Transition to Adult Life

Keep looking here for news and ideas in the areas of secondary transition planning for students with disabilities in Armstrong and Indiana Counties.

Transition services are intended to prepare special education students to make the transition from the world of school to the world of adult life. Transition planning is required to start once a student reaches 16 years of age and becomes part of the student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  Please note: transition planning can begin at any age.

The purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living. 

The term “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that:

• Is 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, including postsecondary education; vocational education; integrated employment (including supported employment); continuing and adult education; adult services; independent living or community participation; and
• Is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences and interests.
   

  Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16 and then updated annually thereafter, the IEP must include:

  • Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment and independent living skills, where appropriate;
  • Transition services needed to assist the child in reaching those goals, including courses of study.

  New forms and formats, as well as annotated versions of the forms and formats, should be available by July 1, 2005.  It is recommended that school district personnel refrain from making mass copies since changes will occur once federal regulations are in place, and then again when PA Chapter 14 provisions are amended. 

Progress monitoring is a scientifically-based practice that is used to assess students' academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Progress monitoring involves:

• Collecting and analyzing data to determine student progress toward specific skills or general outcomes
• Making instructional decisions based on the review and analysis of student data

Progress monitoring can be implemented with individual students or an entire class. To implement progress monitoring we determine the student's current performance levels, and then identify learning goals that will take place over time. We then regularly measure the student's academic performance (weekly or monthly), which allows us to compare the student's expected and actual rates of learning. Thus, we can assess the student's progress in meeting the learning goals, and determine if teaching adjustments are needed to meet the individual student's learning needs.

Why Monitor Student Progress?

Monitoring student progress through data collection and analysis is an effective way to determine if the classroom instruction is meeting the needs of the student, and benefits all those involved in the education process.

• Teachers can evaluate their instruction based on data not hunches.
• Parents are kept well informed about their child's progress, supported by specific information about how their child is responding to instruction.
• Students know what is expected of them. They receive specific feedback about their performance along the way, and not just at the end of the marking period.
• The IEP team has the data-based information needed to:
  • Determine current instructional levels
  • Write measurable annual goals and objectives
  • Determine if the student still meets eligibility for special education and needs specially designed instruction

Contact Skip McGreevy, at 724-463-5300

The Armstrong County and the Indiana County Transition Councils each developed a handbook of all the transition service agencies in their respective counties. If you need a clean copy, you can download it below. If you have changes in your agency, or if you know of agencies who have moved or changed phone numbers, please pass along this information to me so that I can update the handbooks! Both handbooks have been updated as of May, 2005.

You will also notice that I have links to other sites that have transition information.

Skip McGreevy is the Educational Consultant for Transition for ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 located in Armstrong and Indiana Counties in Pennsylvania.