Secondary Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparation for and Satisfaction with Transition Education and Services

Abstract

Transition to adulthood for students with disabilities has emerged as a critical topic within the special education field when students with disabilities who had graduated high school exhibited poor outcomes. Although substantial attention has been paid to improving transition outcomes since the mid-1990s in which transition education and service has been introduced in Korea, research indicated that many special education teachers still struggle with possessing appropriate knowledge and skills regarding transition. Given the fact that teachers who are unprepared to plan and deliver transition education and services may be contributing to poor outcomes for students with disabilities, it is important to investigate secondary special education teachers’ perceptions of their own transition competencies related to levels of preparedness for and satisfaction with pre-and in-service training in transition. The results of this study obtained from the data analyses of 240 completed surveys indicated that secondary special education teachers perceived between somewhat unprepared and somewhat prepared for transition competencies and between somewhat unsatisfied and somewhat satisfied with their training in transition. Also, this study showed that there was a significant relationship between how prepared and satisfied secondary special education teachers were. In addition, there were significant relationships between special education teachers’ pre-and in-service training experiences and how prepared and satisfied they feel to plan and deliver transition services to students with disabilities. Finally, this study provided the implications of training in transition based on the results of the study.