document resume ed 368 113 author smith, ester …
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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 368 113 EC 302 867
AUTHOR Smith, Ester GottliebTITLE Case Studies of Family and Community Experiences in
Transition from School to Post-School Life forStudents Receiving Special Education Services.Overview.
INSTITUTION Texas Education Agency, Austin. Div. of PolicyPlanning and Evaluation.
SPONS AGENCY Texas Planning Council for Development Disabilities,Austin.
REPORT NO GE3-410-08PUB DATE Apr 93NOTE 21p.AVAILABLE FROM Division of Publications Distribution, Texas
Education Agency, 1701 North Congress Ave., Austin,TX 78701-1494.
PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143) Viewpoints(Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120)
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Agency Cooperation; Case Studies; *Disabilities;
*Educational Planning; *Educational Practices;*Education Work Relationship; Normalization(Disabilities); Rehabilitation; Secondary Education;Special Education; *Transitional Programs; VocationalRehabilitation
IDENTIFIERS Individualized Transition Plans; *Texas
ABSTRACTThis report examines family and community experiences
in transition from school to post-school life for students receivingspecial education services. It presents the vision of transitionplanning in Texas, the state of practice as reflected in a study of27 students, and conclusions and recommendations. The transitionplanning vision calls for planning at the state, regional/local, andindividual levels to enable all people to choose where to live, work,and play; to make informed choices and have control over their lives;to participate in their community; and to be responsive to change.The study assessed awareness of transition planning and theIndividualized Transition Plan (ITP), school staff training, parentalinvolvement, community-based educational training/work sites, programorganization and resource allocation, ITP meetings and participants,transition planning outcome goals, relationships with agencies,barriers to effective planning, and value of transition planning.Recommendations call for: student, parent, and school staff training;greater involvement of students in transition planning; developmentof strategies to compensate for lack of parental involvement; greaterattention to recreation and leisure activities; increased emphasis ondevelopment of social networks; moving from paper compliance tooutcome-based planning; allocation of school funding to supporttransition planning and services; and need for schools to buildconnections with local communities and develop an array of optionsfor community participation. (JDD)
OVERVIEWCASE STUDIES OF
FAMILY AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES
IN TRANSITION FROM
SCHOOL TO POST-SCHOOL LIFE
FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING
SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES
PROJECT FUNDED BY
TEXAS PLANNING COUNCIL
FOR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
AUSTIN, TEXAS
APRIL 1993
2
BESI
U.S. DEPARTMENT OR EDUCATION311,ce of Educattonal Resea/ch and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERICI
.74s document has been rower:laced asreceured Irom the person or organaahonougmahngMinor changes hane oeen made to .mprovereproductron quality
Poolls of snew or opimons stated tn Ib docu .ment do not necessaray represent olfiCralOERI Dosibon or potpy
-PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATER L HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
10 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER IERICI
This document is not copyrighted; any or all sections may be duplicated.
For more information, contact:The Division of Policy Planning and Evaluation
Texas Education Agency(512) 463-9701
To order additional copies, contact:The Division of Publications Distribution
Texas Education Agency(512) 463-9744
Refer to Publication Number GE3 410 08
Texas Education Agency1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701-1494
3
OVERVIEW
CASE STUDIES OF
FAMILY AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES
IN TRANSITION FROM
SCHOOL TO POST-SCHOOL LIFE
FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING
SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES
The purpose of this overview is to provide the readerwith an impression of the transition planning process.
PREPARED BY
ESTER GOTTLIEB SMITH, PH.D.
EGS RESEARCH AND CONSULTING
PROJECT FUNDED BY
TEXAS PLANNING COUNCIL FOR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILTTIES
DIVISION OF POLICY PLANNING AND EVALUATION
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
APRIL 1993
4
Members of theTexas State Board ofEducation
OFFICERS
Carolyn Honea Crawford, BeaumontChairman, State Board of EducationDistrict 7
Will D. Davis, AustinVice-Chairman, State Board of EducationDistrict 10
Mary Helen Berlanga, Corpus ChristiSecretary, State Board of EducationDistrict 2
BOARD MEMBERS
Alma Allen, HoustonDistrict 4
Jack Christie, D.C., HoustonDistrict 6
Emmett J. Conrad, M.D., DallasDistrict 13
Monte Hasie, LubbockDistrict 15
William L. Hudson, Wichita FallsDistrict 14
Patsy Johnson, Sulphur SpringsDistrict 9
EXECUTIVE STAFFLionel R. MenoCommissioner of Education
Geraldine Miller, DallasDistrict 12
René N.uriez, El PasoDistrict 1
Diane Patrick, ArlingtonDistrict 11
Mary Knotts Perkins, LufkinDistrict 6
Robert H. Offutt, San AntonioDistrict 5
Esteban Sosa, San AntonioDistrict 3
State Board of Education Committees
PERSONNEL
René Nufiez, ChairAlma AllenJack ChristieEmmett J. ConradDiane Patrick
STUDENTS
Geraldine Miller, ChairMary Helen BerlangaPatsy JohnsonRobert H. OffuttMary Knotts Perkins
SCHOOL FINANCE
Will D. Davis, Co-chairWilliam L. Hudson, Co-chairCarolyn Honea CrawfordMonte HasieEsteban Sosa
LONG-RANGE PLANNING
Mary Knotts Perkins, ChairAlma AllenJack ChristieEmmett J. ConradCarolyn Honea CrawfordWill D. DavisPatsy JohnsonDiane Patrick
PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND
Esteban Sosa, ChairMary Helen BerlangaMonte HasieWilliam L. HudsonGeraldine MillerRené NufiezRobert H. Offutt
OVERVIEW
School to Post-School Transition Planning:Practices, Conclusions and Recommendations
The case study of family and community experiences in transition from
school to post-school life for students receiving special education services
was conducted in April-May, 1992. Six school districts volunteered to par-
ticipate in the study which surveyed 27 students. The districts varied in
their geographic location, urban-suburban-rural characteristics, size, and
composition of the student population enrolled in special education. The
students included in the study varied in their ethnic background, age, dis-
ability, and level of disability.
