Transition

 (19 TAC §89.1055(g)(1-9) and 34 CFR §300.320(b))

Transition for a Student with Special Needs

"Transition refers to a change in status from behaving primarily as a student to assuming emergent adult roles in the community. These roles include employment, participating in post-secondary training/education, maintaining a home, becoming appropriately involved in the community, and experiencing satisfactory personal and social relationships. The process of enhancing transition involves the participation and coordination of school programs, adult agency services, and natural supports within the community.

The foundation for transition should be laid during the elementary and middle school years, guided by the broad concept of career development. Transition planning should begin no later than age 14, and students should be encouraged, to the full extent of their capabilities, to assume a maximum amount of responsibility for such planning."    (Halpern, 1994)

Transition and Employment Guide

ILTEXAS must:

• Post the Texas Transition and Employment Guide on the district's website.

• Provide written information and, if necessary, assistance to the parent regarding how to access the electronic version of the guide at

  • The ARD Committee meeting at which transition is discussed or

  • The first ARD Committee meeting that occurs after the guide becomes available if the student's ARD Committee has already met previously to discuss transition.

Requirements

Federal Requirements:

Transition services and activities must be included in the development of the IEP no later than the first IEP to be in effect when the student turns 16 or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team and must include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and where appropriate, independent living skills. 

State Requirements: (note the main difference between Federal and state requirements is the age a full Transition Plan development is required)

Texas requirements for transition services are aligned to the federal requirements included in IDEA 2004.  However, state law and guidance include additional requirements for the provision of transition services for students receiving special education services in Texas. A new state law passed in the summer of 2011 requires that "appropriate state transition planning must begin for a student not later than when the student reaches 14 years of age" (SB 1788, 06/17/2011). The Texas Administrative Code (TAC) describes the following nine issues important to the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students receiving special education services.

• Appropriate student involvement in the student's transition to life outside the public school system

• If the student is younger than 18 years of age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's transition

• If the student is at least 18 years of age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's transition, if the parent is invited to participate by the student or the school district in which the student is enrolled

• Any postsecondary education options 

• A functional vocational evaluation

• Employment goals and objectives

• If the student is at least 18 years of age, the availability of age-appropriate instructional environments

• Independent living goals and objectives

• Appropriate circumstances for referring a student or the student's parents to a governmental agency for services

Transition Services

• Transition services means working as a team with the student, parent, school staff, and outside agencies or community service to develop a coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that is based on the individual student's needs, taking into account:

  • the student's strengths,

  • preferences,

  • interests,

  • which includes instruction,

  • related services,

  • community experience,

  • the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and

  • if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.

• All of these activities will be considered for each student; however, specific activities will be determined by the needs of each student.

• Transition is a results-oriented process that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of a child with disabilities to facilitate the movement from school to post-school activities.

• These activities, through state guidelines, begin on or before the student turns 14 years old with postsecondary goals in education or training, employment and, if appropriate, independent living skills based on age-appropriate transition assessments and an examination of transition issues, including the appropriate courses of study based on transition goals.

• The IEP will include transition services that are needed to assist the student in reaching those post-secondary goals.

• Development in the following skill area in the focus of services: Vocational, Daily Living, Community-Based, Social, and Leisure/Recreation.

• The Special Education Teacher/Case Manager is responsible for providing, when appropriate, parent, teacher, and student input forms for transition planning and/or as a portion of transition assessment.

• Although transition planning must be in place by age 14, it can be completed earlier, depending on the needs of the student.

  • Earlier transition planning, when appropriate, can be considered for students with moderate to severe disabilities who may need additional services from outside agencies with long waiting lists.

• Appropriate student involvement in the student's transition to life outside the public school system includes student participation in the ARD\IEP committee.

  • Best practices would indicate that to the extent possible, the student should lead a portion of the ARD/IEP meeting, taking into consideration his or her capabilities.

• The student will be invited to the ARD/IEP Committee meeting when transition services will be discussed.

• The ARD/IEP Committee will make decisions regarding transition goals and services based on age-appropriate transition assessments.

  • The transition goals and services in the student's IEP will be updated annually.

• An ARD/IEP Committee will consider and, if appropriate, address the issue of a formal functional vocational evaluation.

  • A formal functional vocational evaluation is an assessment process that provides information about job or career interests, aptitudes, and skills. Information is gathered through situational assessments in the setting where the job is performed and takes ARD Committee input and parent permission.

  • The ARD/IEP Committee identifies students who will benefit from services in a vocational program such as Community Based Instruction (CBI). Community-Based Vocational Instruction (CBVI) or Work Based Learning (WBL).

  • The informal or formal functional vocational evaluation can be a useful tool in assessing the progress of these students. The informal functional vocational evaluation is an ongoing data collection process and is part of a student in special education services' ongoing data collection process.

• Age-appropriate instructional environments will be available for students who are 18 years of age and older.

  • The ARD/IEP committee must determine the appropriate environment for each student in this age category on a case-by-case basis, but decisions should be made by taking into consideration what typical students in general education are doing at that age (e.g., college, technical school, employment, volunteer positions, etc.) and the comparable environments available.

• Formal transition planning is completed during the ARD/IEP committee meeting and focuses on assisting students with disabilities to become independent within the community to the greatest extent possible.

• For students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (AU), IEP goals and objectives will address the skills necessary to function in current and future environments.

  • Transition (or future) planning for students with AU at any age includes ARD/IEP Committee determination of need and establishing a plan, if appropriate, to support the student's successful transition from the current to the next environment(s).

  • Such support might also include assisting students to transition from elementary to middle school level, from middle to high school, and/or across instructional settings.

• Prior to the student's 17th birthday, the Notice of Transfer of Parental Rights must be completed. Refer to the current Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for more detailed information regarding this subject.

• Plan Addressing Needed Transition Services. (This is not the purpose of a Personal Graduation Plan)

• By age 17, inform student/parent of the transfer of rights to the student when students reach age 18 and complete the transfer of rights statement in the ARD/IEP Supplement: Personal Graduation Plan Addressing Needed Transition Services. (This is not the purpose of a Personal Graduation Plan)

• If a student's goal is to be employed after graduation from high school, the appropriate courses should be included in the IEP and addressed on the Graduation Options supplement; this begins the documentation of the student's goals after graduation.

• Adult service providers (agencies) should be included at the transition meeting before graduation, depending upon the individual student's needs. If an agency commits to providing a service and that service is never provided, the ARD/IEP committee must reconvene to determine how that need will be met.

Resources
Texas Transition and Employment Guide (English)

Texas Transition and Employment Guide (Spanish)