Life After HigH ScHooL TrAnSition TooL Kit

Key Component –Thinking about the FutureWhat youths know what they want to do when they grow up?Manyyouths do not even know what they want to do next week or next year,let alone after high school. It can be difficult to think about growing up.Assisting youths to develop goals helps them think about their future.Developing goals early in high school helps to focus what their highschool experiences will be.There are a variety of tools that can assist youth in figuring out theirgoals for life after high school and assess their skills, preferences andneeds. A school’s guidance counselor is a valuable resource to youth andfamilies. A component of a comprehensive guidance program is careerdevelopment. This includes helping youth learn to set goals, determineinterests, explore career opportunities, and even learn valuable careerskills. Ask the school’s guidance counselor what programming andresources they have to support the career development of your youth.CAREER/EMPLOYMENTThere are many tools, formal and informal, that can assist in helpingyouths develop career/employment goals.Interest Inventories & Career Exploration These focus on the youths’ interests and preferences and do notevaluate their work related skills. Often they are checklists orquestionnaires that look at what the youths like to do and whatgeneral types of careers might suit them. Some also ask questionsabout the aspects or components of a job that are of value to them.For instance, is it important to them that they have a flexible scheduleor that their job is highly structured? Both interest and functionalskills need to be considered when exploring career options as part oftransition planning.TransitionPlanningTips!! Many schools have on-line and computer based programs that helpyouth explore their interests and work values. Ask the school’sguidance counselor what tools they have to help youths explore theirinterests. Ask if the school has a School to Career Program. School to Careerprograms provide students with work-based learning experiencesTransition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterThinking about the Future—page 6

s!! such as informational interviews, job shadowing, internships, andapprenticeships. These opportunities enable students to explorecareer options while applying their academic experience in theworkplace.Job shadowing, internships and volunteer experiences are importanttools in helping youths determine their career and employmentinterests. These experiences (and supports to assist youths to besuccessful in these experiences) can be included as a TransitionService in the IEP. For more information on Transition Services,please see Key Component – Writing the Transition Plan in theIEP.Bridges www.bridges.com is one site where youths can exploreinterests, careers and find out what their basic work related skills are.It also has a lot of tools to assist families in helping their youthsexplore employment and careers. The New Hampshire HigherEducation Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) allows families accessto the site. For access, contact NHHEAF at 1-888-7-GRADUATEext 119The Kuder Career Planning System is another site that has a varietyof tools and resources. www.nhheaf.kuder.com. The New HampshireHigher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) allows familiesaccess to the site. For access, contact NHHEAF at 1-888-7GRADUATE ext 119O*Net www.onetonline.org is a data base of occupationalinformation and provides comprehensive information on keyattributes and characteristics of workers and occupations.LDonline www.ldonline.org/indepth/transtion also has a wealth ofinformation, tools and resources to assist youth and families with thetransition from school to work.Career and vocational assessments will evaluate the functionalemployment skills, or the work related skill set, that a youth has. Thesetypes of assessments are often the first things we think of when we starttalking about transition for youths with disabilities. They can providevaluable information about the youth’s work related skills and potentialjobs that match those skills, but should not be the only source ofinformation used in developing the transition plan. Tests andassessments cannot provide the intrinsic motivation that comes fromgoals based on a youth’s interests, desires and dreams for their life afterhigh school. Ask youths about what they want and their interests. Learnfrom them.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterThinking about the Future—page 7

