1. Transition IEP Using Your IEP to Plan for Your Life After High School
Presented by the Transition Alliance Group

2. Session Objectives
Talk about ways to team up with your school to plan for your future
Discuss required transition pages important for your IEP
Identify the three outcome areas
Identify tools and resources in the community that can help you plan for your future
In this session, we have three objectives:
Discuss how to partner with your school to plan for your future
Review transition pages required for your Individualized Education Plan
Identify the three outcome areas for transition
Identify tools/resources that can help you plan for your future

3. True or False Transition was included in
IDEA because special education students exiting HS were successful in achieving positive post-school adult outcomes such as living on their own, having a well-paying job and attending postsecondary education.
TRUE FALSE

4. False!
Compared to their peers without disabilities, people with disabilities experience:
Half the graduation rate
Higher dropout rates (21% v. 10%)
Lower college entrance/completion
Lower employment (35% v. 78%)
Higher dependency on public assistance
Higher poverty rate (26% v. 9%)
Lower satisfaction rate (34% v. 61%)
NLTS2
Why is it that transition services are required under the federal legislation, and mandated for public education districts around Colorado?
Compared to their peers without disabilities, people with disabilities experience very different outcomes from their non-disabled peers once they leave public education.
For example, folks with disabilities experience half the graduation rate of students without disabilities. There is a significantly higher dropout rate for people with disabilities. Fewer individuals with disabilities enter college, and fewer of them complete their college experience. Employment outcomes for people with disabilities are very different from those who are not disabled. For people with disabilities there is a much higher dependency on public assistance, also a much higher poverty rate, and also there is a lower satisfation rate for life in general.

5. True or False
Students with disabilities transitioning from school to adult life are not often supported by effective interagency collaboration.
TRUE FALSE

6. True!
Limited levels of service coordination and collaboration among schools and community service agencies.
Students leave school without appropriate community connections.
Long waiting lists for adult services.

7. True or False
Since mid-1980s, Federal incentives were offered to states to improve transition planning services, but no specific policies were identified.
TRUE FALSE

8. True!
Transition Services“…a coordinated set of activities designed to be 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” IDEA, 2004
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was reauthorized in 2004, defines transition services as "...a coordinated set of activities designed to be 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- IDEA, 2004."
Coordinated simply means that all of the folks on the public education team need to be consistent and planful in how they arrange activities and provide instruction for the young adult.
Results-oriented process means that the young adult plays a pivotal role in identifying what they want their lives to look like the day after they leave public education. Our efforts as educators should be directed toward helping guide the young adult on the pathway to success, in the adult areas of employment, education, and adult independent living.

