Transitional Services and Programs

Abstract

Students in this country today face many challenges. Those with learning or physical differences face the additional challenges of equal access to an education as well as to facilities. In addition, many will require transition services to help them adapt to society after completing their high school experience. Some students with disabilities are diagnosed early in life, while others may go undiagnosed for many years. An observant parent or doctor may pick up on it early on, but it is often a teacher or mentor who picks up on it later in life. When intervention starts early, programs can be designed to provide the student with the necessary services, training, and accommodations to be productive citizens. These services are put in place for the length of the student’s school “career,” and, in some instances, can provide life-long support. They are referred to as transitional services and are granted to classified students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA ’04).

They can be put in place at any time over the course of a student’s life, but when they begin at the pre-school or elementary level, intervention services can have the greatest long-term benefit for the student. A second transition occurs at the high school level. It is designed to carry the student through the age of twenty-one and then to follow him or her through life, as warranted. Individual school districts are required to have a Committee on Special Education that is convened on a regular basis to address the needs of those students requiring services. Stakeholders include: counselors, educators, administrations, parents, community members, and students, who regularly meet to discuss the goals for the student and the programs and accommodations that will provide them with the tools they need to be successful.

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Transitional Services and Programs

For students who traditionally receive special education services, the path to the “American Dream” is often riddled with frustration and disappointment. Physical limitations can keep a student from entering their workplace, and once inside the building, accommodations must be in place to allow the worker the ability to move about freely in case of an emergency. This can include the installation of elevators, handicap accessible restrooms, telephones, etc. Federal legislation through the Americans with Disabilities Act provides training, and legal assistance for ensuring that their needs will be addressed (US ADA).

The U.S. Department of Education provides training projects, conducts research into appropriate programs, and models best practices for students, in order to provide them with the necessary tools to be successful and productive adults (Will, 1984). Once a student is identified as having a learning or physical disability (this usually occurs in pre-school or elementary school), they are provided with a series of educational services that are designed to start by the age of fourteen and follow them through to age twenty one (Benz). These are called transitional planning services, as they provide the necessary support for students to further their education, improve the life experience and expectancy for these students, and help them find a useful place in society.

Transition planning is designed to lower the possibility that a special needs student will leave high school before graduation, and to encourage them to pursue a higher education so that they can ultimately obtain a better paying job, and develop the skills necessary to find and maintain steady employment (IRIS). Students with Individual Education Plans (IEP) have been identified, tested, and had plans put in place for their current and future education needs. It is important to remember that these needs are reviewed at the beginning and end of each school year to chart progress and decide if program modifications are needed and how they will be implemented. When a classified student reaches the age of fourteen, a transition plan is put into place that provides a series of long- and short-term goals for the student.

Short-term goals can include scheduling or programs to ensure that the student will ultimately graduate, or long-term goals that can include strategies for independent living and college or vocational preparation. The purpose for beginning the transition process between middle and high school is to allow the time necessary to teach skills that will enable the student to lead a healthy, productive life. Consistent membership on the Committee for Special Education is important, as steady members know the entire history of the student, and do not need to spend time bringing temporary members up to speed. As a student makes the move middle school to high school, for example, the membership will change because of the move to a new building. In the Hyde Park School District, that first meeting is held with both committees present.

Students are often identified as being in need of transitional services when they enter pre-school. Stakeholders will identify those students they feel are in need of interventions and will work to complete the process of classification. Some may come into the system with IEPs in place from other schools, or they may be recommended for services based on a physician’s diagnosis or a teacher’s observation. The Committee on Special Education then meets to discuss any further testing that will need to be conducted and sets a series of goals for each student. This process will include a listing of programs and accommodations along with the necessary tools to ensure that the student will be successful after they reach the age of majority.

Once it is determined that a student will require transition services, a meeting is held with all the stakeholders to discuss student performance to date, required testing and its results, and then put in place a set of accommodations, goals, and timelines for meeting those goals. Members of the Committee on Special Education include; school officials (an administrator and special education coordinator), classroom and special education teachers, support personnel (Guidance Counselor, psychologist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, etc.), a member from the public, family members and the student. Each member of the committee serves a specific purpose and is tasked with offering; observation skills, legal background information, assessment and data collection, and services provided by outside agencies.

