Organizational Policies and Personnel Factors That Are Incentives for and Challenges to Collaboration as Identified by Statewide Transition Supervisors

Abstract

In the United States, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (2014) require special educators and vocational rehabilitation counselors to plan and coordinate transition services for students with disabilities. Regardless of the legislative mandates, major challenges remain for effective collaboration. The purpose of this study was to investigate statewide special education and vocational rehabilitation counseling transition supervisors’ insights on the policies that promote or present barriers to effective collaboration. Forty-eight statewide transition supervisors wrote a total of 175 comments that were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Organizational and personnel factors were identified, and specific examples of noteworthy indicators of collaboration are presented. Recommendations are offered to address the lack of policies and incentives for transition collaboration.