Transition Requirements

1. Transition Requirements A Step-by-Step Approachby Tiffany SandersWest KY Educational Cooperative Transition Requirements

2. What is Transition Planning….

3. Narrow and Broad Perspectives

4. The Narrow Perspective • Sees transition as a referral process • Was a record of the past and not a vision of the future.

5. The Broad Perspective • The entire IEP for every student, beginning at least by 13+ years of age, becomes future-directed, goal-oriented and based upon the student’s preferences, interests and needs.

6. The Broad Perspective • Student’s needs, preferences & interests considered • Post-school goals identified • Education & instruction mirror student goals

7. Transition (RE)Defined: (IDEA ‘04) • The term “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that is designed within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.

8. IDE(I)A 2004 The “merging”of IDEA and NCLB” Special Education should prepare students for furthereducation,employment and independentliving.

9. Critical Questions for Transition Planning • What Do I Want To Do After High School? • What Skills Will I Need? • What Support Will I Need? • What Do I Need to Work on this School Year?

10. Student Participation

11. Step-by-Step Process Step 1. Age-appropriate Assessment Step 5. Transition Activities/Services (Multi-year Course of Study) Transition Requirements Step 2. Postsecondary Goals Step 4. Annual goals Step 3. Transition needs

12. Step-by-Step Process Step 1. Age-appropriate Assessment Transition Requirements

13. IDE(I)A 2004: Transition Assessment • Transition assessment is the ongoing process of collecting data on the individual’s (strengths) needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of currentand futureworking, educational, living, and personal and social environments. (From: Sitlington, Neubert, & Leconte, Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 1997, p. 70-71)

14. What isAge-AppropriateTransition Assessment? • Definition: Activities, assessments, content, environments, instruction, and/or materials that reflect a student’s chronological age - (Snell, 1987; Wehmeyer, 2002; Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 1995)

15. Age Appropriate Elmo will have to go!

16. TransitionAssessment:the Foundation to Effective Transition Planning • Begin no later than age 13+/grade 8 • Gathered over time • Consider student’s needs & interests • Reflect current & future environments

17. ALL STUDENTS State mandated test scores Current psychological evaluation data Quarterly grades, semester grades, progress notes or transcript Career Interest Inventory Adaptive Behavior Scale and/or Career Skill Inventory Individual Learning Plan/IGP Attendance Records POST-SECONDARY ED State mandated test scores Current psychological evaluation data Quarterly or semester grades or transcript College entrance exam scores (EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT) Individual Learning Plan (ILP) Attendance Records Assessmentsthat meet requirements

18. Gathering Age-Appropriate Assessments What? -Student’s Needs, Preferences and Interests (IEP/ILP); - Student’s Desired Post-School Goals (IEP/ILP); - Present Levels of Academic Achievement & Functional Performance (Transition needs statement in the IEP)

19. Gathering Age-Appropriate Assessments What? -Student’s Desired Post-School Goals (IEP/ILP): • Education or Training (required) • Employment (required) • Independent Living (when appropriate)

20. Gathering Age-Appropriate Information How? Formal Methods - Standardized tests, structured interviews, interest and aptitude inventories……. Informal Methods - Conversations with student and family, person centered planning, interest inventories, checklists, observations, ILP, transcript, attendance….

21. Gathering Age-Appropriate Information Who? -Information MUST come from a variety of relevant sources: -For Example: • Family • Student • Teachers and other staff • Job Coaches • Employers • Agencies other than school

22. Present Levels Planning Process The ARC must know: • What skills the student has and what content the student knows (progress monitoring data). • What students in this grade are expected to know and do (from the curricular documents) • What needs the student has that are not addressed through the curricular documents

23. Yearly grades Psychological assessment Adaptive Behavior assessment End of grade test scores Student interview Parent interview Teacher observations Age-Appropriate Assessments

24. Personal Strengths Friendly & outside interests Met IEP goals Oral expression & interpersonal skills University goal Possible child care career Academic Strengths ‘B’ average throughout high school Standard course of study High average intelligence Short & long-term memory & problem solving Assessment Strengths

25. Personal Limitations Unsure of career goal Lack of organizational skills (affect academic and social life) Academic Limitations SLD in reading comprehension and written expression Incomplete homework Lack of organizational skills (study time) Assessment Limitations

26. Step-by-Step Process Transition Requirements Step 2. Post-secondary Goals

27. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

28. When is it required? • beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child is 16 (15+), and updated annually thereafter

29. Postsecondary Goal or Goals • Measurable = Countable • An outcome, not a process • Education or Training (required) • Employment (required) • Independent Living (when appropriate) • Can be combined into one all-inclusive goal or two or three separate goals

30. What is an “appropriate measurablepostsecondarygoal?” “postsecondary” • Goals for the student to work toward while in high school in preparation for life after high school

31. Middle School Example • John will obtain employment but doesn’t know what he wants to do. He will also participate in a men’s softball league, get his driver’s license, help his elderly neighbors and eventually live on his own.