9. IDEA 2004 requires Age-appropriate transition assessments,
Conversation regarding transition as part of the IEP no later than age including:
Age-appropriate transition assessments,
Measurable post school goals in education, employment, and adult life,
Transition services identifying what adults will do to assist young adults in reaching the post school goals, and accompanying goals and objectives, and
Inclusion of community agencies and services supportive of transition goals with permission.
IDEA 2004, requires that the conversation regarding transition services as a part of the young adults individual education plan (their IEP) begin at age 16.
Here in Colorado we have required that the conversation begin no later than age 15. Specifically, at Jefferson County schools, we've required that in addition the conversation should begin no later than 9th grade, but certainly can begin earlier than that if the education team and the family members agree through the IEP meeting that such a discussion is warranted based on the circumstances and outcomes for that particular young adult.
In addition, there are some very specific points that we need to address part of that conversation. The first point is in the area of measurable post-school outcomes in three critical areas. The first of these areas is education and training. Post-secondary education and training can mean more than just a college experience. It can also mean a a four-year or two-year college experience, or involvement in career and technical education courses, it can mean involvement in a vocational technical program, internships, apprenticeships, any kind of on the job training, etc. Any type of training that helps the young adult increase their skills an facilitate their movement through life can be included in post-secondary education and training. The second area that we need to address regarding measurable post-school outcomes, is the area of career and employment. What does a young person want to do in terms of employment? Do they want to work full time, part-time? What kind of industry or setting? Do they like working with people, or data , or machinery? Where do they want to live while they work? All of these areas need to be identified as the optimal work experience or employment setting for the young adult. The third area regarding measurable post school goals is the area of adult independent living. What kind of transportation does the young person use? What do they do for fun? Are they aware of various courses in leisurely activities around town? Are they aware of their rights as a citizen? Do they know what is means to enter into a contract or a lease agreement? Do they know how to access community services? Do they know how to care for themselves in terms of health issues? How do they take care of their house/apartment? Do they know how to budget for food and other expenses? Do they know how to prepare meals or what kind of foods they need to include as a part of their daily diet? Do they know how to clean or launder? Do they know how to get along with other people? To what degree do they interact and socialize with others? All of these questions fall under the area of adult independent living. We need to help the young adult identify all of these measurable post school goals before they leave public education.
How do we determine these goals? One of the things that the government has mandated as a federal law is the idea of ongoing age appropriate transition assessments. By that I mean, how do we help the young adult discover their gifts, their talents, their potential barriers, both in formal and informal testing situations. This can be done with questionarres, job shadowing, experiences in the community, helping them learn about different resources that are available to them and then working with them to determine how well they access those services. The transition assessments need to be age appropriate and they need to be ongoing from the very beginning of the provision of transition services.
Transition services should also be rendered to identify what adults will do to assist young adults in reaching their post school goals, also we continue to create accompanying goals annually to help the youth down the path toward achievement of those post school outcomes.
Finally, how do we include other agencies in that discussion? How do we make sure that the players that are available for folks with disabilities in our communities are invited and participate in a discussion with the IEP team and with a discussion with the young adult. The discussion should be about the young adult and what kind of services are available to them, their eligibility requirements, and how they get involved in those services.

10. Indicator 13
Annual review of JeffCo secondary IEPs to ensure compliance with requirements under Federal regulations.
Encourages school teams to review and amend development of student IEP.
Just Completed- JeffCo is compliant!

11. Indicator 14
How are our students doing one year following graduation in regard to education, employment and
quality of life?

12. What is Transition?
The successful movement from school to a productive adult life.
Based on student needs, interests, and preferences reflected in the following areas:
Education/Training
Career/Employment
Independent Living

13. What are the critical elements of Transition Planning?
Transition Assessments
PLAAFP
Post Secondary Outcome
Course of Study
Transition Services
Agency Linkages
Annual Goals and Objectives
Student Voice/Invitation
TA: helps id the destination, time of year, do you have enough money/evaluating services
PLAAFP: the itinerary, it’s your travel plan (overall, where you going, what resources you have, ideas have come together
PSO: Destination/ what do you want to do/identify the outcome the student plans to do
COS: Transportation ie. ticket to ride/ your mode of transportation
Transition Services: the concierge, the travel agent, support you on your trip planning
G/O: Daily activities/ part of the scrapbook/ day to day/ the packing list

14. Transition Assessment
Formal and informal
Designed to gather information about student: interests, abilities, skills, preferences, potential barriers, health, family support, ETC!
Ongoing throughout period of transition planning

