The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and its Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) are devoted to promoting quality transition education services and programs for all students with disabilities. CEC and DCDT maintain the fields’ leading standards and competencies for preparing and credentialing professionals working in the transition field. CEC and DCDT have partnered together to offer the National Certification in Transition Services, currently offered to individuals who have successfully completed a DCDT approved transition specialist preparation program (scroll down to see a list of approved programs).  All certifications are valid for five (5) years. 

*CEC and DCDT are currently partnering to develop an alternate certification process for professionals who did not complete a preparation program at a DCDT Approved institution. Please sign up HERE to receive updates on this process.  

Professional Certification (Initial)       For applicants who have recently completed a DCDT approved transition preparation program and/or do not currently hold a certification. 

 Application Fees:

• Professional Initial  CEC/DCDT* Members $125; Non-Members $200 
• Professional Renewal CEC/DCDT* Members $129; Non-Members $209 

*To receive the Member NCTS application rate, applicants must be a member in good standing in BOTH CEC and DCDT. Join here: https://exceptionalchildren.org/membership/individual-membership.

**Provisional NCTS has been phased out. Even if your application is submitted as Provisional, you will be processed as a Professional NCTS candidate. For questions about this, contact certification@exceptionalchildren.org

CEC Accreditation Program Review follows these steps:

1. Submit the CEC Accreditation Eligibility Application and pay the eligibility application fee.

2. Once approved, the appropriate program review shell will be opened and your program will have three years to submit the program review report.

3. Submit the program review report and pay the program review fee.

4. For programs achieving accreditation, an annual report shell for each year will be opened to your program. This report is due. If your program achieves Provisional Accreditation, on year 2 this shell will open.

5. Submit the annual report or provisions report and pay the annual program fee through year 7 from accreditation date.

Collaborative Resubmission Presentations  

You can save your submission and return to it later by using the "Save Draft" button at the bottom of the form. You'll need to log in to your Submittable account again to view your saved drafts.  

Be sure to hit the "Submit" button no later than October 9, 2026!

Submission Deadline October 14, 2026 (5PM ET)

You can review the submission guide for Poster Presentation sessions on the CEC website. 

You can save your submission and return to it later by using the "Save Draft" button at the bottom of the form. You'll need to log in to your Submittable account again to view your saved drafts. 

Be sure to hit the "Submit" button before October 14 by 5PM ET!

Submission Deadline: October 14, 2026 (5PM ET)

You can review the submission guide for Teacher Exchange sessions on the CEC website. Please note: Teacher Exchange presenters must be current practitioner in a PK--12 setting. You may save your submission and return to it later by using the "Save Draft" button at the bottom of the form. To continue working, simply log back into your Submittable account to access saved drafts.    

Be sure to click "Submit" no later than October 14 by 5PM ET to complete your submission.