Self-reported early intervention transition practices of special education directors in Southwestern Pennsylvania: implications for policy and practice

Young children with identified disabilities face many transitions in their lives. One of these\ud transitions occurs when the child moves from preschool services to school-age special education\ud programs in kindergarten. A review of the literature showed special education directors’\ud perspectives on this issue to be underexplored; hence, this research study explored the transition\ud process from the perspective of school district special education directors. The study relied on\ud the theoretical framework that the quality of a child’s transition relates to the transition practices\ud in which the child and family are engaged prior to kindergarten entrance. An online, structured\ud survey was disseminated to 125 school district special education coordinators in Southwestern\ud Pennsylvania. Survey questions related to the frequency of usage and perceived effectiveness of\ud high intensity transition practices. The constructs guiding the survey questions included\ud communication between sending and receiving programs, family involvement, professional\ud development and the involvement of all service providers in the transition process. Descriptive\ud statistics were used to analyze the data in addition to a correlational analysis based on school\ud district size and the socio-economic status of the student population.\ud Results indicated that high intensity transition activities were implemented to varying\ud degrees based on the nature of the practices. Program collaboration showed an imbalance in\ud communication efforts between providers. Family involvement reflected lower levels of\ud participation in more individualized activities where parents and students visit school district\ud programs and meet staff prior to school beginning. Professional development for staff on topics\ud related to best practices in transition and the relationship of transition to later school\ud achievement were reported by fewer than half of the respondents. Correlations existed\ud between SES, school size, and some transition practices. Discrepancies between frequency of\ud practice and perceived effectiveness existed for communication between programs, professional\ud development, and family involvement. Implications for policy and practice include the need for\ud state, regional, and local agency efforts to build capacity among early intervention providers and\ud school districts to ensure the delivery of high intensity and individualized practices for all\ud students transitioning from preschool to school-age services