A Four-Part Transition Assessment Model

A Four-Part Transition Assessment Model

Jim Martin, Ph.D.University of OklahomaZarrow Center840 Asp Ave., Room 111Norman, OK 73019Phone: 405-325-8951Email: [email protected]: www.education.ou.edu/zarrow

Transition Big Idea #1

Parents and educators and students need to decide:

Where will the student live?

Where will the student work?

Where will the student receive job training?

Where will the student receive education after high school?

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Design the high school years to ensure that students have the opportunity and gain the skills needed to achieve post-school education, employment, and living goals.


To enable students to attain postschool goals, involve students in identifying and making linkages to post-school supports and programs before exiting the school system.


Seven Transition Steps1. Involve student in IEP Planning Process2. Team completes a three (soon to be four)-

part transition assessment process.3. Team Writes Present Level of Academic

Achievement and Functional Performance4. Team develops course of study5. Team develops postschool linkages6. Students work on attaining IEP and

personal goals7. Families and students build a Student-

Directed Summary of Performance

IDEA 2004 on Transition Assessment

TAs are needed to develop– a coordinated set of activities – within a results oriented process – based on student needs – taking into account student strengths,

preferences, and interests

Post-Secondary Goals IEP must include appropriate

measurable postsecondary goals– based upon age-appropriate transition

assessment – related to training, education, employment,

and when appropriate, independent living

Coordinated Activities Coordinated activities includes

– instruction– related services– community experiences– the development of employment and other

postschool objectives– when appropriate functional vocational

evaluation What does functional voc evaluation

mean?

CEC’s Division on Career Development and Transition Transition assessment is the ongoing process of

collecting data on individual’s needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future working, educational, and living environments. Assessment data serves as the common thread in the transition process and forms the basis for defining IEP goals and services – Focus is upon future roles as worker and citizen– Student choice a major theme– TA is an on-going, future focused, person centered process– Students need to direct own transition planning process– Yields match between strengths, needs, preferences and

demands and culture of current and future environments

Sitlington, P. L., Neubert, D. A. & Leconte, P. J. (1997). Transition assessment: The position of DCDT. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 20, 69-79.

Goals of Transition Assessment Help students make informed choices Help students take charge of the

process– Most special educators are not using

transition assessment methods that facilitate student involvement or student self-determination (Thoma, et al. 2002)

Help students understand skills needed for postschool environments

Test, D. S., Aspel, N. P., & Everson, J. M. (2006). Transition methods for youth with disabilities. New Jersey: Pearson Merrill, Prentice Hall.

Student Transition Questions What are my interests, aptitudes, and

capabilities in school, work, and community living?

Where do I want to live, work, or go to school after leaving high school?

What courses do I want to take in high school to graduate and prepare for my future?

What are my strengths and what do I need to improve?

What do I need to learn to do what I want? What do I do after I leave school?

Greene, G., & Kochhar-Bryant, C. A. (2003). Pathways to successful transition for youth with disabilities. New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Career Development Career Awareness

– Believes self as worker– Elementary

Career Exploration– Explore interests in relation to jobs– Middle and beginning of high school

Career Preparation– Skill acquisition that matches interest and skills– High school and/or after high school

Career Assimilation– Postschool movement into job

IDEA Requires the Summary of Performance When terminated from services School will provide child a summary of

academic achievement and functional performance– which shall include recommendation on

how to assist the child in meeting postsecondary goals

New Concept Rather than just give SOP when

student’s leave:– Use SOP to frame transition plan and place

for transition assessment information– Incorporates all transition assessment

• Academic, vocational, social, living– Teach students to develop and present

own SOP• Provides framework for exit meeting• Information flows into planning

document and process

SOP Teacher-Directed SOP

– Designed for educators and agency– Prepared by educators for use by students

• Nationally created SOP• www.ldaamerica.org/aboutld/adults/docs/SOP_Template.doc

Student-Directed SOP– Designed for students, family, and agency– Prepared by students for use by students and family– Will soon be at www.education.ou.edu/zarrow

