# Your Complete Guide to Transition Planning and Services ## Your Complete Guide to Transition Planning and Services by Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D. University of Kansas Lawrence and Beth Clavenna-Deane, Ph.D. Keystone Learning Services Ozawkie, Kansas --- ## Contents 1. **I'm Responsible for Transition Planning . . . Now What Do I Do?** ..... 1 Getting Started: Learning the Basics of Transition Planning and Services ..... 2 Key School Personnel: The Secondary Special Educator and Transition Coordinator ..... 3 Making It Happen: Implementing Effective Transition Programs and Services ..... 6 Transition Assessment ..... 7 Transition Planning ..... 8 Family Involvement ..... 8 Student Involvement ..... 8 Transition-Focused Curriculum and Instruction ..... 9 Interagency Collaboration and Community Services ..... 11 Systems-Level Infrastructure ..... 11 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 12 Chapter Appendix 1: Skills and Knowledge Checklist for the Transition Specialist ..... 13 2. **Transition Planning From Compliance to Quality** ..... 21 Getting Started: Understanding the IDEA Requirements for Transition ..... 21 When Transition Planning Starts ..... 22 Who Is Involved in Transition Planning ..... 23 Writing Transition Individualized Education Programs ..... 27 Interagency Collaboration ..... 36 The Age of Majority and Transfer of Rights ..... 36 The Summary of Performance ..... 37 Making It Happen: Creating Quality Transition Planning Approaches ..... 38 Understand that Transition Is a Process ..... 38 Keep the Student Actively Involved in the Process ..... 40 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 40 Online Resources ..... 43 3. **Student-Directed Planning and Involvement** ..... 45 Getting Started: Defining Self-Determination and the Student's Role in Transition Planning ..... 46 Making It Happen: Supporting Student Self-Determination ..... 48 Selecting Self-Determination Curricula ..... 50 Assessing Self-Determination ..... 52 Data Collection and Evaluating Student Progress ..... 54 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 54 4. **Family Involvement: Engaging Families During Transition** ..... 67 Getting Started: Why Are Families So Important? ..... 68 When Are Families Involved in Schools? ..... 68 Understanding the Family Systems Framework ..... 69 Making It Happen: Supporting Families During Transition ..... 77 Create Welcoming Places ..... 77 Increase Family Involvement ..... 78 Understand Cultural Reciprocity to Develop Partnerships With All Families ..... 83 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 84 Online Resources ..... 89 5. **Transition Assessment: The Cornerstone of Transition Planning** ..... 91 Getting Started: Defining Transition Assessment ..... 92 A Comprehensive Process ..... 92 Individualized Education Programs and Transition Assessment ..... 93 Making It Happen: Implementing a Student-Centered Transition Process ..... 93 Types and Approaches to Transition Assessment ..... 94 Implementing the Transition Assessment Process ..... 98 Building a Transition Assessment Toolkit ..... 100 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 105 Online Resources ..... 109 6. **School Engagement: Keeping All Students in School** ..... 111 Getting Started: Understanding Student Engagement ..... 112 The Consequences of Dropping Out ..... 112 Defining Student Engagement ..... 113 Making It Happen: Strategies to Promote Student Engagement ..... 116 Consider "The ABCs of Disengagement" ..... 117 Create Multi-tiered Systems of Support ..... 117 Use Data to Keep Students on Track ..... 120 Use Proven Interventions ..... 124 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 131 7. **Inclusion in General Education: Strategies for Embedding Transition Into Academic Content** ..... 135 Getting Started: Understand That Access to the General Education Curriculum Is Critical to Transition Outcomes ..... 136 Learn the Role of the General Education Teacher in the Transition Individualized Education Program Meeting ..... 136 Understand the Common Core and Other State Standards ..... 137 Making It Happen: Embedding Transition Skills Within Core Academic Content ..... 138 Provide Access to the General Education Curriculum ..... 140 Provide Instructional Supports for Learning: Accommodations and Modifications ..... 141 Access the What, How, and Why of Learning Through Universal Design for Learning ..... 142 Use Assistive Technology to Support Learning and Transition ..... 144 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 145 8. **Preparing for Employment and Career Development** ..... 147 Getting Started: Planning for Careers ..... 148 Effective Career Development: An Evidence-Based Practice for All Students ..... 