Why is transition planning important

Transition is about change. For young people who attend school, it is a change from their role as students to being adults and doing things other adults do in the community. This may include getting a job, going to college or university, getting a place to live, developing personal and social relationships with other adults, and being involved in the community.

Obviously, the transition from being a student to being an adult may not involve all of these activities at the same time. View Transcript. Transcript: Jim Martin, PhD. Many students have a difficult time transitioning from high school to life after high school. Just look at college students and the trouble so many students have in deciding upon a major. But it teaches a process and a thinking process and a way to set goals and to evaluate your strengths and look at your skills and your supports to be able to figure out what you want to do.

I hope in the future that a major part of what special ed. Adapted with permission. The IDEA amendments outlined regulations concerning transition. Highlights of the major requirements of IDEA that relate to transition and a brief explanation follow.

Clark and Patton examined the transition guides of 17 states in order to identify core transition planning areas. They noted that although there was interstate variation in transition planning areas, a common core of important planning areas emerged. Transition planning domains that were included in more than half of the state guides they examined were:.

Even though transition planning does not have to be addressed in the IEP until a student is 14 years old, teachers and families must begin providing experiences and instruction to help students develop critical knowledge and skills during the elementary years that will help lay the foundation for the process.

Examples of goals, objectives, and activities that can be considered at different age and grade levels follow. Obj 3: To specify transition services needed to participate in a desired course of study by no later than age Several special factors need to be considered in the transition planning for students with LD. One of these factors is the drop-out rate. Students with LD are at great risk for dropping out of school. Dropping out engenders numerous consequences relating to job opportunities, income, and self-esteem.

Within the student with LD population, those students most at risk for dropping out are boys from urban communities and low-income homes who are racial minorities. Such students should receive intensified support, and their progress should be monitored. Because the population of students with disabilities is so heterogeneous, a wide range of postsecondary goals and transition planning should be considered.

For some students, the next step after high school will be employment, for other students it will be further career or technical training, and for still others it will be attending a 4-year college or university. The transition plan will include related activities and services required; as well as valuable life experiences or job training over the high school years. This transition plan will include activities and services of where help is needed, and what experiences are going to be valuable over the high school years.

There are 3 areas that must be discussed when participating in a transition planning and development of measurable post-secondary goals meeting:.