15. Some examples of Transition Assessment
TPI – Transition Planning Inventory
Student-centered planning
Parent and student questionnaires
Naviance, College in Colorado
Interest inventories- verbal, reading-free
Community-based work experiences and work samples
Review of records
On this slide, I will talk about the various different kinds of assessment tools that might be available in school. (They are almost always available in Jefferson County schools.)
Transition Planning Inventory (TPI)
The first assessment is the Transition Planning Inventory. This is a survey that is completed by the three major players in the student’s plan: the young adult, the family, and the school team. It looks at different pieces of the transition process and the perspective of each of those three players on how well the young adult is accessing or finding success in various areas. Some examples of those areas would be: how well they get around on their own, to what degree do they advocate for themselves, do they have self-determination, what are their academic skills, what are their relationships like with resources and community activities, how do they socialize, what kinds of things do they do as far as self-care and grooming, budgeting, money management, use of time, organization skills, etc. The survey is very long and when used by all three members of the student’s team (the youth, the family, and the school members), it can give a good portrait of where the adult is. It also makes some really good suggestions about next steps in terms of what kinds of things need to be included as annual goals and objectives, links that need to be made to other agencies, or other things that need to be included as the young adult moves forward in their school program.
Student-Centered Planning
Many students who are currently planning may be aware of path plans, person centered plans, maps, or other different strategies that are used to help the youth identify goals for themselves and the steps they need to have in place to reach those goals. They also need to be aware of potential barriers, allies, resources, as well as what needs to be in place for the next 3 months, 6 months, a year, etc. It fits in very well with the way transition services are being approached under IDEA (2004).
Parent and Student Questionnaires
In Jefferson County school district it has become an increasingly important tool in helping the young adult identify their hopes and dreams and how they’re going to get there. Many of our buildings have annual parent and student questionnaires to update information about goals, interests, and activities the young adult want to include as part of their future lives.
College in Colorado
College in Colorado is a website that is supported by the state government. More than college prep activities, it also includes activities, databases, assessment tools, and other activities that help the young adult identify career interests, post-secondary education interests, as well as the resources to achieve those goals.
Interest Inventories
Interest inventories are available online and in high schools. They are another way to help the young adult identify the kinds of occupations, work settings, and other things they find important when they start thinking about the world of work.
Community-Based Work Experience
Community based work experiences help validate employment choices. It actually gives them the experience of what it is like to work in the kitchen of a restaurant or in hospital setting, working with animals or working with machinery, working inside or outside, tending a garden or landscaping – those sorts of things.
All of these tools (and MANY more!) are available and can be useful to help every young adult figure out the next steps for themselves, as well as our role in helping them get there.

16. PLAAFP
Present level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

17. Eight Components of the PLAAFP
Disability Determination/History of
Disability
Description of Progression or
Stability of Disability
Current Assessment and Data/Progress on past Goals and Objectives
Limitations and Implications of Disability
Accommodations and Modifications
Self-Determination
Linkages to Agencies and Services Provided
Parental Concerns
A written statement that:
Provides an accurate educational report reflecting relevant disability history
Documents the student’s strengths, needs, preferences and current performance
Justifies a student’s eligibility for services and accommodations and includes information on all areas that are affected by the disability.
Indicates how the disability impacts the student's progress within the general education curriculum and movement towards post-school outcomes
First 5 components are items that IDEA requires and all adult agencies need for eligibility justification
Linkages to agencies and parental concerns are required for IDEA
HANDOUT 2 AND 3 Check list and Developing a Comprehensive PLAAFP
Handout accommodations and modifications and discuss differences:
Accommodations: HOW a student receives information (access)
Modifications: A change to WHAT a student is expected to know/ alters the essential
In what condition did the accommodation take place? Do they used the accommodations? How does the accommodations work over time? What is the difference WITH the accommodations and WITHOUT? Recommendations for future accommodations? 17

18. Measurable Post School Outcomes
Must focus on what the student will do after exiting high school
Must be a “will” statement, rather than wants, wishes, or hopes to
Should be based on findings from transition assessments done with the student
Post school goals must have corresponding goals and transition services
I mentioned the measurable post-school goals, and I will talk more about those on this slide.
Post-school goals in the areas of education and training, career and employment, and adult independent living must focus on what the student will do after exiting high school. They should not be verbalized in a way that suggests things the school system is going to do for the young adult (that is going to come later). It must focus on what the student has identified for themselves as goals for when they leave public education. The statements must be written as rule statements rather than wants, wishes, or hopes. For example, the goal should NOT be “Jim wants to be an artist” or “Tina wants to work in the hotel industry”. They need to be much more emphatic, concrete, and measurable. For example, a goal can be “Jim will work in the construction industry” or “Tina will be employed at a restaurant” or “Shawn will work as a dog-walker”. The reason for this shift in language is because it identifies the point that we are trying to help the student in getting to. Transition services then identify what types of things educators are going to do to help the youth move toward achieving those post-school goals.
We also talked about transition assessment in the previous slide. The post-school goals should be based on results of ongoing transition assessments. Remember, the assessments can be formal or informal. They can help to validate what the young adult has identified as good post-school outcomes for themselves, or it also help to modify existing goals. An example of modifying a goal might be, “This is what the youth has stated they will be doing when they leave public education, but through some experiences and/or assessments (in terms of their academic skills or their functioning performance), those post-school goals need to be modified or amended to fit more in line with the young adult’s hopes, dreams, abilities, and talents.” Post-school goals will only work if the school IEP team (includes the family and the young adult!) has corresponding annual goals and services that line up with the post-school goals.
In summary, the young adult (with the assistance of teachers and family members) identifies what they want to do when they get out of school. Once identified, they become the post-school outcomes. (The post-school outcomes are identified through ongoing transition assessment.) They are then developed into annual goals that support movement, instruction, and training for reaching those goals, as well as other kinds of transition services that will support the young adult’s transition to life after high school.

