to 31 minutes.

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Competencies and standards

- The Transition Competencies for Preservice Special Education Programs were developed in 2014 and revised in 2018 by the Next Steps NH project to enhance special education teacher candidate knowledge and skills about transition. There are six core transition competencies and 31 corresponding key elements. The standards are not required for New Hampshire state certification, but are intended to enhance curriculum efforts by providing a set of important transition skills and knowledge for beginning special educators.
- The Council for Exceptional Children’s Advanced Special Education Transition Specialist Standards (PDF, 6 pages, 2015) were the primary guide for the development of the transition competencies. These standards have been used as guidelines for job descriptions, in college and university educator preparation programs, and as rubrics to access the knowledge and skills of transition specialists and teachers.
- The Next Steps NH transition competencies were framed by Paula Kohler's Taxonomy for Transition Programming (PDF, 12 pages, 1996). The Taxonomy is a model for planning, organizing, and evaluating transition education, services, and programs. A larger group of authors (Paula D. Kohler, June E. Gothberg, Catherine Fowler, Jennifer Coyle from Western Michigan University) released a 2016 update, Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0 (PDF, 16 pages, 2016).
- The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTAAC) developed guides to help educators improve their skills and knowledge about specific transition-related competencies. Each guide lists competencies, when an educator needs them, and online resources to address gaps.
  - - What Transition Specialists Need to Know (PDF, 11 pages, 2011)
    - What Secondary Special Education Teachers Need to Know (PDF, 20 pages, 2011)
    - What State Agency Secondary Special Education Administrators Need to Know (PDF, 10 pages, 2011)
- Teacher Preparation to Deliver Evidence-Based Transition Planning and Services to Youth With Disabilities, by Mary E. Morningstar and Valerie L. Mazzotti (PDF, 58 pages, July 2014), describes an innovation configuration matrix to guide teacher preparation professionals in the development of appropriate transition planning and services content. An innovation configuration is a tool that identifies and describes the major components of a practice or innovation.

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National transition websites

- The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) houses a large collection of transition information, written in a conversational tone, about different aspects of special education.
- The National Center for Learning Disabilities improves the lives of people with learning difficulties and disabilities by empowering parents, enabling young adults, transforming schools, and creating policy and advocacy impact.
- WestEd’s National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) helps states transform their systems to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities. NCSI provides technical assistance to support schools in improving educational results and functional outcomes for children and youth with disabilities.
- The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) assists State Education Agencies, Local Education Agencies, State VR agencies, and VR service providers in implementing evidence-based and promising practices ensuring students with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities, graduate prepared for success in postsecondary education and employment. NTACT is the successor project to NSTTAC (National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center) and their website houses many of the NSTTAC resources.
- The Parent Information Center on Special Education is New Hampshire’s Parent Training and Information Center. Since 1975, the PIC has been providing information, training, and support to families who have a child with a disability to help them be effective team members in the special education process.
- The National Parent Center on Transition and Employment, from Minnesota’s Parent Training and Information Center (PACER), keeps the needs of families at the forefront and helps youth with disabilities find success in postsecondary education, employment, and life in the community.

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State transition websites

These websites were developed for specific states, but much of their information applies to all:

Northeast:

- Connecticut: Secondary Transition Resources is the entry point to a host of transition-related resources on the Connecticut State Department of Education site.
- Maine: Transition Maine is part of the Maine Department of Education website. There is more in the Support and Supervision, Laws and Regulations, and Programs links on their sidebar.
- Massachusetts: Secondary Transition is part of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.
- New Jersey: The New Jersey Transition Toolkit from the New Jersey Department of Education.
- New York: Transition from School to Post School for Students with Disabilities is the entry point to transition resources on the New York State Department of Education website. NYS also has an Educational Partnership network of support to provide services.
- Rhode Island: Transition Services means… lists transition-related resources on the Rhode Island Department of Education website.
- Vermont: Transition to Adulthood from the Vermont Family Network.

Other good state sites:

- Indiana: Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center, specifically their Transition Assessment Matrix.
- Tennessee: Transition Tennessee is full of transition training and resources for educators and students. Highlights are searchable databases for curriculum and assessments.
- Wisconsin: Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities

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Updated 6-9-26