Transition planning is a team approach (Sitlington). It begins first with the student, and his or her future goals. During an initial interview questioning can include where the student wants to live and how, and what they want to do for a living. Family members are also active participants in this process, as they very often can provide insight into the student that the regular or special education teacher could not. They may observe, for example, that the student likes to build things out of wood, is a good cook at home, or is involved in their church, a specific community group or that they like being outdoors. They can also provide economic (family income, whether there is medical or dental insurance, and the number of family members occupying the residence) and cultural (ethnic background, immigrant status, and the language proficiency of family members living in the same house) information about the student that would be helpful to the process.

Even the cafeteria staff can be involved in this process, as they will often offer insights as to food choices in the lunch line and whether the student receives free of reduced lunch and breakfast through Title I funding. Both the student and family must feel that the professionals on the team are respectful and that they are being treated with dignity. Before the meeting, the Case Manager will send all the staff notice that a meeting will occur and ask them for comment. School-based professionals can discuss the testing results and put them in terms easily understood by the family (a community member who acts as an advocate on the committee would be a plus for family members with limited English language skills or those with diminished mental capacities.) If the services of a translator are required, the Committee will provide one. In Hyde Park, we often depend on the local hospital for translators in languages other than Spanish of French. This is a service they offer us free of charge as a community outreach.

While the special educator is responsible for conducting testing, such as the Gates MacGinitie or Woodcock Johnson, the psychologist will conduct cognitive tests, such as the WISC or WRAT. Both of these provide numerical scores that can be converted to grade equivalents for discussion purposes. This information can then be combined with the anecdotal notes from the student and family interview to create a complete student profile. The regular education teachers will introduce the differentiation strategies used in their particular classroom, the core curriculum for their content area, classroom expectations and how they will impact student learning. Many will offer organizational strategies they have found to be valuable to other students with similar learning or physical differences. The special education coordinator facilitates the meeting and pulls all of the information together, along with the results of any vocational inventories to provide the student with a complete transition plan.

The guidance counselor very often acts as the student advocate at these meetings. They have had many personal conversations with the students and know what their scheduling needs are. Many schools use the guidance department as the source for formal vocational assessment. This showcases a student’s skills set, areas of interest, and where assistance will be required. “Standardized testing includes the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, the Self-Directed Search (SDS), the Strong Interest Inventory, the Occupational Aptitude Survey and Interest Assessment, second edition (OASIS II), vocational aptitudes and inventories (assessment tools that include the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT), and college entrance exams” (Levinson & Ohler). Informal assessments are designed to gather information from non-standard sources such as teacher anecdotal notes, classroom observations, examples of student work, and medical records. Without these tests, it is difficult to identify what accommodations and modifications should be attached to the plan. It should be noted that students with disabilities are more likely to experience unemployment, lower pay, and job dissatisfaction (Dunn).

Many will drop out early, making their ability to maintain employment more difficult. Guidance Counselors can use the vocational inventories to help the student better understand their capabilities and work with them in finding an appropriate job placement. In addition, they help the Committee to validate the formal test data. The counselor will also research post-graduation opportunities for the student. This may include trade school, community college, the military, or the workforce. They communicate with these groups and are aware of the services available to the special needs student. Many maintain databases of local employers looking for students with specific disabilities for their companies. The counselor also coordinates with outside agencies to line up school-to-work programs, ensure that the student is on-track to graduate, and that all of the State Board of Regents requirements for graduation will be met.

Each member of this committee is responsible for contributing to the IEP plan and putting one in place that best meets the needs of the student. After the IEP has been finalized, the work begins. The Case Manager meets with the student to discuss the plan and establish a series of small, personal, easy to achieve goals for the student, based on those in the IEP. Teaching organizational skills, showing the student how to safely and quickly get from place to place within the new building and acting as a consultant to the classroom teacher allows the Case Manager to build a bridge with the content specialist. This can include explaining or providing IEP accommodations, helping the classroom teacher to modify assignments, or provide information about goal setting and progress in the classroom.Perhaps the most important role of the Case Manager is to help the student learn self-advocacy (Levinson & Palmer). The student will need to communication their needs to a teacher or employer in the future and must learn to do so respectfully and authoritatively.

