Parent Engagement in the Transition From School to Adult Life Through Culturally Sustaining Practices: A Scoping Review

The increasingly diverse population in the United States calls for schools to address the breadth of cultural histories students bring with them to the classroom. High school students with disabilities are also diverse in terms of cultural histories, race, ethnicities, religions, and citizenship. These factors intersect as families engage in planning for the transition to adulthood. A requisite for culturally diverse families with young adults who receive services under the educational category of intellectual disability (ID) are school professionals who can meaningfully collaborate. This review of literature from peer-reviewed journals seeks to understand if culturally responsive practices are utilized with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families during transition planning. This review also explored whether culturally sustaining practices strengthen partnerships between teachers and CLD families and adolescents with disabilities, including those with ID. Implications are associated with how teachers can perceive diversity from a strengths perspective as a vital component of transition planning.