Substantiated Best Practices in Transition: Fifteen Plus Years Later

TLDR

The transition movement began in the 1980s, generating many practices that Kohler (1993) reviewed and categorized as substantiated or implied, and the field has evolved since then. This article updates that review by examining transition best practices identified after Kohler’s study. The authors identified 29 documents that provide empirical support for transition best practices. The most to least substantiated practices are paid or unpaid work experience, employment preparation, family involvement, general education inclusion, social skills training, daily living skills training and self-determination skills training, and community or agency collaboration.

Abstract

Since the transition movement in the 1980s, numerous transition practices have been developed. Kohler (1993) provided a comprehensive review and analysis of transition best practices and divided them into substantiated and implied practices based on the existence of empirical evidence. Since that review was published, the field of transition has changed. The purpose of this article is to provide an updated review of transition best practices since Kohler’s study. A total of 29 documents were collected that substantiated best transition practices. The resulting most- to least-substantiated practices were paid or unpaid work experience, employment preparation, family involvement, general education inclusion, social skills training, daily living skills training and self-determination skills training, and community or agency collaboration.