Assessing the Transition-Related Strengths and Needs of Adolescents with High-Incidence Disabilities

Although meaningful assessment is considered the cornerstone of transition planning, little empirical guidance is available to inform this assessment process. This study examined the transition-related strengths and needs of 160 students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBD) or learning disabilities (LD) from the perspectives of special educators, parents, and youth. Teachers rated youth with EBD as evidencing more substantial needs than youth with LD across all 9 planning domains. Student's ratings were significantly higher than those of their teachers and parents. Variability in the extent to which participants reported having sufficient information to assess each domain, as well as the extent to which they considered each domain to be relevant to planning, highlights the importance of incorporating multiple perspectives into transition planning.