1. Transition Planning in Texas: The Vision
In response to the mandate of the 71st Texas Legis-lature, six state agencies developed and adoptedan Interagency Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) on Transition Planning. This memorandumprovided a direction for the implementation of atransition planning process in the state and assuredcompliance with Senate Bill 417 §3.05. However,compliance with the MOU is limited by existingresources and services of the participating stateagencies. The six agencies include the Texas Com-mission for the Blind, the Texas Department ofHuman Services, the Texas Department of MentalHealth and Mental Retardation, the Texas Educa-tion Agency, the Texas Employment Commission,and the Texas Rehabilitation Commission.
The development of the vision for transition plan-ning is based on a mission statement and principlesadopted for the "Comprehensive Plan for Com-munity Integrated Employment and IndependentLiving for Texans with Disabilities." The intentwas to establish a dynamic process that contrib-utes to the development of a human service systemthat offers all persons with disabilities choices andopportunities, in a comprehensive array of coordi-
nated services to achieve maximum independenceand integration in the community. The followingprinciples provide the direction for actualizing the
mission:
7
All people have the opportunity to choosewhere to live, work, and play.
People should have opportunities to makeinformed choices and have control overtheir lives.
Every person should have opportunities toaccess and participate in their community.
People will continue to be influenced byand should be responsive to change.
ln reference to planning for the transition from pub-lic schools to adult life, two additional principleswere endorsed in the MOU on Transition Plan-ning: to empower students to successfully plan fortheir future by equipping them with the knowl-edge and skills necessary for integration in thecommunity and to make effective use of personaland public resources in achieving independence.
To make transition planning successful for everystudent, transition planning must occur on three
levels:
State Level: This level includes the nego-tiation of the MOU on Transition Planningand its revisions. The agencies involvedrecognize the need for long-term systemschange while acknowledging the limita-
tions of the current capabilities of all agen-cies involved. Therefore, the visionacknowledges the current situation by es-tablishing a minimum for collaborativeparticipation in the provision of transitionservices while encouraging the maximumparticipation possible.
Regional/Local Level: In order to assurecompliance with the law and to establishan effective process for implementation,participation by the adult service agenciesincludes:
Local collaborative meetings of educa-tors, participating agencies, peoplewith disabilities, parents or other fam-ily members, community organi-zations, representatives from consumerand advocacy organizations, and busi-ness and community leaders.
Provision of (print) information.
Attendance at ITP meetings. Atten-dance is affected by local planning,adequate notice, and cooperative plan-ning. The objective is to develop a planfor agency involvement in transition,including local review of students' pro-files to allow ag-mcies access toinformation to determine appropriateinvolvement.
Successful individual transition planningis not predicated on the presence of agencyrepresentatives at all ITP meetings.
Individual Transition Planning focuses onthe student's vision for his/her future. Itis intended to be a student driven, collabo-rative, long-range, outcome-orientedprocess. The results include student em-powerment and inclusion in thecommunity. Because of its long-range ori-entation and focus on individual studentinterests and preferences, the individualtransition plan (IT?) is a separate docu-ment from the individual education plan(IEP) which serves as an annual blueprintfor the student's instructional objectives tobe attained through the school curriculumand related services. One objective of theITP is to use the student's desires to iden-tify intended outcomes. Based on theoutcomes, the ITP identifies supports in thestudent's life such as family, friends, co-workers as well as agency services,preferably from among community re-sources available to the general public, withparticipating agencies providing the nec-essary assistance to effect their use. Finally,timelines for the initiation of support ser-vices are to be specified in the ITP.
ITP meeting participants are determinedannually, based on the student's plans forthe future and not based solely on the dis-abling condition(s) of the student. Planningmust begin at age 16 but may be startedearlier for younger students whose needsrequire early collaboration.
2. Study Findings: The State of PracticeTransition Planning as a Turning Point: The tran-sition planning process represents a turning vointfor parents and school staff because it requires areversal of the traditional special education plan-ning model for services. Contrary to the specialeducation mode of planning for services which pro-motes parents' dependence on the school and theschool taking the major responsibility in planningfor the student's program, transition planning pro-motes increased independence, initiative, andresponsibility taking of students and their parents.Transition planning involves the transference of re-sponsibility from the school to the student and theirparents. In this sense, the process is not only a
Page 2
transition for the student, it is also a transition forthe parent.
Transition planning is considered a turning pointbecause the better the services that the school pro-vides, the more difficult the transition ofresponsibilities to the parent. As stated by one ofthe special education staff interviewed in the stud y:"I think that we have done everything for the stu-dents M special education. We have taken the childaway from the parents at age three and done ev-erything, and told them everything. We are theexperts... I am so happy to see the ITP come be-cause at age 16 we can give the student back to the
School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
graduate they are not on their own. They need toknow that there can be a continuation; that it is atransition, not a floundering in the waters. It ismore of a move from one place to the other."
Awareness of Transition Planning and the ITP:For the schools in this study, there is great confu-sion between ITPs and IEPs and between transitionplanning and Admission, Review and Dismissalmeetings (ARDs), regardless of the district's orschool's ITP practices. This confusion extends toparents, students, regular education teachers, andto some of the special education teachers. Eventhose who were familiar with transition planningand the ITP kept referring to the process as ARD.Contributing to the confusion are the following:
Many schools schedule the ITP meetingjointly with the ARD meeting.
The IEP (ARD) overshadows the ITP be-cause of its longer existence.
