Rural Vocational and Transition Assessment Practices for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: What Do Educators Really Know?

Abstract

Transition planning requires quality vocational and transition assessment tailored to the student's needs, strengths, preferences and interests. Limited research is currently available that addresses assessment types and use of results that rural practitioners utilize to aid in transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). A group of 71 rural educators were surveyed to determine their transition assessment understanding and practices in the rural setting. This descriptive study examined rural educators' understanding of vocational and transition assessment methods used in their rural settings, the transition assessment instruments they use with students with ID, and the impact that transition assessment has in determining the needs of students with ID. The results indicate the majority of the rural educators in the study reported limited understanding in the use of assessment results for student vocational and transition planning and expressed the need for training in this area to improve outcomes for students with ID.