“Transition assessments are an ongoing process of collecting information on the student’s strengths, needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future living, learning, and working environments. This process begins at age 14 or earlier and will continue until the student graduates or exits high school. Information from this process is used to drive the IEP and transition planning process and to help develop the Summary of Performance (SoP) document detailing the student’s academic and functional performance and postsecondary goals.” (adapted from: Sitlington, P. L., Neubert, D. A., Begun, W. H., Lombard, R. C., & Leconte, P. J. (2007). Assess for success: A practitioner’s handbook on transition assessment (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. p. 2-3)
Simplified and Clear Guide: Transition Assessments and Writing Postsecondary Goals
Oh my goodness, I need an assessment!
What am I assessing?
Where do I find these assessments?
There are so many assessments! Which one should I use?
Then what do I do?
These are all valid questions—especially if this is your first time reviewing a student’s IEP and it's due in 30 days. Take a deep breath! Here’s what you need to know.
So..What is the process?
The Transition Assessment Process...Click on the link to learn more...
Guiding Questions >>>>
Assessment Plan >>>>>>
Assessment Selection >>>>>
Using Transition Results Collaboratively
“Transition assessment is an essential process to identify students’ individualized postsecondary goals, determine necessary transition services to strive for such goals during the transition period and lead the IEP team in making sound instructional decisions.” (Rowe et al. 2015)
As defined, transition assessment is ongoing, so it is more than “one” assessment; it is a process and is interconnected with other educational assessments, family input, and the student’s connections outside of school. One of the important school connections is to the Academic and Career Planning (ACP) process. Transition assessment results and the ACP together build strong foundations for individualized and relevant transition planning. Ask your counselor about the ACP!
If you're wondering where the assessment process takes you from here, it is the cornerstone to the transition process and is the foundation to support all other parts of the IEP, as required by law.
IDEA stipulates that all postsecondary goals in a student's IEP must be supported by data obtained from age-appropriate transition assessments, ensuring that the transition planning process is both individualized and data-driven.
Considerations for transition assessments?
Assessments are not “one size fits all”.
Consider the learning styles and cultural or language issues of the student.
Remember to consider appropriate accommodations for completing the assessment. • Assessment(s) should sample the student’s progress over time if possible.
Assessments must be chronological age appropriate.
Assessment results should be summarized in the IEP in a way that supports the student’s transition plan.
Transition Assessment will Answer these Three Questions
Where is the student presently?
Where is the student going?
How will you get there?
If the three questions above cannot be answered with the transition assessments being used, then information must continue to be collected until a strong knowledge of the student’s preferences, interests, needs, and strengths are obtained to create a meaningful postsecondary transition plan.
Transition assessment begins well before the IEP team meeting to ensure meaningful, high-quality information is available for the IEP team to consider. These assessments can be formal or informal.
Formal assessments generally are more standardized or paper/pencil-type assessments. Some examples of this are intelligence tests or aptitude surveys. Often these types of assessments are given by a professional with a license or certification to administer this type of assessment.
Informal assessments are not standardized. They do not require specialization to use and are often free. There is more subjectivity in this process and best used for ongoing assessment. As you can see in the following chart, informal assessments offer a lot of variety and creativity to meet the needs of the student.
In rare cases, the student will be unable or unwilling to discuss their own, preferences, interests, needs or strengths. In these instances, age-appropriate transition assessments may be based on educator observations, input from the student’s family, or information contained in the student’s records or through the Discovery Process.
Assessment Library
Additional Professional Development Support in Assessments and Transition Planning
Preparing Students to Succeed in Two & Four-Year Colleges and Universities (NCWD Youth) (PDF)
WI Opening Doors to Postsecondary Education and Training: Planning for Life After High School (PDF)
Who Does What? Optimizing Employment Services and Supports Webinar
Transition Tennessee: Transition Assessment Module (Need to create a free account)
Need more?
Transition Tennessee: Assessment Data Base
A comprehensive data base of transition assessments that utilizes filters across transition domains, assessment focus, assessment approach, language, who completes it and cost.
Transition Tennessee and Indiana University websites provide a robust list of transition assessments. Both sites provide the user with the ability to filter by transition area, age and type of assessment to best match a student’s needs.
Indiana University Transition Resource Center: Transition Assessment Matrix
Resource tools that reflect transition assessments to be used during community-based instruction, in a career/technical education classroom/program, and throughout a student’s school year. Assessments can be filtered by employment, education, independent living, grade level, language, and level of support needs.
