Graduate-level Transition Courses

The University of Kansas, Department of Special Education offers online graduate-level courses which focus on transition. These courses are available to anyone with internet access and an email address.

Online courses provide 3 credit hours of graduate credit that can be transferred to other universities or applied to the KU Transition Certificate Program

Online transition courses offered through the KU Dept of Special Education include:

• SPED 856 Transition Education and Services from Childhood through Adulthood

  The purpose of this course is to provide a background in career development and transition education for persons with disabilities from middle school through adulthood. Emphasis is placed on IDEA requirements for transition services, career development and transition processes, transition services assessment, secondary special education curricular implications, career development and transition service needs, collaborative services in schools and communities to promote quality transition services, and issues and trends in transition education and services. Here's a sample syllabus for this course

• SPED 857 Vocational Training and Employment

  This course is designed to provide an overview of employment and vocational models for adolescents and young adults with disabilities. Emphasis is placed upon theory and practice related to career development, job development, facilitating natural supports on the job, job placement and training, supported employment models, school- businesses partnerships, and school and community vocational training models.Here's a sample syllabus for this course

• SPED 858 Assessment for Transition

  The purpose of this course is to provide students in the secondary/transition personnel preparation program a background and foundation for understanding and using assessment information. Emphasis is placed on understanding the various types of assessment alternatives in secondary special education assessment and programming (cognitive, personality, interests/preferences, aptitude, life skills, and self-determination) and awareness of specific examples of each. Formal and informal assessment approaches are presented with advantages and disadvantages of each applied for various populations or individuals. Curriculum-based assessment is a major emphasis for on-going instructional and transition planning. The knowledge base for the course content comes out of the areas of measurement in educational psychology, measurement of exceptionality, special education curriculum and instruction, and vocational rehabilitation. Here's a sample syllabus for this course

• SPED 859 Interagency and Community Systems for Transition

  The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of interagency and community services and systems for adolescents and young adults with disabilities. Emphasis is placed on theory and practice related to interagency collaboration; systems change efforts in transition services; and state-of-art practices regarding supporting individuals with disabilities in community employment, living, socialization, community participation, and other areas of adult life. Here's a sample syllabus for this course