Strong collaborations are critical to successful youth transitions. Preparing students with disabilities for life after high school requires extensive partnerships within and beyond the school. However, transition educators often struggle to meaningfully engage the people and programs that exist within their local community. A community conversation event is a practical, fun, and effective way for districts to capture fresh perspectives and identify innovative, local solutions to persistent challenges in transition education. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key steps for planning for a community conversation, implementing the event, and using information gathered to inform improvements to transition programming. We draw from our work supporting 10 Tennessee school districts who hosted their own community conversations to reflect upon and improve their transition practices. We provide resources, materials, and tips for school districts to implement a successful event that leads to improvements in transition programming and student outcomes.

强有力的合作对于成功实现青年过渡至关重要。为残疾学生提供高中毕业后的生活准备，需要在校内外建立广泛的合作伙伴关系。但是，过渡教育者通常很难有效地参与当地社区中存在的人们和计划。社区对话活动是一种实用，有趣且有效的方式，使各地区可以掌握新的观点并确定创新的本地解决方案，以应对过渡教育中的持续挑战。本文的目的是强调计划社区对话，实施事件以及使用收集的信息来告知对过渡编程的改进的关键步骤。我们从支持田纳西州10个学区的工作中汲取灵感，这些学区主持了自己的社区对话，以反思和改善过渡实践。我们为学区提供资源，材料和技巧，以实施成功的活动，从而改善过渡计划和学生的学习成绩。