When a student turns 14 years of age, they must be invited to attend all IEP meetings. Students will work with liaisons to complete a Transition Planning Form. The contents of this document should inform the development of the IEP. Parents/guardians may be surprised to learn that their child is required to be invited to all IEP meetings. It is at the parent/guardian’s discretion whether their child participated. The Medfield School District encourages student involvement and encourages students to attend each IEP meeting for at least some minutes to provide input into the development of their IEP. 

The new Massachusetts IEP form embeds the information previously contained in the transition planning form into the body of the IEP. It also hones in on the student voice in the IEP starting at the age of 3. For more information regarding the new IEP, please visit the applicable polices and resources page. 

The purpose of a transition assessment is to help students learn about themselves and their interests so that they can be actively involved in planning for their future. A transition assessment will help the team identify the student's goals for the future in all domains. The assessments will allow the Team to write meaningful goals and objectives and determine which outside agency(ies) is/are appropriate to support the student in the future. 

Transition Assessments:

When considering an array of possible transition assessments, it may be helpful for IEP Teams to think in terms of an All-Some-Few model. For all students on IEPs, the Team may already possess certain types of information (e.g., data from the MCAS, report cards, achievement tests, work-based learning, preference surveys, student or family interviews, etc.). For some students on IEPs, Teams may have or need additional types of information (e.g., personality surveys, environmental or situational analyses, adaptive skills assessments, etc.). For a few students on IEPs, the Team may have or need more in-depth information (e.g., adaptive behavior assessments, functional vocational evaluation, life skills inventory).

The IEP Team's questions to guide transition assessment fall into three general categories:

1. Who is the student (i.e., what are the student's needs and strengths)?

2. Who does the student want to be, or what does the student want to do (i.e., what are the student's preferences and interests)?

3. What is the fit between the student and the requirements of the educational, employment, and living environments into which the student plans to move when he or she exits high school?

Transition Assessment in the Secondary Transition Planning Process

Federal special education regulations require that at least one year prior to the student reaching age 18 the student and the parent/guardian must be informed about the rights that will transfer from the parent/guardian/legal caregiver to the student upon the student's 18th birthday. The notification provided to both the parent/guardian and the student must explicitly state that all rights accorded to parents/ guardians under special education law will transfer to the 18 year old student and that the parent/guardian will continue to receive all the required notices from the school district and will have the right to inspect the student's records, but will not longer make special education decisions for the adult student. See also state special education regulations at 603 CMR 28.07(5). When the student turns 17 years of age, the school district should mail the annual copy of the PNPS to the parent/guardian and to the student accompanied by a cover letter that states that the student will assume all of the rights described in the PNPS once he or she turns 18 years of age. School districts may also use the IEP Team meeting conducted for the student who will be turning 17 as the appropriate time to provide such notice, as well as to answer questions that the parent/guardian or student may have. If the district chooses to use the IEP meeting for such notice, however, it must have alternate procedures in place to ensure that both the parent/guardian and the student receive the notice in the event that either is absent from the IEP meeting.

Administrative Advisory SPED 2011-1 Age of Majority

The primary goal of filing a Chapter 688 referral is to plan for needed adult services for students with severe disabilities. Filing a Chapter 688 referral creates documentation that students with severe disabilities will need adult services and supports. This documentation alerts Transition Agencies (e.g., the Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the Department of Mental Health) and the state legislature regarding the future needs of these students. In cases where a student is determined to be eligible for agency services, yet services are not provided due to a lack of funding or program availability, agency personnel can advocate to increase funds in the budget planning process for the next fiscal year in order to provide the needed services.

Filing a Chapter 688 referral sets in motion a two-year planning process for students whose entitlements to special education services will end when they graduate from school or turn 22 years of age. This planning results in the creation of an Individual Transition Plan (ITP) that describes how the student will connect with needed supports and services after exit from school. This planning process can be particularly important if the student is not deemed eligible for state agency services, if agency services are limited because of lack of funding or program availability, or if formal coordination of services is required among more than one state agency.

Transition Agencies typically ask that the student complete an eligibility application concurrent with the 688 planning process. This is beneficial, because if a student's eligibility for services is established, the ITP can include more specificity with respect to the programmatic and fiscal planning required to provide services.

DESE Guidance or Resources  

Bureau of Transitional Planning