Introduction to special issue: transitional issues for K-16 students.

This article describes transitional issues experienced by young people from entry into kindergarten to entry into college. A brief overview of transitional theories is offered. Each of the major articles in the special issue is summarized.

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Educators, school counselors, and developmental theorists agree: Transitioning between schools, between classes, or between developmental periods in children's lives can be chaotic and stressful, as well as exciting, challenging, and full of new hope. School counselors are often the primary architects of students' transitional experiences. Thus, school counselors should be familiar with the challenges, barriers, and supports that young people experience as they enter into times of transition.

Transitioning is defined as passing from one condition, place, or activity to another, and it is further defined as a psychological response to change. Transitions often are associated with significant life events that require a radical restructuring of people's views of themselves and their worlds. Transitions can cause psychological crises in young people's lives leading to anxiety, depression, and confusion (Schlossberg, 1981). Children in transition can develop both overt (e.g., stomachaches, loss of appetite, nightmares) and covert (e.g., low self-esteem, low motivation, less classroom responsiveness) stress symptoms. Children in transition can experience poorer academic performance, which leads to fewer educational and later occupational opportunities. Children in transition need guidance to learn how to negotiate the demands of new environments. They need home, school, and community supports to help maintain their mental health, and to increase the probability of successful outcomes at the completion of the transitioning process (Lapan & Kosciulek, 2001). Indeed, teaching young people the skills to successfully optimize the transition process in childhood and adolescence can enable them to engage in clearer and more positive transitions throughout their lives.

Several theoretical models have been proposed that describe the issues children and adolescents face before, during, and after transitions. For example, Adams and Hopson's Theory of Transitions (Adams, Hayes, & Hopson, 1977) describes the sequence of psychological responses typically experienced by individuals undergoing transitions: (a) uncertainty, (b) loss of confidence, (c) confusion, (d) depression, (e) crisis (including psychological confusion and emotional trauma), (f) letting go, (g) acceptance, (h) exploring, (i) testing, and (j) new confidence. These cognitive and emotional responses occur with more or less intensity depending on the importance of the transition, the social and psychological supports available, the coping mechanisms used, and the diathesis (vulnerability) of the individual. This sequence of responses can take place over a period of minutes, hours, weeks, days, or months. Young people who do not successfully negotiate both the outward adjustment to a transition and the complex feelings and thoughts that accompany transitions can be in danger of both personal and school failure.

Bridges (2003) described transitions in a similar, but simpler, three-phase model. The first phase is letting go of one's self and one's situation. It is "letting go of the old ways and the old identity people have" (Bridges, p. 4). During this phase, the counselor's job is to help students deal with their losses. The second phase is the in-between phase when the old is gone but the new has not yet come. During this phase, critical psychological realignments and repatternings take place, and it is the counselor's job to provide support, help the student explore both the past and the future, and encourage the student to work through confused thoughts and emotions. The third and final phase is when people come out of the transition process with new energy, resolve, purposefulness, and even a new identity. During this phase, the counselor can help students set goals, plan, and strategize as they face new beginnings.

Many other theorists have conceptualized transitioning in similar ways. Across these theorists (e.g., Adams et al., 1977; Bridges, 2003; Levinson, 1977; Schlossberg, 1981; Sugarman, 1996; Super, 1992), there is agreement on three points: (a) Transitions involve grieving for the loss of the old and restabilizing oneself in the new, (b) transitions often work the best when they are approached intentionally, and (c) transitions often work best when there is an understanding of the considerable personal challenges that they represent and when there are supports in place to help the individual cope with and overcome these challenges. Theorists also agree that young people experiencing transitions should be assisted using a variety of counseling interventions. These interventions should be designed competently and be led, implemented, and facilitated by professionals who have the specialized skills and expertise of professional school counselors.

