Colorado rural special educators are experiencing tremendous challenges in providing mandated transition services to students with special needs. The School of Education and the Department of Occupational Therapy at Colorado State University have developed a program to create rural transition specialists through preservice and inservice training for rural special educators and school-based occupational therapists. Each year of the 3-year project, titled "Partners in Transition," one team of special educators from a rural district is selected to participate. The Occupational Therapy Department selects two graduate students to be trained with the rural special education team, and to provide assistance with transition-related activities in the district during the following school year. Issues addressed through staff development activities include continuing professional development in rural settings, isolation among professionals, need for creativity and ingenuity, small budgets, personality styles, empowerment, distance learning, self-assessment, and the use of community resources. The program is based on a staff development model with a goal of empowering learners that includes four steps: personal reflection, knowledge seeking, demonstration of new skills, and continued networking. The program's nine components are self-assessment, empowerment activities, use of condensed courses, interdisciplinary teaming between special education and occupational therapy, individualized internship opportunities, overcoming problems of "local history," use of community supports, education in technology, and distance education activities. The project is evaluated by the faculty and participants. When current federal funding expires, the program will become a permanent university offering supported by student tuition. (TD)