148 The Stages of Career Development ..... 150 Making It Happen: Building a Quality Career-Development Program ..... 151 Coordinate a District-Wide Career Development Team ..... 152 Build Programs Aligned With the Components of Career Development ..... 152 Meet the Requirements of a Work-Based Learning Program ..... 161 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 162 Online Resources ..... 164 Chapter 8 Appendix: Helpful Forms for Your Career-Development Program ..... 165 9. **Preparing for Postsecondary Education** ..... 169 Getting Started: How Does High School Compare With Postsecondary Education? ..... 171 Shifts in the Law and Access to Services ..... 171 Shifts in Responsibilities ..... 172 Developing Self-Advocacy and Self-Management ..... 173 Making It Happen: Preparing Students for Postsecondary Education ..... 175 Overview of Prerequisites ..... 175 Postsecondary Survival Skills ..... 177 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 184 10. **Preparing for Independent Living and Inclusion in the Community** ..... 185 Getting Started: Why Should Community Living Be Considered an Important Postsecondary Outcome? ..... 185 Making It Happen: Preparing Youth for Community Living ..... 188 Teach Self-Determination Skills ..... 190 Teach Independent Living Skills ..... 191 Teach Social Skills ..... 193 Support Participation in Community Experiences ..... 194 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 198 Online Resources ..... 199 Chapter 10 Appendix: Ecological Inventory and Task Analysis Forms ..... 200 11. **Preparing for Interpersonal Engagement** ..... 203 Getting Started: Interpersonal Engagement and the Impact on Student Success ..... 204 Understanding Multiple Levels of Secondary School Engagement ..... 204 Effective Practices for Teaching Interpersonal Skills ..... 205 Making It Happen: Increasing Interpersonal Engagement ..... 206 Creating Positive School Climates ..... 206 Identifying Students Requiring Targeted Social Interventions ..... 207 Effective Interventions and Strategies for Improving Interpersonal Engagement ..... 210 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 220 Online Resources ..... 221 12. **Working With Outside Agencies: Implementing Practices to Promote Interagency Collaboration** ..... 223 Getting Started: Understanding Interagency Collaboration ..... 224 Interagency Collaboration and Federal Law ..... 226 Stages Leading to Interagency Collaboration ..... 226 Making It Happen: Building a Collaborative Approach to Transition Planning ..... 229 Strategies for Supporting Youth and Families ..... 229 School-Level Changes ..... 233 Bridging to the Community ..... 235 Community and Systems Change ..... 238 What You Can Do Right Now: Putting Ideas Into Action ..... 241 ### References ..... 242 ### Index ..... 256 --- ## About the Authors Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D., University of Kansas, Department of Special Education, 1122 W. Campus Road, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 Dr. Mary E. Morningstar is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas (KU), Codirector of the National Assistance Center on Transition, and Director of the Transition Coalition, which offers online, hybrid, and in-person professional development and resources for secondary special educators and transition practitioners. Her research agenda includes evaluating how secondary teacher quality and professional development have an impact on transition practices and student outcomes, transition planning with culturally diverse families, and facilitating interagency collaboration for improved outcomes. Dr. Morningstar coordinates the online transition master’s program and the teacher education program for teachers of students with significant disabilities, working to transform special education coursework to support inclusive practices in schools and the community. Beth Clavenna-Deane, Ph.D., Keystone Learning Services, 500 E. Sunflower Boulevard, Ozawkie, Kansas 66070 Dr. Beth Clavenna-Deane has worked with secondary students with disabilities for over 25 years; she began her career as a secondary special education teacher before spending almost 10 years as a transition coordinator. She has provided special education services to students with varying levels of disability ranging from mild to significant. Over the past decade, Dr. Clavenna-Deane has focused her expertise and research on autism, behavior, and social-emotional learning, and on the impact of related characteristics and skills upon the transition to adulthood. She currently provides technical assistance and training to multiple Kansas school districts on making universal, targeted, and intensive supports available for all students needing assistance through the Kansas.