32. Middle School Example • Based upon informal interviews with Debbie and her parents and information from Student and Parent Surveys, Debbie will attend college following graduation. Her ILP indicates that Debbie’s first career choice is elementary school teacher. Her first college choice is EKU. Debbie and her parents see her living in a dormitory and possibly an apartment while going to college.

33. Combined PS Goal Example

34. Combined PS Goals Example

35. Allison’s Post-secondary Goals

36. Combined PS Goal Example

37. Goal Setting Only 3% of adults have written goals and everyone else works for them. -Brian Tracy

38. Step-by-Step Process Transition Requirements Step 3. Transition Needs

39. Instruction Related Services Community Experiences Employment Daily Living Skills Post School Adult Living Objectives Functional Vocational Evaluation Transition Assessments Target Student’sNeeds& Services

40. Transition Needs XInstruction Related Services Community Experiences X Employment Daily Living Skills Post School Adult Living Objectives Functional Vocational Evaluation Statement of TransitionNeeds(Transition PLAAFP)

41. Student’s Desired Post-School Outcomes(First Person) “Allison has stated……” Adapted From: Transition Requirements, A Guide for States, Districts, Schools, Universities and Families

42. Statement of Transition Service Needs –First paragraph • Who is this student? • What is her age? • What grade is she in? • When does she plan to graduate? • Does she plan to earn a diploma or certificate?

43. Statement of Transition Service Needs –First paragraph • Allison is an 18-year-old student with a specific learning disability in reading comprehension and written expression. She is on-track to graduate high school in 2009 with a standard diploma followed by entering college in the fall.

44. Statement of Transition Service Needs –Strengths & Sources • Allison has same age peers and interests outside school. School based strengths in the area of interpersonal skills allow her to work in small groups or with peer to complete group projects and/or assignments. Social strengthsin the area of interpersonal skills allow her to have friendships and interests outside of school. She likes to work out at the gym with her friends, go to movies and shop. She plays on her church softball team and is active in other church youth programs.

45. Statement of Transition Service Needs –Strengths & Sources • Allison met her IEP goals for the past two years. A review of her high school transcript reveals a ‘B’ average; end of grade test scores from the 11th grade shows a 3.0 out of a 4.0 scale in reading and math. According to testsof intellectual functioning, administered on 5-23-2006, Allison appears to be functioning in the average range of intellectual ability. Her relative strengths are in the areas of short and long-term memory and problem solving.

46. Statement of Transition Service Needs –Strengths & Sources • A student interview with Allison on November 12, 2007, indicates that she is interested in attending a university to pursue a degree in Child Development. A review of her Adaptive Behavior scores, transcript and interviews with Allison and her mother indicate that Allison has adequateIndependent Living skills to manage living on her own following high school graduation.

47. Evidence of Coordination • A consent form signed by Allison’s father, indicating that the LEA may contact the disability services office at Western Kentucky University • An invitation to conference in the file, mailed to an individual in the disability services office of Western Kentucky University • Invitation to conference of the occupational therapist (assigned by Vocational Rehabilitation) in the file with corresponding parental consent

48. Statement of Transition ServiceNeeds XInstructional: needs are: She needsguided notes, taped texts for English, and the use of a computer for her written assignments as well as extended time for tests in order to perform in her college preparatory classes. Both Allison and her parents are concerned that she doesn’t have the organizational skills to manage her study time and her social life. Her lack of organization really shows-up in her 11th grade Algebra class where she has missed turning in several assignments. She needsinstruction in organization to complete her high school coursework and to be ready for college and the independent social life it entails.

49. Statement ofTransition Service Needs XEmploymentneeds are: Allison has gained practical work experience by helping her sister by make materials for her elementary classroom. However, she is unsure if she wants to work with this age range of children and teaching as a profession. She needs opportunities to explore a variety of career options. Her deficits in the areas of written expression and organizational skills are likely to reduce her ability to obtain and maintain employment.

50. Statement of Affect or Impact • Inefficient time managementwill hinder her ability to meet personal, social and work related obligations. Allison’s learning disability in the areas of reading comprehension and written expression affectsher ability to express her thoughts and needs in written formats resulting in limiting her ability to apply for and receive grants, scholarships, loans and services that will help her realize her personal and professional goals.