Transition Services
Transition Services are provided to Special Education students between the ages of 16 and the school year in which they turn 21. These services are designed to prepare students for further education, employment and independent living. Transition goals are set according to the following criterion:
Measurable Post-Secondary goals
Post-Secondary goals must be based on age-appropriate transition assessments;
The purpose of transition assessments is to:
Help students make a connection between their individual and academic program and their post-school ambitions.
Develop realistic and meaningful IEP goals
Make instructional programming decisions
Provide information for the Present Levels related to the student’s Preferences, Interest, Needs, and strengths (PINS)
Learn about student career ambitions
Inform the Summary of Performance
Formal and Informal Transition assessments may be obtained using the following suggested tools:
Formal Transition Assessment
Adaptive Behavior/Daily Living Skills
General and Specific Aptitude Tests
Interest Inventories
Intelligence Tests
Achievement Tests
Temperament Inventories/Instruments
Career Maturity or Employability Tests
Self-Determination Assessment
Transition Planning Inventories
Informal Transition Assessment Methods
Interviews and questionnaires
Direct observation
Curriculum-based assessments (CBA)
Environmental analysis
Measurable Post-Secondary goals cover, as appropriate, education or training, employment, and, as needed, independent living.
The following criteria are used to determine whether post-secondary goals are appropriate and/or have been met:
Education/training, employment, independent living AFTER leaving school
Based on Preferences, Interests, Needs and Strengths (PINS)
Measurable behavior/action goal accomplishment
Timeline for completion
Continuous progress
A clear completion of the goal
Can be combined into one all-inclusive goal or two or three separate goals
Postsecondary Education/Training Goals – General Examples
4-year college or university
Community college or Vocational technical school
Occupational Skills Training Program
Adult Basic Education program
A high school completion document (GED)
Continuing Education (Community College)
Short-term education or employment training program (WIA, Job Corps, OJT)
Employment-based training program aimed at job maintenance or advancement
Employability training at a Community Rehabilitation Program
Web-based education program
Self-directed learning activities based on individual preferences, interests, and needs
Postsecondary Employment Goals – General Examples
Full-time or part-time supported employment
Employment through a mobile work crew or enclave
Employment through a community rehabilitation program (sheltered)
Volunteerism or community service work or other productive vocational activities
Independent Living Postsecondary Goals – General Examples
Living at home with parents or relatives
Living independently in a house or apartment
Group Home
Supervised Apartment Living
Alternative Family Living
Domiciliary Care Home
College Dorm
Financial Management
Annual IEP Goals:
Are annual IEP goals designed to reasonably enable the child to meet post-secondary goals?
For each post secondary goal there must be at least one annual goal, based on present levels, included in the IEP that will help the student make progress towards the post-secondary goal.
Transition Goals on the IEP
Initiating Transition Services: Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the student is 16 and updated annually thereafter, the IEP must include the transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the student in reaching the post-secondary goals. In situations in which the student is turning 16 during the duration of the IEP and updated annually thereafter, the IEP team may want to address these issues at the time of the annual review rather than meeting again before the student turns 16.
Course of study: The student's course of study, which must be updated annually, should relate directly to the student's post-secondary goals (e.g., "family and consumer science classes to acquire adult living skills, instruction in daily living skills, functional math, and community-based work experience in food service"; "math coursework through algebra II, all industrial arts classes that focus on engineering in construction fields, and community work experience"; "college preparation courses"). The course of study statement should address the classes, experiences, and activities that will be meaningful to the student's future, motivate the student to complete his or her education, and support post-school outcomes. A particular course of study may target academic classes, such as advanced placement courses, for the student. It also may focus on non-academic courses and activities such as vocational education courses or work experience.
Transition services include courses of study that focus on improving the academic and functional achievement of the student to facilitate their movement from school to post-school
Must be updated annually
Help student meet his post-secondary goal
Reflect multi-year coursework (series of courses)
Address classes, experiences, and activities
Motivate the student to complete his education
Support post-school outcomes.
Transition Services/IEP goals: The student's needed transition services are part of a long-range plan that coordinates the last years of high school and the years immediately following high school. The services are focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the student with a disability to facilitate 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.
The IEP team must indicate the services that are addressed in the IEP (e.g., instruction, community experiences, employment and other post-school adult living objectives, daily living skills, and/or functional vocational evaluation, if appropriate).
For each postsecondary goal there must be an annual goal, based on present levels, included in the IEP that will help the student make progress towards the postsecondary goal.
Transition services in the IEP focus on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child to facilitate their movement from school to post-school.
Transition IEP goals must be:
A type of instruction,
A related service,
A community experience,
Development of employment
Post-school adult living training
Instruction for acquisition of daily living skills
Provision of a functional vocational evaluation
Be written in such a way that it associates with meeting the post- secondary goals.
General Examples of Transition Services
Instructional support of guided notes for lesson
Audio-taped texts for English 12
Instruction related to social skills in a work setting
Assistive technology services to increase use of voice output device
Physical therapy to improve independent ambulation
Job shadowing in a food services environment
Other Agencies: For transition services that are likely to be provided or paid for by other agencies, representatives of the agencies must be invited to the IEP meeting?
Case managers are responsible to ensure representatives of the following agencies are invited to participate in the IEP development, as appropriate:
vocational education,
integrated employment (including supported employment),
Continuing and adult education,
Adult services, independent living or community participation.