r IDEA 2004, a Vocational Evaluation may be considered as part ofthe transition planning process and may be a Transition Service in theIEP. For more information on Transition Services, please see Key Component - Writing the Transition Plan in the IEP.According to IDEA 2004, youths’ Measurable Post-Secondary Goal(s)must be based on age appropriate assessments and take into account theirstrengths, preferences and interests. Age appropriate assessments includethe tools we discuss in this section, as well as more informal ways ofgathering information like through conversations. For more informationon post secondary-goals, please see Key Component – Writing theTransition Plan in the IEP.COLLEGE/POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONMany youths, including youths with disabilities know that they want togo on to post-secondary education. However, many times they are notsure about whether to seek a four-year degree, two year degree or atechnical program, how to find entrance requirements for programs, howto fund their education, or even if they are prepared for the rigors offurthering their education.We often think of the ACT or SAT as college assessments, however, theyare not. The ACT and SAT are used for entrance purposes and not trulyfor assisting youth in figuring out their college readiness, needs orpreferences. The PSAT, typically taken in the junior year of high school,helps prepare a youth for the SAT, but it too is not a college readiness orpreference test.TransitionPlanningTips!! Accommodations (such as extended time) on the PSAT and SAT areavailable for youths with disabilities. Youths should speak to theirguidance counselors or case managers to find out more informationabout what accommodations are available and how to arrange forthem. Bridges www.bridges.com is one web site where youths can explorecolleges, compare programs and prepare for the SATs. It also has alot of tools to assist families in helping their youths explore and fundcollege. The New Hampshire Higher Education AssistanceFoundation (NHHEAF) allows families to access this site. For access,contact NHHEAF at 1-888-7- GRADUATE ext 119 NHHEAF www.nhheaf.org also has a wide variety of resources andtools for parents, youths and professionals including college planningseminars, college search tips and loan and financial aid information.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterThinking about the Future—page 8

College/Post-Secondary Education—continuedTransitionPlanningTips!! Think College www.thinkcollege.net is a great resource for exploringcollege programs for youths with intellectual/cognitive disabilities. Some youths with disabilities may need a “flex year” or a summerprogram to help them transition to college life. HEATHwww.heath.gwu.edu has a list of pre-college programs, resources onfinancial aid specifically for youths with disabilities and a wealth ofother college information. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Project NETS and EducationQuest Foundation have developed a number of resources available athttp://www.educationquest.org There are no IEPs in college! Special education eligibility ends upongraduation from high school with a regular high school diploma orwhen the youth reaches 21, whichever comes first. College studentsmay receive protections under the Americans with Disabilities Actand Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, but the accommodationslook very different than in high school and require self disclosure.For more information on rights and responsibilities after high school,check out Key Component—What Else Do I Need to Know? LDonline www.ldonline.org/indepth/transtion also has a wealth ofinformation, tools and resources to assist youths and families withcollege planning.For more college planning resources, see Appendix E.INDEPENDENT LIVINGWe also cannot forget the importance of independent living skills insetting goals for life after high school. Regardless of whether youths areplanning to go to college or directly enter the work force after highschool, these important skills are going to come into play. Independentliving skills go beyond cooking and cleaning. We are also talking aboutbudgeting, time management, communication skills, understandinghealth care needs and transportation. While not as prevalent, there aresome tools to assist in setting independent living goals and assessingskills and needs.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterThinking about the Future—page 9

Independent Living—continuedTransitionPlanningTips!! Youthhood www.youthhood.org is a site designed for youths (but hasa section for “adults”) that offers a lot of tips, tools and advice forplanning for life after high school including health, communityparticipation and living on your own. Granite State Independent Living www.gsil.org has a variety of toolsand resources including information on housing, transportation andpeer support groups. Don’t underestimate the power of conversation! Some of themost beneficial and real information comes from casual conversationswith youth where they don’t even realize they are talking about theirgoals and future. Talking with youth about their interests can lead toconversations about how to turn that interest into future employment.HOW THIS CAN WORK!Tom is a young man with cognitive delays. The team knew a functionalvocational evaluation was not going to give them a solution to his employmentfuture, so his case manager discussed his interests with him. Tom truly lovedpopcorn. He loved the noise it made while popping, the smell and of course,eating it. What kind of a future could a love of popcorn have? Well, the IEPteam brought in a representative from the local Area Agency that would beproviding him assistance after graduation. Together they brainstormed anddecided to see how he would do selling popcorn. He subsequently beganselling popcorn at lunch and school sporting events. The school provided anaide to assist him. They used this as an opportunity to teach money, safety andcommunication skills. After high school, the adult service agency assisted himin accessing benefits that eventually led to the purchase of his own popcornmachine. He also hired his own assistant to help with transportation and otherbusiness related matters. Tom is now the proud owner of a popcorn makingbusiness that sells at various fairs, sporting and community events. All thiscame from a conversation about his interests and a little creativity from histeam.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterThinking about the Future—page 10