1️⃣ Step 1: Understand Assessment Data
Assessment data is collected throughout the year and builds on the prior year’s IEP. Data is compared from year-to-year to identify growth and confirm past ideas.
Assessments identify interests, gaps, deficits, and strengths in areas like:
Employment
Education
Training
Independent Living (if applicable)
This data ensures SMART postsecondary goals (PSGs) are tailored to the student's strengths, preferences, interests, and needs (SPIN).
Step 2: Analyze the Data
Review past year’s data: Conversations, observations, grades, testing, assessments, and feedback are all part of the process. Start with reviewing last year's PLAAFP, PSG, Course of Study, and Transition Activities and services along with the annual goals.
Ask yourself: Are last year’s postsecondary goals still on target with the student’s SPIN? Do they support what the student wants, and are the student's interests and preferences supported by the data?
Yes: Restate the PSG (better define the goal if possible) and ensure new transition activities build last year's activities and course of study.
No: Collaborate with the IEP team to analyze the data further and create new PSGs. Upon conclusion, the team will need to identify the gaps that the student will need to work on through the year as transition activities or services.
Step 3: If the Student Has No Clear Career Goals
Start with new assessments:
Interest Assessments: Explore what the student enjoys.
Skills Assessments: Identify what the student is good at.
Work Preferences or Personality Surveys: Highlight values and job preferences.
Independent Living Assessments: Understand strengths and needs in daily living.
Click here for an example of what assessments could be considered.
Click here for resources to help you analyze your data for career connections.
Also review the Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP), along with feedback from observations, interviews, and ability/strength assessments, to guide this process.
Key Reminders
Assessments are ongoing and should have been collected throughout the year based on last year’s transition activities.
Assessments often overlap, providing data for more than one postsecondary goal.
Identify what needs to be measured to identify the correct assessment.
More support in understanding assessments can be found below!
Next Step: Write the Postsecondary Transition Goals
Now that you’ve reviewed and analyzed the data, it’s time to move forward and write strong, SMART postsecondary transition goals.
You’ve got this! Transition planning is a process, and you’re building a foundation for the student’s future success. Click on to the next step!
Need more examples of formal and informal assessments?
• Formal assessments (not an exhaustive list)
Achievement tests
Intellectual functioning assessments
Adaptive behavior scales
Aptitude tests, Temperament inventories
Self-determination scales
Employability scales
Interest inventories
• Informal assessments (not an exhaustive list)
Situational assessments
Interviews Direct observation
Case file reviews
Curriculum-based assessments
Social histories
Summary statement of the coordinated activities and course of study already completed
• Student-Centered Assessments (as they relate to MPG)
ECAP data
AZCIS Person-centered planning
Self-report
Interest inventories
Skills inventories
Interviews
• Family-Centered Assessments (as they relate to MPG)
Primary family member(s), caregiver, and/or case manager
Observed student strengths and areas of need
Parents’ vision for student’s post-school plans
Agency reports of services provided outside of school
• School-centered assessments (as they relate to MPG)
Cumulative file review
Special education file review/review of existing data
General education courses
Core class performance
CTE courses
Extracurricular activity reports
Related services
Structured observations
Situational assessments
REFERENCES For this section- Assessments
Sitlington, P. L., Neubert, D. A., Begun, W. H., Lombard, R. C., & Leconte, P. J. (2007). Assess for success: A practitioner’s handbook on transition assessment (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. p. 2-3
Rowe, D.A; Mazzoti, V.L; Hirano, K.; Alverson, C.Y. (2015) Assessing Transition skills in the 21st Century Teaching Exceptional Children; Jul/Aug 2015; 47, 6; ProQuest Social Sciences Premium Collection pg. 301
Neubert, D.A.; Leconte,P.J. (2013) Age-Appropriate Transition Assessment: The Position of the Division on Career Development and Transition Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals 36(2) 72-83
National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) (2016) Age Appropriate Transition Assessment Toolkit (4th ed.) Charlotte, NC Author
National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) (2019) Monitoring Student Progress for Transition : A Toolkit for Collecting Student Level Transition-Related Data
Wisconsin Transition Improvement Grant www.witig.org March, 2021
National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) website, collected 2025
Indicator 13. (2016, December 28). Arizona Department of Education. https://www.azed.gov/specialeducation/transition/indicator-13/
Special Thanks for the information supported and offered through the Wisconsin Transition Improvement Grant