Family Needs, and Self-Efficacy During a Child's Social Support Transition to School

The needs of families of young children with handicaps were examined in relationship to the transition from an early intervention/preschool program to school placements. The results showed that needs became less pronounced during and after a transition compared to the time period during which transition planning occurred, and that the self-efficacy of the parents during and following transitions was positively influenced by social support and the interaction between transition time and social support. The implications of the findings for promoting effective transitions are discussed, especially the importance of identifying and responding to both child- and family-level needs if broad-based social influences are to be assured as a result of transition activities.     

Students with special educational needs: transitions from primary to secondary school

This article looks at the experiences of young people with Statements of special educational needs prior to and following moves from primary to secondary school. Pam Maras and Emma-Louise Aveling of the University of Greenwich, London, used interviews to develop six qualitative case studies focusing on the transition process. Findings from these case studies reveal that the young people varied in their expectations and needs during the transition to secondary school, and that schools differed in the quality and efficacy of the support systems they provide. Parents' and carers' responses suggest that additional support services were not necessarily the most beneficial way to provide for all of the young people. What did appear to be beneficial was continuity of support throughout the transition to a new school, and the provision of a dedicated space within the school, such as a special needs unit. Several of the young people adapted easily alongside their peers without special educational needs, while others required more structured support. Pam Maras and Emma-Louise Aveling suggest that effective communication between support services, the young person, and their parents can facilitate successful transitions by allowing support to be tailored to individual students' needs.     

A four-stage longitudinal study exploring pupils’ experiences,preparation and support systems during primary–secondary school transitions

A longitudinal study was conducted over four stages of three school years across the primary – secondary transition. The purpose was to understand the dynamic transition experience of pupils, investigate the effectiveness of preparation by schools to support transitions and understand pupils’ most important support networks. Using online questionnaires, data were collected from pupils at four time points, twice from secondary school professionals and their parents, and once from primary school professionals. Results highlight the ongoing and dynamic nature of transitions. What pupils were excited about were still seen to be good once they were in secondary school , and aspects that worried them declined over time. Some pupils experienced problems and adapted at different times, whereas for some, problems emerged later. It seems that those who anticipated problems when in primary school were more likely to experience problems; this has implications for the discourse around transitions and its impact on pupils’ anticipation of transition experience. Although transition planning and preparation by schools were important and varied, they were not always effective, not provided in a timely manner and did not tap into their naturally occurring support networks in the home and community. This study makes unique contributions in terms of highlighting the dynamic transitions process and change in pupils’ experience over time; various aspects of transitions that children are excited and concerned about and how these changed over time; professionals’ conceptualisations of transitions; pupils’ and parents’ views of the effectiveness of transition practices at various stages; and pupils’ real support networks.     

A Mixed Methods Investigation of Maternal Perspectives on Transition Experiences in Early Care and Education

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Strong relationships among children, families, and early care and education (ECE) providers are key to quality infant–toddler care. These relationships are shaped during the initial transition period to group care. We used a mixed methods approach to (a) assess maternal perspectives on the transition to group care, (b) explore mothers’ perceptions of factors that made for easy or difficult transitions, and (c) examine associations between maternal and child characteristics and the ease of the transition. Through qualitative interviews, mothers identified factors that played a role in their child’s transition, including the child’s age, the ECE provider’s support, and the number of transitions the child experienced. For mothers, an easy transition was characterized by ease of child adjustment to group care, comfort with nonparental care and returning to work, and being able to exercise some control over the transition. Quantitative analyses revealed that an easy child transition was associated with younger child age, low maternal distress reactions to child distress, and low child social fearfulness. Higher maternal depressive symptoms and maternal distress reactions to child distress were associated with mothers having a difficult transition. Practice or Policy: Implications of the findings for ECE provider training and ECE policy development related to transitions are discussed.     