The requirement in the MOU on Transi-tion Planning that those components of theITP that are the responsibility of the schoolbe incorporated into the IEP and the re-cent passage of the federal Individuals withDisabilities Education Act (IDEA) that re-quires a statement of needed transitionservices he included in the student's IEP.
School Staff Training: The type and level of stafftraining varied greatly across schools, even amengschools in the same district. In some schools saffreceived no training. Major staff training sourcesidentified included:
State special education and vocational edu-cation conferences
Regional education service centers
District special education staff
Social service agency representatives
School special education director
School transition coordinator
Training and Education of Parents in TransitionPlanning: One of the six school districts in thestudy has a comprehensive parent training and
education program. Parents who participated inthese activities are more knowledgeable about tran-sition planning. This program includes, in additionto the training workshop, the involvement of par-ents in a number of pre-ITP meeting activities.These activities include:
Parent Training: Training sessions entitled"futures planning" are periodically offeredon Saturdays. The sessions involve the de-velopment of an ITP by each participatingparent.
Parent Information Session: The transitionplanning process, its objectives, who is in-volved, and the steps in the process areexplained to the parents by the vocationaladjustment coordinator (VAC) in indi-vidual meetings.
Needs Assessment whereby questionnairesare administered both to the student andthe parents, prior to the ITP meeting, re-garding interests, needs, and future plans.
Review with Parents: The data obtainedfrom the needs assessment are reviewedwith the parents before the ITP meeting.
Community Participation: Parents areasked to invite to the ITP meeting otherindividuals who have been prominent inthe student's life. These may include fam-ily members, friends, neighbors, churchmembers, employers, or siblings.
Parental Involvement: The parent has been rec-ognized, by district and school staff, as the keyelement in transition planning. Without the parentassuming the responsibilities of an ach ocate, thechances of student success after high school aresignificantly diminished. According to both par-ents and school staff: "withoPt the parent beingthere and aware of what is going on, the planningis not going to happen for that student, and thatstudent is going to end up sitting at home."
Parent involvement, a key element in transitionplanning, is low in many of the schools, accordingto school personnel. Schools recognize the need toincrease parental involvement but think they maynot have the resources or have not developed thestrategies to do so. Strategies to increase parental
Page 4 School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
1.0
parent. We are going to wean ourselves off of thistotal responsibility and the parents are going tohave to carry this ball...."
Transition planning helps the parents, because theparents are, according to school personnel, "inex-perienced in performing these tasks."Consequently, one objective of transition planningis "to break that cycle. We need to break it earlyand give the responsibility back to where it be-longs."
State of Practice: Transition planning practices var-ied across school districts, across schools within adistrict, and across students: While district, schooland staff procedures assured a certain level andquality of practice, the critical role of parents andstudents in the process made the comprehensive-ness and effectiveness of transition planning varyfrom student to student. The transition planningprocess observed in the districts and schools in-volved in the study is oriented, in large part, tovocational education and training. School districtsand individual schools can be classified into twogroups in relation to their implementation/prac-tice status.
Process Oriented: The process oriented schoolsare still getting familiar with the transition plan-ning process. Their objective is to getcomfortable with and master the process, i.e.,developing ITPs for the students and conven-ing ITP meetings. In this group of schools,staff organization in relation to the process hasnot been completed. Key duties and responsi-bilities associated with transition planning wereregarded as part-time and added-on to full timeteaching duties. Consequently, personnel in-volved in the process had not yet mastered thedifferent steps:
They were not fully familiar with the in-formation needed;
° They were overwhelmed or were greatlyburdened by the paperwork and the ter-minology;
° They developed ITPs late in the schoolyear;
They developed all ITPs in a short periodof time to meet school deadlines;
° They had large information gaps with re-gard to the community and agencycomponents of the process.
Outcome Oriented: The outcome orientedschools have generally mastered the transitionplanning process and are putting emphasis, todifferent degrees, on providing vocational edu-cation and training.
The transition planning process observed in thedistricts and schools involved in the study is ori-ented, in large part, to vocational education andtraining. We identified three groups of schoolsbased on the scope of their vocational educationand training programs:
Classroom and Campus-Based: Theseschools recognize the importance of voca-tional training in preparing students fortransition from high school. However,their current vocational component is basedon vocational education (employmentskills) and the development of campus-based training positions.
Limited Community-Based EducationalTraining/Work Sites: These schools rec-ognize the need for community-basedvocational education training and havestarted to develop several community-based educational training/work sites. Thesites developed are not diversified and tendto fall into traditional special educationtraining positions (e.g., food service, jani-torial).
Diversified Community-Based Educa-tional Training/Work Sites: These schoolshave a comprehensive vocational educa-tion training program that includesemployment and survival skills educationand training, preparatory on-campus sites,and a diversified portfolio of community-based sites.
The state-of-ITP-practice was summarized by oneof the teachers as follows: "I don't feel that wehave grasped the spirit of the ITP. I think we havegot the mechanics of it but not the spirit of it. Thespirit of it is to make it useful for the student. Ithas got to be something that makes the studentand the family aware of options and how to achievethese options. They need to realize that when they
Overview Page 3
9
involvement identified as effective, by staff and par-ents, include:
Use of Pro-Active Strategies: "We makethem get involved. I know most of the par-ents. If parents don't speak English, wehave someone at the meeting who canspeak Spanish. If they don't have trans-portation, we will arrange fortransportation. If parents don't come tothe meeting, I will go on a home visit andmake them understand."
Parent Involvement Program: The pro-gram, developed by one of the districts,has several components:
Convenient Scheduling: Scheduling ofmeetings with parents was based on aparent survey regarding time and lo-cation preferences. As a result of thesurvey, meetings have been scheduledtwice a month during hours convenientto the parents, and a babysitting ser-vice was provided.
- Bringing in agency representatives tospeak to parents about different ser-vices.
