Pre-test Please come in and complete your pre-test.

Building High Quality Transition Plans Through Compliance Alison Lowenthal Secondary Special Education Coordinator Sponsored by: Idaho State Department of Education Division of Student Achievement and School Improvement Division of Special Education

Norms Take charge of your own learning. Presume positive intentions. Delay distractions. Ask questions. Take care of your personal needs.

Objectives Provide participants with: the skill to write high quality transition IEPs compliant with federal and state requirements; new resources and tools to impact practice; opportunities to join professional learning communities for resource networking; ways to support your students’ future life goals.

Purpose of IDEA “To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, training, employment, and independent living.”

20 Indicators In order to operationalize the law and assure consistent and standardized data, OSEP created a list of 20 Indicators: 4 of 20 indicators relate specifically to transition.

Compliance Monitoring

Transition Related Indicators Indicator 1: “Percent of youth with IEPs graduating from high school with a regular diploma.” Indicator 2: “Percent of youth with IEPs dropping out of high school.”

Transition Related Indicators Indicator 14: “Percent of youth who are no longer in secondary school, had IEPs in effect at the time they left school, and were:”  “Enrolled in higher education within one year of leaving high school;”

Indicator 14 Continued:  Enrolled in higher education or competitively employed within one year of leaving high school;  Enrolled in higher education or in some other postsecondary education or training; or competitively employed, or in some other employment within one year of leaving high school.

Turn to a Partner Letter off A and B. Take a minute to think about how writing a quality IEP would help improve the post-school outcomes of a student with a disability. Person A: share your thoughts for one minute. Next, Person B: share your thoughts for one minute.

Transition Related Indicators Indicator 13: “Percent of youth with IEPs aged 16 and above with an IEP that includes appropriate measurable postsecondary goals that are annually updated and based upon an age appropriate transition assessment, transition services, including courses of study, that will reasonably enable the student to meet those postsecondary goals, and annual IEP goals related to the student’s transition services needs.”

Indicator 13 Continued: “There must also be evidence that the student was invited to the IEP team meeting where transition services are to be discussed and evidence that, if appropriate, a representative of any participating agency was invited to the IEP team meeting with the prior consent of the parent or student who has reached the age of majority.”

Support States in Meeting Indicator 13 Requirements NSTTAC (National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center, funded by OSEP) created the NSTTAC checklist and other resources to assist states to build capacity and improve transition planning, services, and outcomes for youth with disabilities.

Indicator 13: Measurable Postsecondary Goals Updated Annually Transition Assessment Transition Activities Course of Study Annual IEP Goals Evidence of Student Invitation Agency Invitation

The New and the Old Child Count Verification OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs) visit Change in the checklist

Hitting a Moving Target

Take a Minute to Vent.

Opportunities Increase compliance rates; –36% compliance rates Write better transition plans; Help Students!

Digging Deeper into Indicator 13

Measurable Postsecondary Goals : Required in the area of education, training, employment/career, and as needed independent living. All goals must be measurable…. “The student will….” All goals must focus on what a student will do one year after leaving the public school system.

Turn to a Partner Review who was person A and B. Take a minute to think about what has changed in how you write postsecondary goals. Person B share changes with person A. Person A clarify if any other additional changes have occurred.

Updated Annually: Current IEP includes measurable postsecondary goals.

Transition Assessment: Leads to the development of the postsecondary goals. Completed annually. Could consist of formal, informal assessment in the area of education, training, vocational, functional, self- determination, etc.

Transition Activities: You must list activities in education, training, career/employment, and community for every student. Activities must be individualized, specific, and include related services if appropriate. Activities must provide the student with help to achieve his or her postsecondary goals.

Turn to a Partner Review who was person A and B. Take a minute to think about what has changed in how you write transition activities. Person A share changes with person B. Person B clarify if any other additional changes have occurred.

Course of Study: Must include a multi-year description of the courses. Must be specific and individualized to the student. Attaching a list of Idaho graduation requirements will not meet compliance.

Annual IEP Goals: Must move the student to achieving his or her postsecondary goals. Must use the same measurement as the annual goal PLOP. Must include a target skill and condition. Must include criteria, procedure, and schedule for meeting the goal.

Evidence of Student Invitation: Must include the student’s name on the meeting invitation letter or contain documentation that the student was invited prior to the IEP meeting. Inclusion of the student’s name listed on the Notice of Meeting does not constitute an invitation.

Turn to a Partner Review who was person A and B. Take a minute to think about what has changed in how you write student invitation. Person B share changes with person A. Person A clarify if any other additional changes have occurred.

Agency Invitation: An adult agency is required to be invited to the IEP meeting when that agency is likely to provide and/or pay for transition services within the next year. The IEP Team may choose to invite an agency representative earlier in the planning process. Evidence that this area is compliant will be determined by reviewing the student’s IEP file for both PARENTAL CONSENT and the AGENCY INVITATION. That is the only way to document that the parental consent was obtained prior to the agency invitation.

Turn to a Partner Review who was person A and B. Take a minute to think about what has changed in how you write agency invitation. Person A share changes with person B. Person B clarify if any other additional changes have occurred.

Implementation Dip.

Importance As table group, you will be assigned one of the eight Indicator 13 components. Discuss and write on a large piece of paper why this component is important to a student in achieving his or her future life goals.

Statewide Special Education Technical Assistance (SESTA) Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies Gina Hopper

Contact Information: Alison Lowenthal Beth Eloe-Reep Kelly Hall