Transition Planning for Secondary Students With Disabilities - Softcover

For each individual student, with a disability or not, school is a transitional experience. Each year of high school forms a foundation for the next, culminating in graduation. Another transitional experience is offered up to students the day after high school—be it work or further education. From a transition perspective, high school should be enjoyed for what it is. Nonetheless, beyond the meaning of the everyday learning and living, all students, on varying timetables and with individual urgency, take on a future orientation during the high school years. Looming in the background is the question: What am I going to do after high school? High school programs and transition activities are steppingstones to the future. Their importance directly relates to the degree to which they constitute learning and experiences that reflect movement toward or clarity about the student's transition goals after high school.

For students to have an investment in their education, meaningful participation in the "right" programs is essential. If students cannot say to themselves, "1'm going somewhere, and this is the way or path to my goals," disengagement is inevitable. Access to the full range of high school programs and individualized and varied work-based learning is essential. Again the student must be able to "walk through the door" and be free to participate in the programs of their choice that relate to their goals. This process needs to deal with any adjustments, adaptations, or auxiliary aids and services necessary for the student to perform within the program or work setting. Access is necessary to realize the benefits of participation in regular education, vocational education, and school-to-work programs. Transition Planning for Secondary Students with Disabilities describes the varied transition needs of students and the myriad options and career paths potentially available. Section I: Transition Foundations

Section I provides the broad background required to understand the complex developmental and educational process that takes place from early adolescence through young adulthood. In Chapter 1 (History and Transition Legislation), the evolution of transition law and policy is traced within a framework of the maturing disability rights movement and transition initiatives. The requirements and the need for transition services are no longer debatable. A clear direction for individualized services within an interdisciplinary and coordinated system emerges from the vast literature and comprehensive legislation on transition practices.

The models and best practices, which have been developed over the roughly 50 years of the modern era, are described in Chapter 2 (Transition Models and Best Practices). Models are described that delineate the major components of transition, are related to the essential elements, and then are fleshed out in a description of "best practices" that have emerged from the literature. A theoretical base of career development is provided in Chapter 3 (Career Development: Theories for Transition Planning) so that the individual developmental and educational needs of students are understood.

Planning is central to transition and enables the needs and preferences of students to be the beginning point of the transition process. A career development framework enables the transition team to view the student as evolving and maturing. Career development is a general approach for fitting the students' transition goals within high school programs and preparation options.

The roles of both school and postschool professionals functioning within a team process are explored and outlined in Chapter 4 (Transition Collaborators). Major responsibilities and contributions to the transition process are described for both disability professionals and generic educators and service providers. Coordinated activities among diverse programs and discipline approaches are needed to meet transition needs across the diverse populations of special education students. In Chapter 5 (Multicultural Competence in Transition Planning Processes) the changing composition of the special education student is described from a multicultural viewpoint. In order to engage the student and family in the transition process, the transition team needs to understand the value base, beliefs, and structures of students and families in their natural environments. Section II: Career and Transition Services

Section II moves from the foundations of transition addressed in Section I to its programmatic implementation. The five chapters in this section provide the application of career theory to career and vocational education and curriculum development, and the implementation of these programs through valid assessment and effective instruction. Assessment practices are used to monitor and evaluate these programs to ensure success, and instruction and the use of technology guarantees access to these programs as well as a full range of optimizing life and career opportunities.

Chapter 6 (Career and Vocational Education) summarizes the concepts and principles of career education and their integration with vocational education as the student begins the final steps of the high school segment of preparation for a career. It describes several examples of career and vocational programs used in schools to prepare students with disabilities for adult living. Chapter 7 (Transition Assessment and Postschool Outcomes) describes basic assessment practices and processes which are at the heart of special education eligibility as well as appropriate program selection and ongoing monitoring which ensures optimal learning and skill acquisition for the student.

Chapter 8 (Curriculum Development and Transition) provides background in curriculum development across a range of content area choices. The IEP team and teachers must make choices that implement career and vocational preparation, in conjunction with other content and skill areas that prepare the student for his or her individually chosen transition outcomes. When these choices are integrated and assembled across the student's profile of educational and transition strengths and needs, they become a curriculum.

Chapter 9 (Instructional Strategies) describes the instructional strategies that are used to provide the student with the knowledge and skills in career and vocational education and across his or her full educational curriculum. Assessment practices are used to ensure that these strategies and classroom management practices are effective in promoting student learning and development, and that they lead to the achievement of desired transition outcomes.

Chapter 10 (The Role of Technology in Transition Planning) describes several of the technologies available that allow students to access the full range of curricular and postschool options that lead to a quality adult life. It provides team members with the processes needed for investigating and making decisions about technology and assistive devices that will lead to long-term satisfaction and use. Section III: Transition Planning

Section III moves from a discussion of programs in rehabilitation and special, general, and vocational education to a discussion of how these programs can be integrated into transition planning and program development for youth with disabilities. These four chapters can be viewed as a technical manual that describes h6w to weave policy, best practices, and myriad programs and services into transition activities that promote student self-determination, effective transition planning, service coordination, and family involvement.

Chapter 11 (Participatory Decision-Making: Innovative Practices That Increase Student Self-Determination) provides an overview of self-determination and related curriculum. It presents an in-depth look at how students move from passive spectators to involved decision-makers and a step-by-step process for supporting students in this process. It discusses one self-determination curriculum in detail so that the reader can become familiar with how these instruments work, and it provides an overview of other self-determination instruments.

Chapter 12 (Transition Planning) provides an overview of policy related to transition planning and discusses some common myths in regard to transition planning. It then moves the reader through the process of developing a transition planning process, preplanning for the IEP meeting, conducting that meeting, and evaluating progress. Chapter 12 also provides a case study that demonstrates this process and answers questions that parents frequently ask. (A glossary of terms commonly used in transition planning can be found in Appendix D at the back of the book.)

Chapter 13 (Coordinating Transition Services) talks about transition service coordination from both an individual and systemic perspective. It examines state-of-the-art case management and service coordination models and discusses some of the barriers to applying these in a highly-bureaucratic and fragmented transition system. Chapter 13 then looks a