Preparation of a transition tape for par-ents to demonstrate what studentsenrolled in special education can ac-complish and their opportunities. Thetape describes the transition process,shows the older students working andhas interviews with employers.
Formation of a parent support group.
Periodic parent-staff meetings regard-ing transition planning issues.
Establishment of a district wide Tran-sition Planning Steering Committeewhich includes a parent representative,transition coordinators, agency repre-sentatives, and representatives fromthe business community. The commit-tee meets monthly and reviews ITPpractices, cases and procedures.
Home visits by the transition coordi-nator to meet with parents, review the
Overview
transition process, go over a transitionfolder and show a video of studentsenrolled in special education perform-ing on actual community-basededucational training/work sites.
Inviting the parent to visit educationaltraining/work sites and see the studentin his/her environment. A transitioncoordinator who states that the "com-munity is her classroom" schedulesmeetings with parents at the commu-nity-based educational training/worksite(s).
Parental access to the transition coor-dinator at all times.
Implementation Models: Transition planning hasbeen implemented in different ways. Two imple-mentation models were observed in the districts:
(1) Full implementation involving all studentsenrolled in special education 16 years oldor older.
(2) Sequential implementation by disabilitycategory. This model initially implementedtransition planning with the largest disabil-ity group, followed by other disabilitygroups. Sequential implementation waschosen to accommodate resource limita-tions and address low parentalinvolvement.
The Recruitment of Community-Based Educa-tional Training/Work Sites: School staff, parentsand employers regard community-based vocationaleducation training as the most critical element inthe transition process. Transition, according tothem, can not be successful without realistic voca-tional education training and community-basedwork experience. The development of a diversi-fied portfolio of educational training/work sites isregarded as fundamental. The success in develop-ing such a portfolio is based, almost exclusively,on the personality, creativity, initiative, and per-sistence of the transition coordinator. As transitioncoordinators have multiple responsibilities, theirperception of the importance of the developmentof community-based educational training/worksites (relative to their other duties) will dictate theamount of time and energy they will allocate tothis task. Consequently, a school district's success
1 1
Page 5
in developing a community-based educationaltraining/work site depends on the effectiveness ofthe VAC or transition coordinator.
School staff utilized a variety of methods to recruitcommunity-based educational training/work sites.
Demographic and economic analysis of thecommunity to identify industries with goodpotential for student training, in order toensure that students can find jobs.
Neighborhood analyses: driving throughthe neighborhoods where the students liveand making a list of all the businesses inthe neighborhood.
Continuous inventorying of employmentsites to establish a diverse portfolio of com-munity-based educational training/worksites.
The involvement of parents, staff and stu-dents to identify potential educationaltraining/work sites in the community.
The personal touch: Direct educationaltraining/work site recruitment by the tran-sition coordinator. "I love it when theytell me no, because I tell them that theywill be hiring. I talk my way in..."
Establishment of a community-wide edu-cational training/work site program whichincludes a cross section of the local busi-nesses and industries (i.e., hospital, foodservice, retail store, print shop, food pro-cessing plant, etc.). Each educationaltraining/work site has several positions.Students involved in the program rotateamong the different sites every six weeks,or sooner if a student masters the task/jobat a particular training/job site. Severalstudents work at each site and are super-vised by one job coach per site.
Recruitment by employers through a vid-eotape showing the school's students indifferent educational training/work envi-ronments. The videotape "relieves a lot offear and concern on the part of prospec-tive employers. You don't know whatkinds of pictures some people have in their
Page 6
minds when you tell them that your stu-dents have severe-profound disabilities."
Simulation of promising educational train-ing/work sites, so that students who aretower functioning can train in a simulatedenvironment.
To maintain educational training/work sites, schoolstaff recognized the need to provide continuoussupport to employers to build and enhance em-ployer trust and commitment. "We have got to getemployers interested in our kids on a personal level.When they do, we provide the support, we have toprovide the training, we have to be there. We gaintheir trust by letting them know that we did notjust sell-talk but that we really do mean it. Onceyou gain their trust and respect, there is no limit."
Transition Planning Program Organization andResource Allocation: Transition planning programsare organized and managed on a school depart-mental level (i.e., special education department)rather than a campus or district level. Some of theprograms visited recognized the need to reorga-nize in order to have access to greater resources aswell as be able to allocate resources more efficiently.Two program re-organization models haveemerged. One program organization model real-locates resources through cooperation andpartnership between special education and voca-tional education in the school. The second programorganization model allocates resources at the dis-trict level.
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Program Reorganization: Access to GreaterResources Through Partnership. In small com-munities where employment opportunities arelimited, special education community-basedvocational education training programs com-pete with the educational training programsset up by the vocational education department.To avoid competition and utilize resourcesmore efficiently across school departments, theschool set up a vocational education trainingpartnership between the special education de-partment and the vocational educationdepartment. To reinforce the partnership, thedistrict created a new position which is halfspecial education and half vocational educa-tion.
Program Reorganization: District-Based Re-source Allocation: In this study, one of the
School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
school districts is redistributing its resourceson a district rather than a campus basis in or-der to use resources more efficiently. Theschool district uses this model since it is a singleemployment market. The program is headedby a transition services coordinator (a district-wide position) whose main responsibility isdevelopthg educational training/work sites inthe community. The transition services coor-dinator is supported by a team of full-timeparaprofessionals and job coaches (rather thanteachers acting as job coaches). The transitionservices coordinator works with classroomteachers in developing the students' necessarysurvival and job skills.
ITP Meetings: The MOU on Transition Planningstates that: "To minimize the need for separatemeetings, the district may sd edule the develop-ment and annual review of the individual transitionplan (ITP) in conjunction with the admission, re-view, and dismissal committee's development andreview of the individual education plan (IEP)."Because ITP development requires input from mul-tiple individuals and organizations, the schedulingof ITP meetings is complicated. Three models forscheduling ITP meetings have emerged. The mod-els were not associated with differences in thecomprehensiveness or effectiveness of the ITPs. Themodels are listed in order of their frequency ofuse.