19. Student Examples of Outcomes
What are your identified outcomes?
How are you using your transition IEP to help prepare for your next steps in life?
On this slide, there are two examples of post-school outcomes. The top one – “Tamara will attend college part-time, taking courses to become a certified nursing assistant” – is very concrete. Anyone reading it, whether they know Tamara personally or not, would understand quickly and completely what it is that Tamara wants to do in terms of post-school education and employment. The bottom one talks a little more about how Tamara would like to, attend college to become a certified nursing assistant.
It seems like a very subtle difference between the top statement and the bottom statement; however, this type of wording is VERY critical to how we approach working with Tamara and the kinds of instruction and services we provide to her as part of public education.

20. Transition Services
What the community of adults will do to facilitate movement from school to post school activities
Specific and individualized for the student
Related services (speech, motor, mental health) must be related to the post school goals
May include the service of referral to another agency
We’ve mentioned transition services throughout the presentation. Remember previously I mentioned post-school goals are written in the form of what the young adult, in this case we’ll say Jon, WILL do when they leave public education. Transition services are based on Jon’s outcomes. What are WE as the school district, as the teachers, therapists, social workers, psychologists, and general education teachers, going to do as a school team to help Jon move toward successful completion of, or movement toward, those post-school outcomes? What staff will be facilitating the movement from school to post-school?
They need to be specific and individualized for each student. What Jon wants is probably different than what Sally or Shawn want for themselves. Therefore, it needs to be tailored to the particular goals and outcomes each student has identified for themselves.
Related services, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, assistive technology, or augmentative communication strategies, all need to be related to post-school goals. For example, if Jon states that he want to work in an IT shop, all of the services and all of the things that are in place for Jon throughout his school day should be geared toward helping him move toward gaining more knowledge about that as a career. The field of IT would most likely include some post-secondary education, so giving Jon information about schools in Colorado that have IT programs and schools that are more supportive of young adults with special needs would be important. He also might need information on how to access scholarships or funding to help him complete the coursework he needs to become marketable in the area of IT.
Finally, how can other agencies be brought the bear in terms of helping Jon move toward successful completion of that post-school goal? Are there other agencies that can provide funding, training, or support? Certainly these agencies are out there. For each young adult, it is about figuring out how to get them involved at the right time and helping the young adult establish eligibility so the services can be included in their movement toward their post-school outcome.

21. Interagency Linkages Documentation of current linkages
Pamphlets/ Contact Info
Permission to Invite Form
Family can invite
Inform vs. Invite
District Resources
IEP team may suggest people AND family can invite anyone. If school invites permission form must be completed, family needs to provide written consent. Family can invite whoever they wish.
Family is encouraged to share who they are currently connected with if not prompted by school team. If family is already connected with agency listed on page that box is not checked however it’s documented elsewhere in the IEP. Can be in different spots so look at PLAAFP or Service page.
There is not requirement that agencies/individuals outside of District attend/participate in meeting or

22. Ensure systemic, consistent and on-going communication between school staff, students, parents, community partners and resources
The power of many voices can be felt when united by a common focus – best practice supports the efficacy of bringing all voices together and ensuring that the focus is not lost when students transition from one setting to the next.

23. Course of Study Multi- year description of coursework
Specific and Individualized
Links to postsecondary outcomes
Can another school build a class schedule based on this information?

