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Evidence-based transition planning practices for secondary students with disabilities: What has Australia signed up for?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Sue C. O’Neill*
Affiliation:
UNSWAustralia
Iva Strnadová
Affiliation:
UNSWAustralia
Therese M. Cumming
Affiliation:
UNSWAustralia
*
Correspondence: Sue O’Neill, School of Education, UNSW Australia, John Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

There are no Commonwealth or state laws in Australia that require educational authorities to provide individualised transition plans (ITPs) to secondary students with disabilities. It is argued that, in lieu of legislation, Australia's signed commitment to international treaties and national policies obliges educational jurisdictions to provide ITPs to secondary students with disabilities to improve the postschool outcomes for this vulnerable population. Document analysis methods were used to analyse these international treaties and national policies for statements aligned with evidence-based transition skills and predictors. Almost 90 transition-aligned statements were found, accounting for all evidence-based transition skill categories and most of the transition predictor categories. Implications for policymakers and educational jurisdictions are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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Footnotes

*

This manuscript was accepted under the Editorship of Umesh Sharma.

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