(1) Joint ITP-ARD Meeting: This scheduling pat-tern is more common in larger schools withlarge populations of students in special educa-tion. Joint ITP-ARD meetings make schedulingmore efficient, since both meetings involve co-ordination with multiple individuals and mostof the individuals involved in the ARD meet-ing are also part of the ITP meeting. A jointmeeting format, according to school person-nel, also encourages agency participation.Agency staff who attend IEP meetings tend toarrive early for the ITP meeting if it takes placefirst, or stay for it, if it follows the ARD meet-ing. Generally, the ITP meeting precedes theARD meeting. Joint ITP-ARD scheduling con-tributes to lack of distinction between the twoprocesses and to the diminution of the impor-tance of the ITP, according to school staff: "Iget the impression that they regard the ITP asa formality. They see the ARD as the mainmeeting."
Overview
(2) Exclusive ITP Meeting: Several of the schoolsallocate a separate meeting for the 1TP becausespecial education administrators perceive tran-sition planning as a distinct process. Parentaland staff awareness of the ITP in these schoolstends to be greater.
(3) Mixed Model: In one of the schools, the tran-sition coordinator has the discretion to schedulejoint 1TP-ARD meetings or exclusive ITP meet-ings on the basis of a student's needs. Thecoordinator schedules separate ITP meetingsfor seniors and joint ITP-ARD meetings for stu-dents in the lower grades.
ITP Meeting Participants: The MOU on Transi-tion Planning states that: "Transition planningshould always include the student and parent/guardian and to the extent appropriate, generaleducation, special education, and vocational edu-cation personnel and representatives ofparticipating agencies."
The case studies showed that the ITP meeting in-volves a diverse group of individuals andorganizations.
Parent Participation: School personnel per-ceived parental participation in ITP meetingsas low. Low parental participation, or lack ofit, is attributed by school personnel and par-ents to:
13
Scheduling: As ITP meetings take placeduring school hours, parents who workmay not be able to take time off from workto attend a meeting.
Lack of transportation.
Language barriers: Parents who do notspeak English may feel uncomfortable in ameeting handled in English even when atranslator is present.
Low involvement in student's education asa whole.
Lack of recognition of the importance ofthe ITP meeting due to little or no efforton part of the school to inform the parent.
Page 7
Lack of initiative on the school's part toinform parents, accommodate their sched-ules and eliminate barriers to meetingattendance.
In some of the schools where parent attendanceis low, ITP meetings will not take place if theparents can not attend. Instead, meetings arerescheduled to meet parents' availability.
Student Participation: Students are present attheir ITP meetings unless the student is unableto communicate or the student's behavior atthe meeting may be disruptive to the meeting.Schools varied in their effort to prepare stu-dents for the meeting and to elicit their likes,dislikes, preferences and wishes for the future.
Teacher and Counselor Participation: Usu-ally, the ITP meeting is attended by specialeducation teaching and counseling staff. Alsopresent are either the VAC, transition coordi-nator or a vocational education teacher.Regular education teachers are generally notpresent, although in some schools the transi-tion coordinator interviews them about thestudent prior to the meeting.
Administration Participation: Participation ofadministrative staff varies. In most schools,according to school personnel, the school ad-ministration is aware of the meetings but doesnot take an active part in them.
Participation of Other Individuals Significantin the Student's Life: Only one school districtactively asks parents to invite to the IT? meet-ing other individuals, who are significant inthe life of the student, to act as advocates andsupporters.
Employer/Supervisor Participation: In thisstudy, none of the schools actively invite em-ployers or employment supervisors to IT?meetings.
Service Agency Participation: Study partici-pants widely acknowledged lack ofparticipation by state agency representativesin ITP meetings. Most schools invite gencyrepresentatives to all ITP meetings. Agencyrepresentatives, in most of the districts stud-ied, only attend ITP meetings of students aboutto graduate from high school.
Page 8
Key Players in Transition Planning: In the transi-tion planning process, the quality ofimplementation and overall effectiveness of theplan depend, to a significant extent, on several keyindividuals. The key individuals in the planningprocess are the student, parent, and the transitioncoordinator or vocational adjustment coordinator.
The Student: Transition planning is intendedto be student driven; it is a plan developedwith the student. In order for the plan to beeffective, the student, in the opinion of educa-tors, counselors and parents "has to buy intothe plan." The student tends to do so if he/shecan identify or agree with the objectives speci-fied in the plan. Helping the student articulatehis/her likes, interests, and objectives may bea time consuming process. Consequently, insome of the schools included in the study, stu-dent input is obtained through theadministration of a pre-meeting questionnaireor interview. The transition coordinator inter-views the student and his/her parents, asksfor input from the student's teachers,counselor(s), and classmates. Some of theteachers discuss occupational choices with theirclass on a daily basis. Obtaining student inputprior to the meeting prevents situations wherethe student feels uncomfortable or reluctant tocommunicate in front of a group of people.Regardless of the method of obtaining studentinput, both educators and parents agreed thatif the does not represent the student's in-terests and capabilities, its successfulimplementation will be in jeopardy.
The Parent: The parent has a critical role in allaspects of the student's education and overallquality of life. According to school staff, it ap-pears that parents who were involved in theirchild's education, who were familiar with dis-trict and community resources, and whobelieved in their child created a success ori-ented environment for their child. Thisinvolvement held true regardless of the levelof severity of the disabling condition of thechild, the overall quality of services which theschool provided or the obstacles encounteredby the parent. Parents, who chose a passive orinvisible role in the process, significantly de-tracted from their child's chances to lead aproductive life regardless of the quality of theschool's programs or the community's re-sources.