Educational transition outcomes of children and adolescents with clinically relevant emotional or behavioural disorders: results of a systematic review

Educational transitions are associated with significant changes. If students cannot overcome these challenges, their well‐being and motivation may be impaired. Students with clinically relevant emotional or behavioural disorders (EBDs) are at risk for negative transitional experiences. We conducted a systematic review summarising transitional outcomes of students with EBDs. After an electronic search in eight scientific databases, 4,930 publications were screened against six inclusion criteria. Two coders assessed the eligibility of 181 full‐texts. We included k = 22 studies published in English or German (1988–2017). Students with autism (k = 15) and transitions out of school (k = 13) were examined most frequently. Well‐being, achievements, social participation, support and expectations were observed. Poor well‐being and social difficulties were prevalent, but often adjusted over time. The results are limited by the inclusion criteria and search procedures. Nevertheless, the review closes a research gap and has implications for the implementation of interventions and a supportive transition environment for students with clinically relevant EBDs. Further research on individual changes and supportive approaches during transitions is needed.     

Gender and socioeconomic status differences in university students’ perception of social support

Perceived social support has been shown to be one of the most important protective factors for emerging adult students during their transition to university. However, the relationships between perceived social support and dimensions of gender and family background, which have been shown to affect adjustment to college life, remain unexplored. The current study analyzes the effect of gender, parents’ education, and family income level on social support perceived by Spanish university students. The sample consisted of 575 women and 280 men, of average age 18.02 years (SD?=?0.52) enrolled in the first year of degree courses at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Three measures were used to assess various facets of perceived social support, namely perceived acceptance, social provisions, and support availability and satisfaction. Gender differences were identified for several perceived social support dimensions; women reported a wider social network, which should cover more diverse needs of social support. In addition, differences related to mother’s education and family income level emerged for the availability of support and perceived acceptance. The results highlight the different role of gender and family background in several dimensions of perceived social support during the transition to emerging adulthood.     

Transition partnerships: the views of education professionals and staff in support services for young people with learning disabilities

Transition to post-statutory education and employment for young people with learning disabilities has become a hotly debated issue among professionals in education and support services in the UK. Partnerships between educational institutions and voluntary sector providers are supposed to be ideal vehicles for delivering transition services and securing outcomes for young people with learning disabilities. In this article, Axel Kaehne and Stephen Bayer of the Welsh Centre for Learning Difficulties report the findings of a survey of the views of special educational needs co-ordinators and professionals who are involved at operational and strategic levels in the work of transition partnerships. The data show that undue emphasis is often placed, by all stakeholders, on the soft, rather than the concrete, outcomes of transition; that smooth transitions are still hampered by insufficient flow of information between collaborating agencies; and that there are still significant gaps in provision, in particular in the supported employment field, due to funding or referral restrictions. To deliver first-class transitions, argue Axel Kaehne and Stephen Bayer, partnerships that support young people with learning disabilities need to address these difficulties with some urgency.     

Making the transition to post-secondary education: opportunities and challenges experienced by students with ASD in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

Internationally there are increasing numbers of young people on the ASD spectrum attending higher education. Early transition planning is essential and students with ASD often require support to articulate their post-school educational goals and actively participate in transition planning meetings. Services within higher education are primarily designed to provide academic supports however, non-academic supports may be an even more crucial factor in enabling successful transitions for young people on the ASD spectrum who often experience heightened anxiety within an unfamiliar environment. Within this paper, the results of a small-scale exploratory study of the transition experiences of six young people on the ASD spectrum to post-secondary education will be shared. There was limited evidence that transition planning had been initiated as a formal process for the six students. Accessing support in higher education proved to be a complex process for some students who required sustained input from parents to ensure that they would utilise the supports available. Encouraging the development of self-determination skills, a key predictor of success in higher education, needs to begin in secondary school. It is anticipated insights from this study can contribute to the development of an embedded infrastructure to support effective transitions for students with ASD to post-secondary education.     

Longitudinal analysis of the trajectories of academic and social motivation across the transition from elementary to middle school

School transitions are important phases in students’ educational experiences. The current study aimed to explore the trajectories of academic and social motivation across the transition from elementary to middle school. Participants (N = 415) were sampled from six elementary schools; 55% transitioned after sixth grade (transition) and 45% remained at the same school (no-transition). The students reported academic and social goals and perceived teacher goal emphasis at four time points over two successive years. A growth curve analysis revealed that students who transitioned reported a greater decline in mastery goals and an increase in performance-approach goals. Students from no-transition schools reported higher initial levels for all social goals, with a steeper decline in seventh grade. Perceived teacher goal emphasis was associated with social development goals over time. Practitioners should be aware that school transitions may influence academic motivation but may not similarly influence social motivation.     