24. Summary of Performance
”Summary of Performance” must be completed for exiting students to facilitate communication and connection with agencies providing post high school services.
One more thing that is included in the IDEA 2004 authorization is the notion of a “Summary of Performance”. Basically what this means is that for every student that is exiting public education with an IEP or as a student with a disability, we are bound to provide to them and complete with them, what’s called a summary of performance. Think of it as a more customer friendly version of the IEP in the sense that we are supposed to take the information that we have included in the IEP and we know about the young adult in terms of their skills, abilities, need to access other agency services, and the kinds of things that have worked for them in public education in terms of accommodations are put on paper so that the young adult can use that document to access other services.
Optimally, the summary of performance could be presented to the school, the counselor, the disability services center at the college, or possibly to the division of vocational rehabilitation or workforce center staff. This helps to introduce the young adult but also gives the receiving agency or service accurate and up-to-date information on what works best for this young person and how they can be supportive of the young adult as they move forward and provide services through their own agency.

25. Empower students to become self-advocates
What occurs if we do not transfer control? Emphasize need to move from external – internal, though our expectations differ from grade to grade
Self-Directed IEP’s
Mapping / Path Plans / Future Planning
Student monitoring of own behavior, goals, progress

26. JeffCo Schools – Student Tips for Transition
Attend your yearly IEP meeting, participate, and invite friends to help you.
Prepare for the meeting by thinking about your goals for the future, and activities and strategies that work for you now.
Complete any pre-planning tools that might be useful at the meeting.
Talk with your parents
about your goals for the future.
Lastly, I’ll finish the last part of my presentation with some tips for transition as it relates to public education. Many of these apply to young adults, but some also apply to family members as well.
Tips for Transition
Make sure you attend your yearly education plan meeting and participate! You are certainly welcome to invite friends that can help you through the process. Sometimes for young adults it is scary and a little intimidating to walk into a room with all of your school teachers and your family members and listen to people talk about you and the progress you have made over the last year and the things that the adults want you to work on over the next year. But remember, it’s your life and really, the most important person who needs to speak up (loudly!) at the meeting is you! You need to let everyone know what you see for your life after high school and how those adults sitting around the table can help you get there.
Prepare for the meeting by thinking about your goals for the future. Know what you want to do. If you don’t know what you want to do, like a lot of young adults out there, talk with your teachers and your parent(s) about things they can do to help you. For example, you can tell your teacher, “Teacher, get me out and get me some job shadows. Provide some opportunities to talk with employers. Help me complete some interest inventories so I can get to know what kinds of things interest me and might make me happy as I enter the world of work”.
Complete any pre-planning tools that might be useful at the meeting. For example, the questionnaires or other kinds of things that will help you be more specific and clear about the things that work for you in school and the things that you want in place as you move out of public education.
Talk with your parent(s) about your goals for the future. Sometimes what you want for your life is going to conflict with what your family has assumed would be in place for you when you leave high school. Understand that your parent(s) have the right to their opinion, but at the same time, it’s your life. Working out your different opinions before you go into the conference is an important step in making the conference work to your advantage.

27. JeffCo School - Tips for Transition
If comfortable, chair the meeting.
Share your hopes/ dreams with the group.
Ask questions if you don’t understand what others are saying.
When you get home, review what happened at the meeting, and are you happy with the outcomes?
(tips continued from previous slide)
If comfortable, chair the meeting. Again, it’s your life. It’s your meeting. Many of the teachers in Jefferson County will help you, support you, and give you tips on how you can run the meeting, invite the people who are most important to you, and really set the agenda for want you want to talk about. It is a wonderful step in helping you prepare for life as an adult, because when you go to college or you go to work, your parents and teachers aren’t always going to be there to help you. The responsibility will be yours to make sure that what you want in your life, you fight for.
Share your hopes and dreams with the group. Be honest. Tell them what it is that you want to do. Ask questions if you don’t understand what the people around the table are saying.
Review what happened at the meeting. Finally, when the meeting is over and you get home and have a chance to relax, think back about what was talked about and how it went for you. Did it work for you? Are you happy with the results of the meeting? If not, do something about it. Talk to your parent(s). Talk to your teachers at school and say, “You know what? We didn’t talk at all about employment” or “We didn’t talk at all about how I’m going to find money to go to college” and “that’s really important to me. What are you going to do to help me with that?”
Those tips will really help you make giant strides in becoming an adult, and also in making sure that the things that are important to you are considered and addressed as part of your meeting each year.

28. Helpful links Transition Toolkit—CDE