Teacher Knowledge in Transition Planning: Does Locale Matter?

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act mandates transition planning to occur in conjunction with the individualized education program for secondary age students with disabilities beginning by age 16, or earlier. To fulfill this mandate, teachers must possess a depth of content and pedagogic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rural special education quarterly 2021-09, Vol.40 (3), p.132-142
Main Authors: Deardorff, Malarie E., Peltier, Corey, Choiseul-Praslin, Belkis, Williams-Diehm, Kendra, Wicker, Melissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Educational Legislation
Equal Education
Faculty Development
Federal Legislation
Geographic Regions
Individualized Education Programs
Individualized Instruction
Knowledge
Knowledge Level
Life transitions
Planning
Professional development
Rural Schools
Secondary School Students
Secondary School Teachers
Special education
Students with Disabilities
Suburban Schools
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Competencies
Teacher Education
Teachers
Transitional Programs
Urban Schools
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Summary:The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act mandates transition planning to occur in conjunction with the individualized education program for secondary age students with disabilities beginning by age 16, or earlier. To fulfill this mandate, teachers must possess a depth of content and pedagogical knowledge related to the transition planning process. However, the majority of special educators do not receive coursework dedicated to transition in their undergraduate programming. Furthermore, teachers in under-resourced and underserved rural districts may have inequitable professional development opportunities to bolster their transition planning knowledge. This lack of transition-related education potentially leads to inadequate and noncompliant transition plans for students with disabilities. The current study examined differences in teachers’ knowledge based on locale: rural (n = 75), suburban (n = 48), and urban (n = 64) from one southern state. Determining whether differences are identified by locale can inform the allocation of resources to provide high-quality, evidence-aligned professional development models to improve teacher knowledge in underserved and under-resourced rural locales. In addition, identifying gaps in teacher knowledge will inform pre-service and in-service teacher preparation. We provide an avenue of needed future research to improve transition-planning processes for students with disabilities.
ISSN:8756-8705
2168-8605
DOI:10.1177/87568705211027982