Key Component –Making a PlanAnyone, at any age can create a plan for transition. A plan for transitioncan be developed outside of the special education process. But how doyou do that and where do you start? It can seem overwhelming to try tofigure out how to make sure that all the aspects of transition are covered,but it is important to have a written plan. A written plan enables youthsto monitor their progress and practice important self-advocacy skills.Another important component of any transition plan is that it is person(youth) centered. Person–Centered plans build upon partnershipsbetween the youths, their family, friends, professionals, and othersupports to create collaborative plans to support the youths to meet theirgoals. Person-Centered planning provides a structure to ensure that theyouth’s dreams are honored and voice heard while allowing those whosupport them to collaboratively plan for the youth’s future.There are several Person-Centered Planning tools/models and resourcesthat you could use to assist youths in creating a plan. Each model/toolhas its strengths and can be adapted based on a youth’s preferences andstyles. There are a variety of names for Person-Centered Planningincluding whole life planning, personal futures planning. Check out thewebsites below to learn more about person centered planning. The Person-Centered Planning Education Sitehttp://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/pcp has information onmany types of person centered planning. The site has online“courses” that provide information and training around personcentered planning. Each contains an introduction and overview, anactivity, a quiz, in-depth readings, and links & resources page. The Learning Community for Person-Centered Practiceshttp://www.learningcommunity.us/home.html has a Reading Roomwith a tools, strategies and success stories to assist with personcentered planning. The Inclusion Press http://www.inclusion.com/inclusionpress.htmlhas a wide selection of resources on sale on various person centeredplanning models including Planning Alternative Tomorrows withHope (PATH) and Making Action Plans / McGill Action PlanningSystem (MAPS).Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterMaking a Plan—page 11

Person-Centered Planning Resources—continuedTransitionPlanningTips!! Using a Person Centered Planning method can help youths to getengaged in the transition planning process and make sure that theirpersonal goals are heard and valued. While IDEA mandates that specific transition planning requirementsbe included in an IEP, no law spells out how IEP teams gather theinformation to complete those requirements. Any of the PersonCentered Planning tools can be used and the planning can happenoutside of the IEP team if youths feel more comfortable with theformat and participants. The information can then be shared with theIEP team and the information can be put into the youth’s IEP. Formore information on the transition planning components of an IEP,see Key Component – Writing the Transition Plan in the IEP.HOW THIS CAN WORK —SARAH’S TRANSITION PLANNING STORYSarah’s IEP team is meeting next month to review and revise her IEP and tostart transition planning. Sarah does not really feel comfortable going to her IEPmeetings. She feels like it’s all her teachers and parents talking about the stuffshe cannot do. Her case manager knows how important her input is in atransition plan, so she and Sarah met and put together a transition plan using theMAPS model. She brought it home and shared it with her parents. She and herparents reviewed it and they added some of her parents’ feedback and supportsthey could lend to the plan. Once she and her family had time to review it, shebrought it back to her case manager. Then her case manager helped Sarahtranslate the information on the MAPS and write the measurable post-secondarygoals that are required on Sarah’s IEP. At the IEP meeting, Sarah’s casemanager had copies of her measurable post-secondary goals for each teammember and put up her future’s plan on the walls all around the room. The IEPteam came up with a transition plan that included all the required componentsin her IEP. Sarah’s case manager went over it with her a few days later.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterMaking a Plan—page 12

