To determine teacher working knowledge of transition best practices, the Transition Programs and Services (T-PAS) survey was administered to 2,000 middle and high school teachers and 70 school district transition contacts. Three questions were asked: (a) What barriers exist that hinder the transition process? (b) What effective practices facilitate the transition process? and (c) What suggestions do you have for improvement of the transition process? Analysis of information from each of the questions resulted in the identification of the same categories, themes, and subthemes across documents. Results show a need to (a) investigate the role of preservice and inservice preparation of teachers, (b) identify structures that enhance a teacher's ability to facilitate transition processes, and (c) examine participation of students and other transition stakeholders in the activities crucial to transition planning.

This position paper defines transition from the early childhood and secondary perspectives, proposes an infrastructure for an expanded definition of transition based on common components, and advocates for a seamless model of transition service delivery in general and special education. The model includes program planning from birth through age 21, and addresses curriculum, location of services, futures planning, multiagency collaboration, and family and student focus. The article presents guidelines for implementing this seamless transition model throughout early childhood, elementary, middle, and secondary school programs.

This study investigated the relationships between transition program characteristics and positive post-school outcomes by examining the transition services database compiled over the past seven years from all 67 Florida school districts and the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP), a post-school outcome management system. The results revealed emerging trends that mirror best practices identified in the literature and support the need for further investigation of the relationship between transition program characteristics and positive post-school outcomes for individuals with disabilities.Concern over the effectiveness of transition planning for individuals with disabilities is increasing as a result of the alarming post-school outcomes reported in follow-up and longitudinal studies. When compared to their

Students with disabilities increasingly are choosing online learning experiences. Research-based interventions need to be applied to online learning to keep these students engaged in school. From the literature on students with disabilities who are at risk, we have identified five areas of impact that can contribute to student engagement. These "5 Cs" are learner control, a flexible and rigorous curriculum, a safe climate, a caring community, and connection to students as individuals and their future goals. The 5 Cs are discussed along with their application to online learning environments, and examples of current online programs employing these strategies are given.

Many children with invisible chronic illnesses (ICIs) are living to adulthood, necessitating that they prepare for their future. Health care and education systems have different meanings and processes for transition, although both systems are designed to help young adults prepare for independence. As health care and educational services support and educate each child and the adult he or she will become, it makes sense for these systems to coordinate their services to improve student postschool outcomes. This article addresses the importance of coordination and collaboration between health care transition and education transition for youth with ICI. The authors present a model that may be used to guide the efforts to coordinate these two forms of transition along with recommending preliminary steps that can be taken to facilitate this merger.