Quality IEP Training TRANSITION 1. Transition Requirements: Intent for quality transition planning is to make sure that the process prepares students to achieve their post-secondary goals. Age 14 begin process of identifying transition services needs of the student focusing on the course of study leading to a standard diploma or special diploma along with provision or information in the area of self-determination. Age 16 TIEP must include appropriate measurable post-secondary goals, transition services to help to meet the student s post-secondary goals along with goals and objectives. Post school activities include education, career and technical education, integrated employment, adult education, adult services, independent living and community participation. 2. Planning for the IEP Team Meeting for Transition: The student must be invited to the meeting and any agency representatives who are invited with consent. If the student does not attend the IEP team meeting, the team must take other steps to ensure the student s needs, preferences, and interests are considered. The school district is responsible for maintaining documentation. A variety of ways to include agency representative input may be considered (written input form, teleconference, face-to face, etc.). The team may also determine that communication with agency will be required, but that it isn t the right time to invite an agency representative to the IEP team meeting. A statement needs to be included in the agency responsibilities section of the Transition IEP. 3. Prior Consent for Agency Representatives: District must obtain consent from the parent prior to inviting to the IEP team meeting a representative of an agency likely to provide or pay for transition services. (Mutual Exchange Form)
Consent for participation of agency representatives must be obtained from parents for each IEP meeting. 4. Understanding the Transfer of Rights at age of Majority: Transfer of Rights at Age of Majority must be discussed with the parent and student at the IEP team meeting during the school year in which the student turns 17 and every year thereafter. All rights afforded to the parent through the procedural safeguards will transfer to the student. (Rights that transfer to the student include the opportunity to examine all records, the opportunity to participate in meetings, the rights of consent, the rights to obtain an independent evaluation, and the opportunity to request mediation and/or due process hearing.) The school district will continue to provide notices to the parent, in addition to the student whose rights have transferred as required by IDEA. The right to written notice is not afforded to parents of students who are 18 and incarcerated in a juvenile justice facility or local correctional facility, but remain with the student. If the parent and student over the age of 18 disagree with each other on a course of action, the parent and student should be assisted in resolving their conflict. Mediation may be appropriate in such circumstances. A separate and distinct notice is generated by the district office closer to the time of the student s 18 th birthday. A copy of this letter will be sent to schools to be filed in the student s cumulative folder. 5. Transition Assessment: Transition assessment is the ongoing process of collecting data on the student s needs, strengths, preferences and interests. Multiple sources of information, including interviews, surveys, record reviews, formal and informal assessments and observations are collected and used to generate the student s postsecondary goals. Intent is to match a student s interests and preferences with appropriate education, training, employment and independent living options. Select instruments and methods that are appropriate for student s level, etc. 6. Student Planning Processes:
Academic and Career Planning All middle school students in Florida must complete a career and education planning course in which they create an academic and career plan for high school using epersonal Education Planner (epep). Students with disabilities are not exempted from this requirement. This plan should be updated annually. To prepare the student in the TIEP process, students may use a variety of tools available from the Florida Department of Education to guide their decisions: The epep (http://facts.org) helps middle and high school students identify courses for their high school program. The Career Cruiser (http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/pdf/cruiser.pdf) provides selfassessment activities to assist students in thinking about the relationship between personal interest and career goals. Florida CHOICES (http://www.flchoices.org) provides career and educational exploration and information and includes assessments for interest, aptitudes, skills, and values. The academic and career plan is separate from the IEP, however, its contents may be reflected in the IEP. It may also become a part of a transition portfolio. 7. Person-Centered Planning: Focuses on the student s assets rather than deficits and relies heavily on selfdetermination. Involves family and others who know the student as opposed to self-directed planning May begin as early as elementary school. Planning across the grades: Elementary personal interests and strengths Middle vision and expectations for the future Ninth grade understanding oneself and career decision making Tenth grade exploring careers Eleventh grade skill development and training with a chosen career
Twelfth grade enhancing specialized skills with focused, work-based learning activities and finalizing postsecondary linkages 8. Transition Requirement, Beginning at Age 14: Beginning in eighth grade, or during the school year in which the student turns 14, whichever is sooner, the IEP must include a statement of whether the student is pursuing a course of study leading to a standard diploma or a special diploma. This statement will be updated annually. The IEP team will consider the student s need for instruction or information about self-determination. A self-determined person sets goals, makes decisions, seeks options, solves problems, speaks up for himself, understands what supports are needed for success and can evaluate outcomes. Students are more likely to participate as effective decision-makers during their IEP team meetings when they: Understand their disability, Learn how their disability will affect their dreams of college, work, independent living, and relationships and Build the confidence to communicate their dreams and needs (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, n.d., question 9) Districts may document the student s need for self-determination instruction in the IEP by: Identifying services that will address the student s education needs (e.g. selfadvocacy skills, goal setting decision making) Developing annual goals in the IEP to address the need for self-determination instruction Adding a line to the IEP to note how instruction will be provided and/or information disseminated about self-determination 9. Diploma Options and Course of Study: In eighth grade or during the year in which the student turns 14, the IEP must include a statement of whether the student is pursuing a course of study leading to a standard diploma or a special diploma. Diploma option plays an important part in determining the student s course of study The diploma option and the course of study need to align with the student s measurable postsecondary goals. The diploma option must be reviewed annually along with the transition services.
