Increasing Parent and Student Engagement in the Individualized Education Program Process for Secondary Students Transitioning to Adulthood

For students with disabilities, the transition from secondary school to adulthood represents a critical period in which educational experiences can shape opportunities for postsecondary education, employment, independent living, and community participation. Recognizing the importance of this transition, federal special education legislation has expanded the responsibility of schools to prepare students with disabilities for life after high school (Kohler et al., 2016). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) established formal secondary transition requirements in 1990 (National Association of Special Education Teachers [NASET], 2013), requiring schools to prepare students for postsecondary education, vocational training and integrated employment, and independent living. Subsequent reauthorizations of IDEA in 1997 and 2004 further strengthened these requirements by emphasizing transition as a results-oriented process grounded in student strengths, preferences, interests, and needs (IDEA, 2004). Thus, transition planning is a legally protected and educationally essential process intended to connect students’ secondary school experiences with their desired adult outcomes. ​ Under IDEA, transition-focused individualized education programs (IEPs) are intended to function as a bridge between secondary education and postschool life (National Transition Network, 1993).