Transition Strengths and Needs of High School Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

A strengths-based approach to transition assessment and planning can ensure that special education services are person-centered. To better understand the strengths and needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), we compared the perceptions of students and their teachers from three public high schools. A convergent mixed-methods analysis of transition assessments, interviews, and educational documents revealed significant differences between perspectives. On the Transition Planning Inventory–2, student ratings (n = 8) were higher than teacher ratings (n = 8) on 8 out of 11 domains. Interview transcripts and transition plan documents revealed differences in strengths and needs related to career-related skills, academic subjects and skills, and personal characteristics. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for further research and implications for practice.