About Secondary Transition

The future depends upon what we do in the present. --Mahatma Gandhi

Secondary Transition Planning - A multi-year process

September 28th, 2009 | Sue Beck and John Magee

For students with disabilities in Ohio, educators have the opportunity each year to engage the student and family in planning for the student's future. This opportunity is built into the IEP process as Step 1 Future Planning. Conversations and discussions about the future should be ongoing and occur outside of the context of a formal meeting. The IEP form is merely a place to document the thoughts, ideas, plans, visions, and processes that are discussed and identified for transition to adult life.

Educators and other school or agency personnel working with the student might change from year to year; however, student and family are the constant members of the IEP Team. As such, they bring the continuity of information about the student's preferences, interests, needs, and strengths. Students and families must be empowered to "own" their plans for the future, thereby facilitating seamless transitions from year to year and, eventually, to life as an adult.

Future Planning is always student centered and directed. Use the Step 3 Student Profile to describe the student as an individual including the student's preferences, interests, needs, and strengths. As the student moves from grade to grade getting closer to graduation, the plans for the future should become more specific to adult environments. By age 14, the student and his or her family will be ready to begin making informed decisions about high school courses for study and services needed for success in the transition to high school and beyond.

When Future Planning is an ongoing discussion throughout the years, the student, family and all members of the IEP Team should be confident that the Measurable Post Secondary Goals developed by age 16 are both realizable and visionary.

The following is a list of essential elements from the state and federal rules governing secondary transition for Students with Disabilities. In some clear form, these elements must be addressed in the process and format of the secondary transition component of the IEP.

In the Federal Rules, Secondary Transition is described as "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.."

Specific elements of the Federal Rules,

  1. A coordinated set of activities
  2. Designed to be within a results-oriented process
  3. Focused on improving the academic and functional achievement
  4. To facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities
  5. Including [if needed]

    1. postsecondary education,
    2. vocational education,
    3. integrated employment (including supported employment),
    4. continuing and adult education,
    5. adult services,
    6. independent living,
    7. or community participation
  6. Based on the individual child's needs, taking into account the child's strengths, preferences, and interests
  7. and [may] include -

    • Instruction;
    • Related services;
    • Community experiences;
    • The development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives; and
    • if appropiate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation
  8. Transition services for children with disabilities may be special education, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a related service, if required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education
  9. Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team, and updated annually, thereafter, the IEP must include -

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

From Ohio's Operating Standards for Educational Agencies Serving Children with Disabilities:

  1. For each student with a disability, beginning at age 14 (or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team)
  2. The IEP shall include a statement, updated annually, of the transition service needs of the student
  3. That focuses on the student's courses of study (such as participation in advanced-placement courses or a vocational education program)
  4. For each student beginning at age 16 (or younger, if determined appropriate by the IEP team), the IEP shall include a statement of needed transition services for the student, including, if appropriate, a statement of the interagency responsibilities or any needed linkages.
  5. If a participating agency (meaning a State or local agency other than the school district responsible for a student's education, that is financially and legally responsible for providing transition services to the student) fails to provide the transition services described in the IEP, the school district shall reconvene the IEP team to identify alternative strategies to meet the transition objectives for the child set out in the IEP