School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
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The role of the parent as advocate was definedby one of the parents, as follow's: "Parentsmust learn the skill to function as a transitionspecialist themselves, an employment special-ist and learn the advocacy process." "Havinga child with a disability is more difficult be-cause there is never, ever any point that youcan sit back and relax. You have to be on topof it all the time, all through school. You haveto know what your child needs, and access it,and demand it. When they get out of school itdoesn't stop, because you have to be the liai-son between them and all of the variousagencies."
The Transition Coordinator/Vocational Ad-justment Coordinator: The transitioncoordinator or the vocational adjustment coor-dinator plays a key role in the effectiveimplementation of transition planning and inthe development of an outcome orientation ofthe transition planning program. The transi-tion coordinator influences the transitionprogram with his/her personality. This indi-vidual is instrumental to the process by:
Setting up the transition planning programat school
Providing staff and parental training
Developing community-based educationaltraining/work sites
Generally, transition coordinators who areknowledgeable about transition planning areable to organize better and more effective pro-grams, ensure greater commitment on part ofstaff and parents to the process, and involvethe business community through the creationof educational training/work sites. The mosteffective transition coordinators exhibit a highlevel of initiative, have limitless energy, andare creative, regardless of school or commu-nity resources.
Transition Planning Outcome Goals: The MOUon Transition Planning stated that "the individualtransition plan will focus on those considerationswhich will have the most impact on the successfulindependence in the community for the studentwith disabilities. An individual transition plan foreach student 16 years of age or above who is en-rolled in special education will address ...
Overview
anticipated outcomes in the following areas: em-ployment; education; independent living;recreation, social-ind leisure; and general consid-erations."
A review of students' ITPs in relation to these out-come goals demonstrated the following:
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Employment: Most emphasis is given topost high school employment. The transi-tion planning programs in the schoolsstudied are largely oriented to vocationaleducation and training. The objective ofschool vocational training programs is tofacilitate competitive employment, with orwithout support.
Education: The ITP plans reviewed iden-tify a range of post secondary educationalgoals for students enrolled in special edu-cation programs. Educational goalsspecified include: community college pro-grams, vocational training, adult andcontinuing education, arid academic in-struction.
Independent Living Outcomes: Accord-ing to both the ITPs reviewed and dataobtained from interviews, independent liv-ing options are commonly discussed in ITPmeetings. The issues discussed deal withhousing, support services, and transporta-tion. The discussion of this topic, accordingto both school staff and parents, is charac-terized by staff emphasis of the need forparents to consider available options andaccept the idea that their child should liveindependently. The perception most fre-quently held by school staff is that studentswho live with their parents, after leavinghigh school, fare less well than studentswho live outside their family home. Par-ents usually regard independent living asa long-term option and not as an immedi-ate postschool outcome. "Letting go" ofthe child is difficult for most parents, ac-cording to both school staff and parents.To assist parents, some schools provideparents with lists of group homes in thecommunity. Some school staff go with par-ents to visit group homes or other livingfacilities in the community.
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Recreation, Social, and Leisure Options:Generally, public recreation facilities areidentified in the student's ITP with the an-ticipation that the student's family willinvolve the student in any recreational, so-cial or leisure activities in which theythemselves participate.
Relationship with Agencies: The MOU on Tran-sition Planning states that: "It is the intent of theparticipating agencies to provide staff attendanceat individual transition planning meetings whenappropriate. For purposes of initial implementa-tion of this memorandum however, participationby participating agencies may be limited based onlocal resources and may include one or more ofthe following: (A) local interagency planninggroups and agreements for transition implementa-tion; (B) information packets on local services (oraudiovisual presentations); (C) workshop/parentmeetings to disseminate information; (D) face-to-face meetings regarding students being jointlyserved at the time of individual transition plan de-velopment; (E) parent-to-parent training sessionsregarding adult services; (F) information providedat varying times to accommodate families who cannot attend scheduled meetings; (G) staff attendanceat the individual transition planning meetings andsubsequent reviews; and (H) acceptance of refer-rals for consideration of services."The involvement of social service agencies in thetransition planning process is manifested in a widerange of activities on the part of both the schooland the agencies. Activities undertaken by schoolstaff included:
Personal visits by school staff to each ofthe agencies with the purpose of identify-ing appropriate agency staff andestablishing contacts.
Invitation of agency staff to ITP meetings.
Involvement of agency representatives ina variety of school activities.
Involvement of agencies in training par-ents in transition planning services and inagency services.
Development of an agency directory forparents, listing the different services, agen-cies and contacts within each agency ratherthan just titles and telephone numbers.
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Organization of parent and student visitsto agencies.
However, in spite of this range of activities, therelationship with service agencies is regarded byboth school staff and parents as a component inthe transition planning process which requires con-siderably more effort. This perception is based onseveral reasons:
School staff are not knowledgeable of agen-cies, agency services, and how to accessthem.
Parents used to the school's mode of ser-vice provision (where parents have to takelittle initiative to obtain services) are fre-quently overwhelmed, confused,intimidated and ineffective in contactingagencies and accessing services. Contact-ing and accessing agency servicesconstitutes a new type of experience forparents.
School staff refer to agency representativeswho do not come to ITP meetings becauseof staff shortages, or limit their attendanceto ITP meetings involving students aboutto graduate, as "the invisible component"in the transition planning process.
The study demonstrated a range of activities onthe part of both schools and agencies faced withtransition planning. The need to establish closeand viable contacts with representatives of key ser-vice agencies is regarded as critical by school staff.In the interviews conducted, school staff empha-sized, among all other school-agency activities, thevalue of personal, face-to-face contacts betweenschool staff and agency staff. The importance ofsuch contact was manifested in a recommendationto assign a school staff member to the exclusiveposition of being an agency liaison.