Children’s transitions to school: ‘so what about the parents’? or ‘so,what about the parents’?

Children progress through a number of life transitions and each is a pivotal point of development and growth for them, their parents and family members. Through a review of the literature, the Bioecological Model will be used to frame childhood transitions as highly social, contextualised and political. This paper will assert that governments, schools and educators have an increased role in supporting parents with their changing roles, responsibilities and relationships as their child transitions to school and that schools need to provide space for parents to share their own transition to school narratives in order to better understand the effect these stories may have on the transition process for them and their children. Finally, schools and systems will be challenged to engage in a strengths-based approach to support parents at this pivotal time in their own and their child’s growth and development and call for increased research to identify ways in which this can occur within respectful, collaborative and agentic relationships.     

Success and failure in secondary education: socio‐economic background effects on secondary school outcome in the Netherlands, 1927–1998

In the Netherlands, educational attainment is the result of a sequence of separate educational transitions. Because of the tracked nature of the Dutch educational system, students do not make binary stay‐or‐leave‐decisions at each transition. After having entered one track of secondary education, students can change tracks during the entire secondary course. The initial track and the secondary school outcome therefore are incongruent for a significant proportion of the Dutch students. As social background partly predicts initial track placement, track changes and successful termination of the course, we suggest distinguishing conditional and unconditional effects of family background in the transition to secondary school outcome. This paper complements findings of previous research by taking into account the tracked structure of the Dutch educational system and the entire sequence of transitions in secondary education. For the empirical analysis, repeated cross‐sections from the Family Survey Dutch Population (1992, 1998, 2000 and 2003) are used. Multinomial logistic regressions reveal that inequality in the outcome of secondary education is partly explained by the fact that initial track placement is socially selective and because this initial inequality is even enhanced by track changes during secondary education. The remaining ‘conditional’ effect of parental education, however, indicates that parental education works on top of this selection to prevent drop out. Inequality in secondary school outcome thus is a cumulative result of social background effects in a sequence of educational transitions throughout secondary education. Decreasing inequality over time is entirely explained by decreasing inequality in the transition from primary to secondary education.     

Re-thinking support: the hidden school-to-work challenges for individuals with special needs

This paper examines the hidden challenges experienced by individuals with special needs during the transition years between school and work. An assessment framework is proposed that covers domains of difficulties, developmental tasks during the transition years, the matrix of support within the home-community-institutions ecosystems, and the individual’s personal profile of schooling experience, academic attainments, interests, aptitudes and sense of self-determination. The paper ends with a model for intervention addressing self-efficacy and the social cognitive environment of the individual.     

School transitions: beginning of the end or a new beginning?

Moving from elementary to middle/junior high school or from middle/junior high to high school is difficult for most students and especially problematic for some. This chapter explores the reasons that these transitions are difficult, the kinds of students that have the greatest difficulty with transitions, and the process of disengagement from school that too often follows unsuccessful transitions. Facilitating successful transitions requires that attention be paid to students’ preparedness for the transition and the kinds of support students need before, during, and after the transition. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations for facilitating successful transitions.     

Learning through transitions: The role of institutions

In this paper two models are proposed for analysing transitions in education. Firstly, transitions are the processes that follow ruptures perceived by people. They include learning, identity change, and meaning making processes. Secondly, processes of change are observed through a semiotic prism, articulating self-other-object-sense of the object for self, and located in a specific social frame. Transitions are thus analysed as reconfigurations of such semiotic prism. The paper proposes to highlight the role of institutions as social frames likely to facilitate, or constrain, such reconfigurations. The role of institutions in transitions is discussed through three case studies: the transition to vocational training, the transition out of a religious school, and the transition to work at war-time.     

What emotional-centred challenges do children attending special schools face over primary–secondary school transition?

