Disclaimer: the information on this Web page is for archival purposes only. We do not update these pages, therefore some links may not work, some images may not appear, and contact information about people and projects may have changed. This material was originally posted to the Web in or around 1998. Please direct questions to the appropriate contact on our Key Contacts Web page. Thank you.
Transition: Principles, Policy, and Premises
The chance to have a job and free public education has been a preeminent value in American society. However, students with
disabilities were often excluded when they failed to meet rigorously high educational standards; they were encouraged to drop out,
or enter special education. Even within special schools, the most academically gifted students were steered toward college while
the rest were provided with vocational training.
The task for educators in the previous industrial age was a relatively simple process of matching the student's talents, measured
or assumed, with the appropriate work environment. Such "trait and factor" approaches (Parsons, 1908; Williamson, 1938) worked
well when there was a great demand for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The changes in the American workplace—from a
blue-collar, factory oriented society to a white-collar, service oriented—society moved us rapidly into an "Information Age."
Schools strained to keep up as change outpaced ability to effectively train non-college bound students for work sites that no
longer resembled the schools' vocational department. Print shops, shoe repair shops, sewing classes, auto body repair shops, and a
host of similar vocational training programs were left with outdated equipment and techniques that were prohibitively expensive to
replace.
Further philosophical and political changes in the 1960s and 1970s forced Americans to take a closer look at our educational and
social systems, especially where equal opportunity was lacking due to gender or race. The civil rights movement of the 1960s was
buttressed by shifts in the treatment of people with disabilities, with advocates embracing incorporation of people with
disabilities into the mainstream of American life.
A free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment was the theme of The Education for All Handicapped
Children Act (PL 94-142), the landmark legislation that passed in 1975. Although controversial within the Deaf community, this
legislation mandated several provisions that protected consumer rights: the development of an Individualized Education Program
(IEP); parental notification and procedural rights; individualized assessment; and the provision of related services to help
children benefit from special education.
Parallel changes occurred in the adult services system for individuals with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (PL
93-112) emphasized consumer rights and empowerment through the Individualized Written Rehabilitation Program (IWRP) and mandated
priority service provision to persons with more severe disabilities requiring multiple services over an extended period of time.
Transition policy followed conceptually and pragmatically. In 1984, Madeline Will, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), recognized transition as a much needed extension of the work study and career
education movements of the 1970s. She launched a campaign to include transition services in PL 94-142, stressing the multiple
services required by youth with disabilities in school-to-work transitions, and pushed for cooperation among individuals and
agencies attempting to meet the needs of these youth. Will realized that school-based career education and similar services for
youth with disabilities were ineffective without the connection to adult service programming. Several years later, the 1992
Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act specifically listed transition services in the array of vocational rehabilitation services
that may be provided by a state's rehabilitation agency. In addition, Congress amended PL 94-142 to include transition from school
to adult life as a critical component of special education; when PL94-142 became IDEA (PL 101-476) transition was included as a
primary focus.
IDEA clearly intends that the student have a central role in transition planning. It requires each area mentioned under the
transition service definition be addressed in the annual IEP for students who are 16 years of age or older, and mandates student
participation in the meetings where the IEP is developed. Moreover, schools and programs are encouraged to begin transition
planning as early as age 14. The IEP must contain goals and objectives that are appropriate for transition to adult services
and/or community linkages. Therefore, potential employers, vocational rehabilitation service personnel, independent living center
personnel, and other adult service personnel should participate in the last planning transition meeting and become a part of the
process.
Perhaps most indicative of the widespread acceptance of transition programming for youth with disabilities is more recent
legislation, the School to Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) of 1994 (PL 103-239). The STWOA was passed to assist all students in
making a smooth transition from high school to the workplace or post-secondary education.
As we enter the complex global society of the 21st century, Americans are competing in a high-technology, information-based,
transnational economy. Fragmented educational and adult service programming will not be sufficient to prepare deaf and hard of
hearing youth to enter this economy. Long before students cross the threshold into independence and adulthood, careful transition
planning in the school should begin, and individuals from a variety of community, service, and business organizations should be
involved in a partnership with the school to effect a successful transition process.
We are optimistic that through these partnerships transition programming for deaf and hard of hearing youth can respect individual
choice and options, learning styles and abilities, cultural diversity, and lifespan development.
References
|
![[photo of teacher and student in shop class]](http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/products/perspectives/may-jun98/graphics/p9.JPG)