Success Factors: In this study, school staff andparents repeatedly identified several success fac-tors that contributed to the effectiveness of thetransition planning process and the developmentof the ITP. These success factors were:
Building a cohesive team where the stu-dent, parent, teacher, employer, schooladministration and service providers are
School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
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committed to the tasks of transition plan-ning.
Staff, student and parent training in tran-sition planning.
Staff who are knowledgeable of transitionplanning and post high school outcomes.
Thorough student and parent preparationfor the meeting.
Active student participation: The ITP is suc-cessful if it is student driven. It isimportant for the students to know whatthey would like to do, to articulate theirwishes, and to indicate what they do notwant or do not like to do.
Parental involvement and support.
Continuous refinement of the ITP from theage of 16 until the student graduates.
Personal, face-to-face contact between ser-vice agencies and the student and his/herfamily before the student leaves highschool.
ITP follow-through: Coordination of theITP with the IEP.
Establishment of community-based educa-tional training/work sites.
Barriers to Effective Transition Planning: Severaltypes of barriers were identified; these include:
Poorly informed and trained staff.
Lack of involvement on the part of the stu-dent, parents, and service agencies.
Lack of communication among parents,students, school staff, agency representa-tives, and employers.
Unrealistic expectations (too low or high)or lack of expectations on the part of par-ents or teachers.
Unsuccessful employment experiences onthe part of students.
_
Overview
Lack of a follow-through plan.
Lack of business and community aware-ness of the capabilities of persons withdisabilities.
Limited opportunities in the community forindividuals with disabilities.
Lack of programs in the community forindividuals with severe and multiple dis-abilities.
Value of Transition Planning: The value of tran-sition planning is unquestioned. Creating andraising parent and studc.it awareness of the fu-ture, training the student to become a productivemember of society following the student's exit fromhigh school, and developing a framework to en-able the student to lead a "full life" are some of thevalues associated with transition planning. Thesevalues were eloquently expressed in the followingtestimonials by a teacher and a parent.
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"The ITP is a process that has been needed fora long time. You got to connect the studentwith the community, connect the student withlife after school. This is one of the ways inwhich we can do it...The more we go into it ina structured manner the more the parents andthe student ultimately gain. The thought pro-cess behind it is important; for years we trainedthe student to function in the community andthen school ended and they sat at home andwatched television. The parents were nottrained and did not know how to access ser-vices. They thought that the agencies willprovide services like the schools did. Therewas a real breakdown in communications. Thestudents' lives did not have much qualit: inthem. The ITP assures that the quaPy ser-vices that they receive in school continues afterthey leave school. It has given them skills thatare competitive. Our kids are not self confi-dent. They hesitate in stepping out. This hasgiven them a better chance to succeed. Before,students were just put aside; now they aregiven opportunities to be independent; otherpeople are seeing that they are capable of dur-ing something and supporting themselves."
"Expectations are the key words... If you don'treally believe that your child can do any bet-ter, then he won't. The expectations did not
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seem very realistic to me when I first heardthem, but they sure were achievable, and theywere met. I went to see him at work. Theyhad those expectations, they demanded themout of him, and then they got them. It wasunbelievable. They have changed my expecta-tions. My hopes and dreams for him are thathe would be able to live somewhat indepen-dently, to be able to meet his own basic needs,that he would have his own network of friendsand extended family to support him. That hewould have a recreational activity that would
mean a lot to him like running or jogging orswimming, and that hE would be employedfull-time in a meaningful position. They setthose expectations. Those were my dreams andthey set them as realistic expectations. I can'tsay enough about it. The teachers had to re-ally go out on a limb to make this happen.Even though philosophically, people would tellyou to have high expectations, expect the best,reality is that expectations don't always cometrue. But it happened here."
3. Conclusions and RecommendationsStudent, Parent, School Staff Training. Transi-tion planning is a new process for families andschools. Families still are not fully aware of theprocess and how it differs from the IEP. In fact,many not differentiate between transition plan-ning and other processes, meetings, and servicesundertaken or provided by the school. School per-sonnel vary in their knowledge and application oftransition. Generally, both students and familieshave little knowledge of adult services and em-ployment. Many participants in this study had alimited concept of transition and of the vision out-lined in IDEA and the MOU on TransitionPlanning. Also, in this study, most of the dis-tricts' school staff, parents, and students receivedlittle training in transition planning and how toturn planning into outcomes. More training needsto be available and more people need to access it.
Training of school personnel, parents and stu-dents should address the followingcomponents:
- The purpose of transition planning; that is,planning for adult life in the communityand planning for an integrated life for allstudents with disabilities.
Student empo,verment: training studentsto make choices and drive their future plan-ning process.
Information about the transition planningprocess itself, including: ITP development,identification of resources in the commu-nity, and the specification of changes inthe curriculum to support successful tran-sition.
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- Delineation of desirable adult outcomes forstudents with disabilities.
The need to look at the full spectrum of anindividual's life. Transition planning andservices seem to Le focused predominantlyon vocational training, with other equallyimportant areas, being given less attention.
In this study, it appears that the issue ofguardianship is not being raised by eitherthe parents or the school districts. Parentsneed to know the issues surroundingguardianship and service delivery beforethey try to access the adult service pro-vider system.
Information about guardianship needs tobe presented to the parent at the time ofthe first transition planning meeting so thatany arrangements that may be needed canbe completed before the student reachesthe age of 18. School districts also need totake responsibility to see that their ownstaffs are knowledgeable about guardian-ship requirements.
Greater Involvement of Students in TransitionPlanning. School district personnel, parents andstudents need training on how to enable the stu-dent to become an active participant in the planningprocess and how to make the process studentdriven.
