Benchmarks and standards have become an important part of the teachers' instructional focus since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. As educators they all recognize the importance of having high expectations of their students. Standards help schools articulate these expectations clearly to students, their parents, and the community. Yet, there are some substantial difficulties in using standards for instructional planning. Also, the use of standards does not ensure that teaching is engaging and effective. A means for solving some of these concerns is to incorporate transition needs with standards-based instruction. Transition can be a vehicle for incorporating research-based instructional practices that utilize authentic problem-based learning that is motivating, engaging, and effective. One way to be sure that the teachers' instruction is relevant to students' lives is by incorporating their transition needs and adult-living issues into their classroom teaching. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)