Background
Transition planning and services are essential for students with special needs because they require assistance in preparing for post-secondary life. The primary goals of transition planning and services for individuals with disabilities are meaningful employment and a satisfying quality of life. Planning for transition is a critical factor in ensuring that these goals will be realized. Effective transition planning requires the collaboration of students, families, educators, related service personnel, employers, and other community members, each of whom can play a role in supporting needed transition activities.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 mandated transition planning in
response to studies that showed poor post-secondary outcomes for students graduating with IEPs. The “statement of needed transition services” in the IEP (also known as the individual transition plan or ITP) was designed to improve post-secondary outcomes by ensuring that students’ IEPs supported their post-secondary goals. The IDEA of 1990 was the first piece of legislation to mandate transition planning by requiring a statement of needed transition services in the IEP for students no later than age 16 and annually thereafter.
The IDEA of 1997 extended the notion of transition services to include the transition into a high school course of study related to students’ individual career interests. It mandated that by no later than age 14, students’ IEPs must specify transition services needed for them to participate in their desired course of study (e.g., vocational education or college preparation). This provision was added to deal with the concern that students with disabilities were often unable to access educational and vocational programs related to their transition goals. The intent of the regulation is to ensure greater access by children with disabilities to the general curriculum and to
educational reforms such as school-to-work programs.
Because DoDEA families frequently move, students may attend a number of schools during their secondary years, often relocating to different areas and states. This relocation during or
following high school makes transition planning especially difficult for DoDEA families and their children with disabilities. Introducing transition planning early in the student's education provides the student, the family, and other CSC members with adequate time to determine the child's needs regarding post-secondary preparation and outcomes.
Definition of Transition
Transition services are a coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome- oriented process that promote movement from school to post-school activities, including post- secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported
employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities must be based on the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests, and shall include instruction,
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community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and a functional vocational evaluation.
The IDEA promotes four major criteria for designing transition services. Services must be: 1. Based on students’ needs, taking into account their preferences, interests, and abilities. 2. Developed through an outcome-oriented process and identified as a series of steps toward
reaching students’ desired employment and adult living goals.
3. A coordinated set of activities encompassing a broad range of services and supports including those provided by the school, the family, the community, the adult service system, and post-secondary environments.
4. Designed to promote student movement from school to post-school activities by
developing bridges of generic, time-limited, and ongoing supports that extend into early adulthood.
Goal of Transition Planning
The ultimate goal of transition planning is meaningful employment, participation within the community, and a quality adult life for all individuals with disabilities. Transition planning is designed to help students with disabilities to achieve desired educational, vocational and functional outcomes as they move from school to the adult world. Examples of successful outcomes for students include acquiring the following:
1. Career planning strategies;
2. Knowledge of employment options;
3. Information regarding post-secondary training; 4. Financial assistance or income support;
5. Community participation; 6. Self-advocacy skills; 7. Legal services;
8. Leisure and recreation skills;
9. Use of public and other transportation; 10.Social skills;
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11.Personal management skills; 12.Independent living skills; 13.Medical support;
14.Insurance information and coverage; and 15.Social security.
Transition Planning2
Formal transition planning begins when the student turns 14 years of age. The CSC, including the student and parents, will develop a transition plan that identifies the student’s transition goals and service needs. For the 14 year-old student, the transition plan should focus on determining a course of study and determining whether that course of study will lead the student to where he or she wants to be upon graduation. A course of study includes the educational and vocational experiences a student needs in order to prepare for the transition from secondary education to post-secondary life.
Transition planning includes the following activities:
1. Developing literacy in reading, written language, math and computer skills; 2. Helping students to identify their interests, preferences and needs;
3. Identifying possible post-school outcomes for each student, such as career direction, further education or training, independent living, community access, leisure and recreation skills, and needed support services;
4. Developing a coordinated set of activities that will help the student reach these outcomes;
5. Preparing the student and parent to assume responsibility for accessing services and requesting needed accommodations in the community (self-advocacy);
6. Linking students and parents with opportunities and experiences in the employment/business community;
7. Linking students and parents with further education and training options; and 8. Linking students and parents with adult support service providers.
2
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Transition assessment and planning means:
1. Students and families will be informed about what transition planning is and how they can be involved;
2. Assessment plans will be developed and methods of collecting relevant data for transition planning specified;
3. A transition assessment report will be written, with a summary of assessments and implications for educational programming; and
4. Appropriate goals and objectives will be developed for the IEP, upon completion of the assessment.
Ongoing CSC responsibilities for individual transition planning include:
1. Developing a transition planning team made up of the student, parents, and core IEP team with additional members as appropriate. The optional team members may include
vocational and general educators, the school counselor and community-based individuals who may be directly or indirectly involved with the implementation of the transition plan or activities;
2. Scheduling transition planning meetings as part of the annual IEP meetings for students age 14 and older;
3. Monitoring the progress of the transition goals through annual meetings;
4. Updating transition components of the IEP through annual review meetings; and 5. Scheduling an exit transition meeting no less than three months before the student's
graduation or permanent exit from secondary education. Parents must be notified that graduation is a change in special education placement and an end to the entitlements of special education services.
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