Transition Services for Secondary Students with Mild Disabilities: A Statewide Perspective

Abstract

This article reports the partial findings from a statewide study of Oregon's secondary special education programs for students with mild disabilities. The focus of this article is on the current status and satisfactoriness of districts' transition services. Subjects included the population of LEA administrators and teachers, and a stratified random sample of parents of students with mild disabilities. Results indicated that (a) very few districts were using written interagency agreements or providing other incentives to secure the involvement of community agencies; (b) there were considerable discrepancies between administrators and teachers over who was responsible for transition planning; (c) teachers wanted more and better parent involvement in all levels of the school program; and (d) follow-up of previous students was rare. Findings were compared with those of other recent research and several key elements that should be targeted for improvement are discussed.