The course of study statement must describe the instructional program and experiences the school district will provide to prepare the student for transition from school to adult living. 10. Transition Services Requirements for Postsecondary Goals, Beginning at Age 16: Beginning with the IEP that will be in effect when the student turns 16, the IEP must include measurable postsecondary goals (education and training, employment and independent living skills if appropriate). Education/Training: ABE, Adult High School, vocational programs and/or college or University, Workforce education or training provided by an agency or service provider Employment Competitive with compensation at or above minimum wage. Independent Living Life skills, personal care, community participation, residential services, civic organizations, volunteer work and religious groups Measurable postsecondary goals are based on age-appropriate transition assessments and reflect what the student plans to achieve after graduation from high school. The postsecondary goals must be stated in measurable terms and include a target date or timeline, measurable behavior and condition. Postsecondary goals must be update annually and revised when necessary. 11. Documenting Transition Services on the IEP, Age 16 and Above : The IEP team must address the student s transition needs prior to the student s 16 th birthday (for our district, the TIEP school year in which the student turns 15 years of age) in the areas focusing on the course of study. These areas include: Instruction: This may be provided in school, home, or community settings. It may also include community-based instruction and travel training, instruction in academic and career and technical education courses, and extracurricular activities. Related services: These are transportation and developmental, corrective, or other supportive services required for the student to benefit from special education. Related services may include transportation to a community-based instruction site or employment training, career counseling, assistive technology services, job coaching, functional vocation evaluation, rehabilitation counseling, visits to postsecondary schools, job shadowing, mentoring, and therapeutic recreation.
Community experiences: This includes services and activities provided outside of the school building in community settings or by other agencies. Community experiences may include banking, shopping, using public transportation, social activities, and recreational and leisure services. Employment: This refers to those services and activities that prepare a student for and lead to employment, including the following: career and educational planning, exploratory career and technical preparation, job preparatory education, career preparation, career experience, career placement, and supportive competitive employment. Post-school adult living: This refers to adult activities that are associated with living arrangements, financial management, and community involvement. Experiences and activities to prepare the student for future living arrangements after exiting high school fall into this category. Acquisition of daily living skills: This refers to activities adults do every day to care for and manage personal needs, such as preparing meals, budgeting, maintaining a home, paying bills, caring for clothes, and grooming. Functional vocational evaluation: It may include formal or commercial assessment; interviews, systematic observations, and survey; as well as work sampling, situational assessments, job site visits, community based (vocational) assessments, job try-outs, and job analyses of the student s outside employment and volunteer work in real-life (Vocational Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals, 2009). The IEP that will be in effect when the student turns 16 must include a statement of needed transition services, including courses of study, to assist the student in reaching measurable postsecondary goals or annual IEP goals. If appropriate, a state of the interagency responsibilities or any needed linkages is also included on the IEP. The IEP team will use data from transition assessments to make collaborative decision about what the student needs in each transition service area. The no services needed statement is no longer required, however, for purposes of clarity the team may decide to document that no services are needed in a particular area. 12. Agency Involvement:
For students who require the support and services of agencies to attain postsecondary goals. If an agency fails to provide an agreed upon transition service, the school must convene an IEP meeting to identify alternative strategies to meet the student s needs. 13. Summary of Performance: A Summary of Performance (SOP) is required for students with disabilities exiting high school with a standard diploma, special diploma, certificate of completion or aging out of their educational program. The SOP includes a summary of the student s academic and functional performance, copies of evaluations, assessments and other relevant reports and recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting postsecondary goals (FDOE, 2010, November 15). Student involvement in the development of their SOP will help them articulate their perceptions and the impact of their own disability, as well as be able to determine which services and accommodations have been useful. Students should participate in meetings to develop the SOP and provide input based on data from assessments. The student should have opportunities to learn how to use the SOP to advocate for his/her own needs after leaving high school (Project 10, 2009, December; 2010, October). This is most important for students entering postsecondary education programs and employment. They must self-identify and advocate for their own accommodations when they exit the school system. As a point of clarification, IDEA 2004 does not require a reevaluation for students leaving the educational program as a result of graduation with a standard diploma or exiting school upon reaching their 22 nd birthday.