This special issue of Professional School Counseling has been written to discuss in-depth those transitional issues that young people face, and the variety of ways that students can be supported before, during, and after their transitional experiences by school counselors. Each article in the special issue addresses the needs of various groups of children and adolescents, citing previous and current research evidence and offering suggestions about how to assist young people to successfully adjust in ways that promote more productive and self-fulfilling lives.

In the first article, Dimmitt and Carey consider ways in which school counselors can use the ASCA National Model[R] to structure programs that can create successful transitions for all students. These authors argue that assisting children to successfully make transitions requires a proactive approach, must include the efforts of all stakeholders involved, and is best supported by community-school-parent partnerships.

The next four articles address transitions from kindergarten to first grade, from grade school to middle school, and from middle school to high school. Sink, Edwards, and Weir suggest that transitions into elementary school can best be supported through providing continuity from one structure to the next. Akos, Shoffner, and Ellis highlight the importance of mathematics placement in middle school as an entryway into math and science careers, and the critical role that parents play in preventing the gender and ethnic stratification in higher-level math and science classes. Turner reports that academic preparation is still the strongest contributor to inner-city adolescents' abilities to transition successfully into high school, exceeding by far their career development competencies, parental assistance, and/or teacher and peer support. Holcomb-McCoy discusses the unique factors that interact with African American young people's school and personal transitions, including racial identity development, the internalization of racial stereotypes, and adolescent self-esteem. In this insightful article she states that low-performing minority adolescents hear two opposing messages--one from their families of hope and mobility, and the other from their schools of deficiency and helplessness.

The following two articles discuss the preparation of young people to transition from high school into post-high school education or work options. Constantine, Kindaichi, and Miville discuss the individual, cultural, and structural factors that shape the educational transitions of Black and Latino youth, including repeatedly having to prove that one belongs in an educational or work setting. Lapan, Aoyagi, and Kayson report the results of a study that examined how specific career development interventions with high school seniors are associated with later role and quality-of-life indicators 3 years post-graduation.

The final article addresses the overall transitional issues of students with special needs. Milsom suggests that the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act be fulfilled through providing such services as preparing students to transition not only between grades but also in and out of regular classroom and disability service placements throughout the day. "Students with disabilities do better if they are prepared for transitions," she states, "so that transitioning is viewed as a process rather than a single point in time."

CONCLUSION

This special issue addresses a broad range of transitional issues that affect young people across ages, genders, and ethnic groups. The authors, who are practitioners, teachers, and researchers, bring great talent and expertise to their consideration of these issues. Moreover, the topic of transitional counseling is especially timely in light of the emphasis on accountability within school systems, and on efforts to increase both achievement and retention in public schools. Nevertheless, there is a lot of work to be done in studying how children and adolescents transition between life circumstances. Further study on how children's transitions differ from those of adults could lead to opportunities to develop new models of transition specifically focused on particular groups of K-16 students. Such important advances in the field of transitional counseling are vital as we consider our quickly changing and mobile society. In particular, implications for continued contributions to this area of study should be based on the realities of diversity and pluralism found in the student bodies and systems in which school counselors serve.

References

Adams, J., Hayes, J., & Hopson, B. (1977). Transition: Understanding and managing personal change. Oxford, England: Allanheld & Osmun.

Bridges, W. (2003). Managing transitions: Making the most of change (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, Perseus Book Group.

Lapan, R.T., & Kosciulek, J. F. (2001).Toward a community career system program evaluation framework. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79, 3-15.

Levinson, D. J. (1977).The mid-life transition: A period in adult psychosocial development. Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, 40, 99-112.

Schlossberg, N. K. (1981 ). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. Counseling Psychologist, 9, 2-18.

Sugarman, L. (1996). Narratives of theory and practice: The psychology of life-span development. In R. Woolfe & W. Dryden (Eds.), Handbook of counselling psychology (pp. 287-307).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Super, D. E. (1992).Toward a comprehensive theory of career development. In D. Montross & C. J. Shinkman (Eds.), Career development: Theory and practice (pp. 35-64). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Dr. Sherri L. Turner is an associate professor with the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. E-mail: [e-mail]