Author(s)

Colleen A. Thoma¹, Lauren Bruno², Jarrod Hobson¹, Joshua P. Taylor³, LaRon A. Scott⁴, Monica Grillo¹, Michelle Hicks¹, Regina H. Frazier¹

¹Department of Counseling & Special Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
²Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
³School of Learning and Teaching, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA.
⁴School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.

There is a persistent demand for practical professional development for special educators that focuses on providing effective transition services while still maintaining academic standards for students with disabilities. This article describes the development of an online module professional development package that introduces special educators to the Universal Design for Transition (UDT) framework as a way of blending academic and transition instruction. This online professional development package was developed so that it could be used for both the preparation of pre-service special educators and to strengthen the skills of in-service professionals. Pre-service and in-service special educators learn about the components of the framework and use them to develop and refine their lesson planning process in an authentic, performance-based assessment process. Together, the module and hands-on practical application components of this online professional development package offer updated, effective practices special educators can implement in their classrooms.

Universal Design for Transition, Universal Design for Learning, Online Professional Development, Adult Learning, Linking Academics and Transition Education

Thoma, C. , Bruno, L. , Hobson, J. , Taylor, J. , Scott, L. , Grillo, M. , Hicks, M. and Frazier, R. (2022) Development of an Online Professional Development Module to Support Special Educators in Implementing the Universal Design for Transition Framework. Creative Education, 13, 2321-2339. doi: 10.4236/ce.2022.137148.