Development of Strategies to Compensate forLack of Parental Involvement. Parental involve-ment emerged (in the case studies and in interviewswith school personnel) as the most important con-tributor to the success of students and transition
School to Post-School Transition Case Studies
planning. Lack of parental involvement was citedrepeatedly as a barrier to effective transition plan-ning. Schools must develop an array of strategiesto increase parental involvement or to compensatefor the lack of it. Strateaies may include:
Empowerment of the students to advocateon their own behalf.
Providing adequate information and train-ing to parents.
Efforts to involve or re-involve families.
Identification and involvement of surrogatefamilies.
Ensuring that students are linked into ex-isting programs, such as: Big Brother/BigSister, drop-out prevention, school-basedpeer support programs, school guidancecounselor, ARC, UCP support program,etc.
Collaborative partnership between parentsand school personnel from the on-set ofIEP development.
Flexible scheduling of meetings to accom-modate parents' availability.
Greater Attention to Recreation and Leisure Ac-
tivities. The students in this sample, especiallythose with more severe disabilities, seem to havelimited participation in recreation or leisure activi-ties with persons who do not have disabilities.Recreational opportunities for most seemed lim-ited to Special Olympics and other segregatedprograms. The recreation/leisure component oftransition planning does not seem to be given much
attention. Districts and parents both need moreinformation on the importance of this aspect of tran-sition planning, including information on theimpact of legislation such as the Americans withDisabilities Act (ADA) on their opportunities to
access recreational facilities and programs in theirschools and communities.
Increased Emphasis on Development of SocialNetworks. The students in this study, especiallythose with severe disabilities, seemed to have fewfriends, little contact with school mates outside ofschool, and few social networks outside of theirfamilies. Not all of the supports these individuals
Overview
will need as adults can possibly be met by agen-cies or families; they will also need friends. Thisisolation is likely to have a negative impact on theirfuture ability to live and work in their communi-ties. The development of a social network seemsto be one area getting little attention during thetransition planning process.
Moving from Paper Compliance to Outcome-Based Planning. Outcome-based planning requiresthat the objectives and outcomes specified in theITP be integrated into the student's IEP. Teachersneed examples about how to use transition plan-ning to transform ideals and visions into concretecurriculum activities.
Allocation of School Funding to Support Transi-tion Planning and Services. Schools that fundedand dedicated resources to transition planning aildservices had more successful programs than schoolsthat did not allocate resources for transition. Schooldistricts should develop a transition program com-ponent that fits their needs 74nd strengths. Schoolsalso need to dedicate a full-time transition coordi-nator or trained vocational adjustment coordinatorto transition planning rather than assign the tran-sition planning task as an additional responsibilityto other school staff.
Need for Schools to Build Connections with Lo-cal Communities and Develop an Array ofOptions for Community Participation. The schoolleads the transition planning process. To be suc-cessful school personnel must become increasinglyconnected to their communities by establishingstronger linkages with industries, businesses andgeneric service providers. Schools need to increaseoutcome-based transition planning around commu-nity living, including work, adult education, andspecialized and generic adult service programs.School personnel and parents need to recognizethat linkages with adult service providers can beestablished in a variety of ways, not just throughparticipation in IT? meetings but also through in-formation dissemination, responding to referrals,and communicating with employers.
For a copy of the comprehensive case studies report,please contact Ron DiOrio in the Division of PolicyPlanning and Evaluation, Texas Education Agency, at(512) 463-9701.
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COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
TITLE VI, CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964; THE MODIFIED COURT ORDER, CIVIL ACTION 5281,
FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT, EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, TYLER DIVISION
Reviews of local education agencies pertaining to compliance with Title VI Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with
specific requirements of the Modified Court Order, Civil Action No. 5281, Federal District Court. EasternDistrict of Texas, Tyler Division are conducted periodically by staff representatives of the Texas EducationAgency. These reviews cover at least the following policies and practices:
(1) acceptance policies on student transfers from other school districts;
(2) operation of school bus routes or runs on a non-segregated basis;
(3) nondiscrimination in extracurricular activities and the use of school facilities;
(4) nondiscriminatory practices in the hiring, assigning, promoting, paying, demoting, reassigning, ordismissing of faculty and staff members who work with children;
(5) enrollment and assignment of students without discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national
origin;
(6) nondiscriminatory practices relating to the use of a student's first language; and
(7) evidence of published procedures for hearing complaints and grievances.
In addition to conducting reviews, the Texas Education Agency staff representatives check complaints ofdiscrimination made by a citizen or citizens residing in a school district where it is alleged discriminatorypractices have occurred or are occurring.
Where a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act is found, the findings are reported to the Office for Civil
Rights. U.S. Department of Education.
If there is a direct violation of the Court Order in Civil Action No. 5281 that cannot be cleared through negotia-
tion, the sanctions required by the Court Order are applied.
TITLE VII, CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 P.S AMENDED; EXECUTIVE ORDERS 11246 AND
11375; TITLE IX, EDUCATION AMENDMENTS; REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973 AS AMENDED;
1974 AMENDMENTS TO THE WAGE-HOUR LAW EXPANDING THE AGE DISCRIMINATIONIN EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1967; VIETNAM ERA VETERANS READJUSTMENT ASSISTANCEACT OF 1972 AS AMENDED; AMERICAN DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990; AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS
ACT OF 1991.The Taxas Education Agency shall comply fully with the nondiscrimination provisions of all Federal and State
laws and regulations by assuring that no person shall be excluded from consideration for recruitment, selection,appointment, training, promotion, retention, or any other personnel action, or be denied any benefits or par-ticipation in any educational programs or activities which it operates on the grounds of race, religion, color,
national origin, sex, handicap, age, or veteran status or a disability requiring accommodation (except where
age, sex, or handicap constitute a bona fide occupational qualification necessary to proper and efficient ad-ministration). The Texas Education Agency is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.
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