Primary–secondary school transition encompasses multiple social, academic and environmental changes which can negatively impact children’s emotional well-being. Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH) are believed to be especially vulnerable during this time. However, the voices of children with SEMH are heavily underrepresented in this field within practice and research. The present case study examined how children with SEMH difficulties within one special school experience primary–secondary school transition and how they are supported, in order to make recommendations to improve this period. The case study was qualitative and longitudinal, conducted over 18-months and methodologies included ethnographic observations, child photo-elicitation focus groups (with 11 Year 6 children) and three adult interviews. Findings demonstrated that over primary–secondary school transition children with SEMH difficulties (a) negotiate significant structural changes in support (often unanticipated) and (b) need to feel a sense of safety and belonging. To manage this effectively, transition provision for children with SEMH difficulties needs to consider their short-term emotional well-being whilst still in primary school, in addition to their long-term well-being looking ahead to secondary school. Greater collaboration and communication across schools and stakeholders can help ensure children receive continuity in standards and support.     

Coping with life transitions

Life transitions are sharp discontinuities with the previous life events. They have identifiable beginnings, turning points, and endings. Coping skills learned earlier are mobilized during the transition to help the person manage the transition process. A process conception of transitions includes a series of stages from entry through final resolution and growth. The primary dynamic is the process of letting go of the old value, relationship, or belief to taking hold of a new one. Coping skills consisting of support networking, cognitive restructuring, problem solving, and stress management are key mediating variables that determine the course and emotional intensity of the transition. Attitudes that influence the process are extent of perceived control of the event, perceptions of challenge, and commitment to change. perceiving the change event as a normal part of living helps to alleviate much of the distress of the transition. Transition theory offers a kind of map that helps counsellors and their clients to conceptualize what is happening to them during intensive life changes.     

Meaningful actions and motivated projects in the transition to adulthood: two case illustrations

A framework for understanding career transitions based on the joint processes and goals of those engaged in the transition and significant others in the person’s social network was used to study the transition to adulthood of youth aged 17–19 years and their families. Twenty parent-youth dyads participated in this study in which a transition project was identified and monitored for 6 months. Two cases are used to illustrate the characteristics of the motivated transition project at the levels of meaning, functional processes, and conscious and unconscious behaviour and structural support and resources.     

Stability of social support during school transitions: Associations with truancy and not completing upper secondary education in normative time

Not completing upper secondary education is often presignaled by truancy from school. Student-perceived social support from family, peers, and teachers can prevent truancy and the risk of not completing education. However, prior studies have not focused on the stability of social support across school transitions. This longitudinal study of 1901 Finnish students examined the extent to which social support was stable or specific to primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools. Moreover, we examined whether support was associated with not completing upper secondary education in normative time and whether truancy mediated the relationship between support and not completing education. The analyses showed that most variance in social support was context-specific; family and peer support was related to truancy and not completing education; and truancy acted as the mediator. The findings underscored the importance of stable social support over school transitions in reducing the likelihood of truancy and not completing education.     

A developmental psychology perspective in Germany: co‐construction of transitions between family and education system by the child,parents and pedagogues

In Germany, there exists a traditional gap between kindergarten and primary school. Transition research has led to a new understanding of the need for cooperation between different educational institutions and the family at this time. This article emphasises that educational transitions affect not only the child but also the parents, who actively cope with a family transition. A team from the State Institute of Early Childhood Education and Research (Staatsinstitut für Frühpädagogik) in Munich has formulated developmental tasks for children and their parents during transition, based on interviews with children and parents as well as on the research literature. This approach to transition has informed initiatives at different administrative levels within Germany, as well as a European project for training transition experts in order to support children and their parents to cope with transitions, and enhance collaboration between families and educators in kindergartens and primary schools.     

'Am I the same?' Decision-making processes during the transition from school

This paper describes the kinds of decisions that young people with special educational needs and their families have to make as the time to leave school approaches. While these choices may be familiar, what is less familiar is how such decisions are made. The Code of Practice ( DfE, 1994 ; DfES, 2001 ) provides guidance on the support to be provided during the transition from school, but this only partially reflects the complexities of reality. The seven types of decision-making processes that are identified here are an attempt to describe some of these complexities as experienced by young people and their parents or carers. The paper concludes by suggesting that these insights could contribute to the emerging role of the Connexions Service Personal Advisers in providing more sensitive and effective support during the transition phase.