Welcome to Texas Transition! This website was designed with your needs in mind, whether you are a student with a disability, a parent, or an educator. You will notice different sections of the website devoted to each of these essential stakeholders.
The definition of transition is “a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another” (Merriam-Webster, 2019). Some common transitions include the transition from a child to a teenager, an elementary student to a middle school student, from a youth to an employed teen, or a special education placement to a general education placement. When special educators speak of transition, they typically are referring to two specific transitions that are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA): the transition from early childhood intervention to early childhood special education and the transition from secondary school to postsecondary life. Both of these transitions have specific rules and requirements set by federal and state law.
There are multiple transitions that occur during a child’s education. For example, children transition from preschool to kindergarten and from classroom to classroom. All transitions are important and are designed to contribute to a meaningful transition from the public school student role to an adult role in the community. From the time a child is identified as having a disability to when the student exits school, they should have opportunities to practice skills that contribute to a successful transition to life after public school. Because of this, you will note an emphasis on this early to exit perspective on the Texas Transition website and the resources found within this site.
The Texas Transition website is an activity of the Student-Centered Transitions Network (SCTN) in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The SCTN consists of the transition specialists or consultants from each of the 20 regional Education Service Centers (ESCs) throughout the state of Texas. These ESCs form the core of the network as non-regulatory outreach for the TEA and as the resource and support systems to school districts in each region. The SCTN is led by The Eleanor and Charles Garrett Center on Transition and Disability Studies at Sam Houston State University and five ESCs that represent the diversity of Texas: Region 4 ESC in Houston, Region 10 ESC in Richardson, Region 12 ESC in Waco, Region 13 ESC in Austin, and Region 20 ESC in San Antonio.