The Guidance counselor is responsible for making sure that the school-to-work program is in place. He or she acts as a go between for the federal, state, and local services that will be set in place for the student. In Dutchess County, New York, it is DC BOCES that coordinates these services between the member school districts and the support agencies.He or she first considers the results of the formal and informal testing that was conducted and coordinates the educational plan that includes: the type and number of classes, support services designed to ensure student success, employment and strategies for independent living, and learning the skills necessary to cook, clean, balance a checkbook, fill out a job application, and rent an apartment.

In addition to the Guidance Counselor, other school personnel can help meet the special needs of the student and help him or her prepare for their future. Dunn (1996) considers that there are “three goals for students: to gain an understanding of themselves and their abilities, interests, and values; gain an understanding of the world of work; and acquire effective decision-making skills. Each of these areas is important to the students’ ability to make realistic and informed decisions about work, and school-based activities.” Administrators ensure that staff members attend and provide input at transition planning meetings by arranging for classroom coverage. Teachers provide anecdotal classroom notes and assessment data that address the strengths and interests of their students. They can also discuss realistic career goals and invite local trades people to discuss career choices with the class as a whole. A student who wishes to become a doctor, for example, may find greater success as a Certified Nursing Assistant or a Home Health Aide, or they may just volunteer at their local hospital. Discussing Life Science topics with this group would be beneficial.

A carpenter needs to use the geometry of perimeter to order and install baseboard trim around a room, an electrician needs to understand the physics electrical loss when running wires over a long distance, and an excavator needs to understand the principals erosion when putting in a driveway. Teachers can introduce career options and incorporate real-world applications of subject matter into homework and tests. Inviting guest speakers into the classroom allows the student to see how their classroom experience relates to real-world skills. Support personnel can offer insight into their career choices. The school cafeteria staff, can give tours and discuss food service careers, the transportation department can talk about mechanics or driving large vehicles, and secretaries can talk about office jobs; filing, how to properly answer the phone, and collect and distribute mail. Parents should be encouraged to participate in developing the goals and objectives for the student. Whether they have the developmental capacity to do so or not, a parent can often add a perspective that will help the committee. They can attend presentations and workshops with their children, join support groups, or conduct their own Internet research.

Parental and community involvement can also include a discussion of personal work experiences, local resources, and career choices. Those students preparing to take a place in the workforce are also given consideration in the transitional process. Finding a rewarding job for many is an equally viable option. In the Hyde Park School District, potential local employers hold a mini job fair for our classified students every spring. They also offer tours of their facilities. Some students will opt to work while still in school, while others prefer to wait until after graduation. Those students participating in the work-study program meet with the employer to fill out a contract with the student requiring that grades be at a “C” level, proper attire be worn when at work, and that attendance must be within acceptable levels. Several of our students have chosen to continue with these companies after graduation, and one chose to remain in her position while beginning at the local community college. Students choosing to wait until graduation to go to work will obtain employment services, or conduct their job search through a state or local employment agency.

Many state and local agencies are available to assist the school, parents and the student in the transition process. In Dutchess County, for example, specialized schools are available that can provide reading support for Dyslexic students, life skills training and education for Autistic students, and job-training for developmentally disabled students. Research through state and local databases can offer a myriad of agencies designed to offer financial assistance, planning and advocacy. Local colleges offer workshops both before the application process and upon acceptance to college (Sherman). County and regional centers offer training, bilingual services, behavior intervention services, approvals for private school providers, and local special education school improvement specialists. Through the student’s IEP, community agencies, families, and service providers can help the student meet their personal goals. For many students in the past, life came to an abrupt halt in their late teens. To allow these students a normal post-high school experience, colleges in twenty-three states have begun programs to provide a college-like experience for many of these students.

Conclusion

For a special needs student, a network of professionals is in place to provide services and support. Through the CSE process, they provide transitional services that begin with careful planning and open lines of communication. The members of the Committee on Special Education meet at regular intervals over the course of the school year to gather related data, look at programs, and provide guidance to the classroom teacher, student, and parents. They then advise all the classroom teachers and any other staff whom may have contact with the student what the result of the transitional services meeting is. Many schools subscribe to an Internet based program called IEP Direct, and post a student’s documentation for all authorized personnel to access. After the meeting, they are asked to read the minutes and offer a response. This “village” approach to providing stabilization for a student with disabilities has proven to be very successful.

References

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