Key Component –Wri ng the Transi on Plan in the IEPThis section discusses the IEP transition planning components requiredunder IDEA 2004 and the NH Rules for the Education of Children withDisabilities. Since no law spells out how IEP teams complete theserequirements, we are going to use a model that many New Hampshireschool districts have been using to develop transition plans. This model,described by Dr. Ed O’Leary, is aligned with the transition planningrequirements of an IEP. This method is also considered nationwide as abest practice in secondary transition planning.Typically, IEP development begins with reviewing evaluations andinformation about the youths and determining their present levels ofperformance. Using the present level of performance, annual goals arewritten and the process ends with filling in the transition planningrequirements – measurable post-secondary goals and transition services.What makes O’Leary’s model more effective for transition planning isthat it starts with what is often considered the end point – what a youthwants to do after high school and then back plans. IEP teams focus onwhat a youth’s goals for post school life are, determine what the youth’sskills are in relation to those goals and then asks, what are the transitionservices, including the course of study, needed by youths to support themin reaching their goals?To create the transition plan in the IEP, we will break it down into stepsthat will build upon one another. The process looks like this:Determining ng theYouth’s PresentLevel of AcademicAchievement &FunctionalPerformanceIdentifying WhatTransition Services(including Courseof Study) areNeededDeterminingthe Who andthe WhenDevelopingAnnual Goals,Objectives,Related Services,Accommodations&Modifications(O’Leary, 2005)While we will not describe the process for developing annual goals,objectives, etc., we will talk about how transition planning requirementsimpact the annual goals and objectives.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterWriting the Transition Plan in the IEP—page 13

ImportantDetails!The NH Rules require that the Course of Study (which is one of the threetransition planning components) be included in the IEP when a youth is14. The NH Rules require that the remaining components (MeasurablePost-Secondary Goals and Transition Services) be included in the IEP inplace when a youth turns 16. There is nothing, however, that prohibitsIEP teams from including Measurable Post-Secondary Goals andTransition Services at age 14 (or earlier) if they feel that it is appropriate.Parents may request that the IEP include Measurable Post-SecondaryGoals and Transition Services at age 14. Best practice tells us that weshould include all transition planning components at age 14 in order tocreate a meaningful and youth centered transition plan. The O’Learymodel we will describe here follows the concept of including alltransition planning components in the IEP at the same time.Youths with disabilities must be invited to their IEP meetings anytimetransition is being discussed. However, there is no requirement that theyouth attend the meeting. If youths choose not to attend, their strengths,interests and preferences must be gathered and considered by the IEPteam when developing the IEP.TransitionPlanningTips!! In order for transition planning to be effective, youths must beinvolved at some level. Not all youths will be willing to attend theirIEP meetings, but they all have something important to say. Thereare a variety of ways youths can participate in the IEP and transitionplanning process. See Key Component – Give Youths anOpportunity to Get Involved for mor e infor mation and tools tosupport youths’ involvement in the transition planning and IEPprocess.The next several pages will examine O’Leary’s model for transitionplanning, give examples of best practice strategies and discuss thetransition planning components of the IEP required by IDEA 2004.Transition Tool Kit—The Parent Information CenterWriting the Transition Plan in the IEP—page 14

StepMEASURABLE POST-SECONDARY GOALSThe starting point for transition planning are a youth’s Measurable PostSecondary Goals. What is a Measurable Post-Secondary Goal (MPSG)?It is a specific statement of what a youth wants to achieve after highschool. These goals are based on interests, preferences and strengths.MPSG ar e r equir ed in the following ar eas:Education &/or Training – This includes any post secondarylearning activity includ

the transition from high school to the adult world. Some transitions require planning and thought, while others just happen. Recently, the transition from high school to adult life (commonly referred to simply as transition) has become a high focus point. But transition is not a new concept.