Four Part Transition Assessment Model

Four Part Transition Process

1. Self-Determination Assessment

2. Adaptive Behavior Assessments

3. Vocational Interest and Skills

4. Transition Assessment Based on PostSchool Success Predictors

- under development



Self-Determination Assessment

Part 1 of the 4-Part Transition Assessment Process

AIR Self-Determination Assessment Parent Version Teacher Version Student Version Available at

– www.ou.edu/zarrow/sdetermination.html Cost: free

ARC Self-Determination Assessment University of Kansas, Beach Center www.beachcenter.orgClick on downloads, then select

books, manuals, reports - full pubsCost: free

ChoiceMaker SD Assessment Curriculum Referenced Assessment

– Choosing Goals– Participating in IEP Meetings– Taking Action on Goals

Sopris West (search by author: Martin)– www.sopriswest.com

Cost: $12.95 for 25 copies

Adaptive Behavior Skills Assessment


Adaptive Behavior Assessments Transition Planning Inventory (TPI)

– ProEd, Austin Texas (www.proedinc.com)

Casey Life Skills– www.caseylifeskills.org

Enderle-Severson Transition Rating Scales– www.estr.net

Transition Planning Inventory

Home version Teacher version Student version CD version speaks to students or

parents and automatically scores

Informal Assessments for Transition Planning Reproducible Employment Daily Living Health Self-Determination Leisure Activities Community

Participation Communication Interpersonal

Relationships

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Casey Life Skills - Why Look Anywhere Else?

Web based and FREE!!! Spanish or English, with numerous

supplemental assessments Youth and caregiver formats Automatically scored and sent to you Can obtain class summaries Provides different levels of questions for

students across functioning levels

Vocational Interest Assessment


Vocational Interests for High Achieving Students With Mild

Disabilities

Group Interest Inventories– ACT Discover– ACT Explorer

U.S. Dept of Labor O*NET– www.onetcenter.org– Interest profiler, ability profiler

Individualized Interest Inventories

Paper Individual Interest Inventories– Strong Interest Inventory– Self-Directed Search

On-Line Individual Interest Inventories– http://www.myfuture.com/toolbox/workinterest.html– www.ioscar.org– http://www.careerkey.org/cgi-bin/ck.pl?action=choices– www.careervoyages.com– www.careerclusters.org (download in pdf format)

Exploration of Interest Results Occupational Outlook Handbook

– www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm– www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm

Job videos (English or Spanish)– Individuals & Job clusters– http://acinet.org/acinet/videos.asp?id=27,&nodeid=27

– www.careervoyages.com• Uses the above videos in an interactive format



YES! (Your Employment Selections) Reading free, video based job

preference program Videos for 120 jobs

– Accessed by characteristics or job choices– Matched to training and qualifications

Can access from CD ($395) or web ($20 per person for 3 months)

www.yesjobsearch.com

What If Some Can’t Read?

Reading Free Interest Inventory

Published by Pro Ed

www.proedinc.com

COPS-PIC Non-Verbal Assessment of

Occupational Interest EDITS / P.O. Box 7234 / San Diego, CA

92167 800-416-1666 / 619-222-1666 / Fax 619-226-

1666 25 copies for $50.90

WRIOT2: Wide Range Interest and Occupation Test 2



Available: www.proedinc.com

Cost: appx $200 for entire package



Designed for Those Students Who Can’t Use the Other Vocational Interest Tools

Functional Vocational Assessment

Vocational Interests via Career Exploration

Choosing Employment Goals

Sopris West Publishers

(www.sopriswest.com)

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Requires reading and writing skills

Key: Determine Match Between What I Like and What’s At This Site

Each time student chooses a characteristic one more cell on the graph is marked

Job Duties - How I Did

Job duties identified and written onto form Student evaluates speed, independent performance,

and accuracy Supervisor evaluates speed, independent

performance, and accuracy Match made between student and supervisor



Uses self-evaluation methodology to teach job performance skills and to assess job duty skills

Job Clusters

Career Awareness through use of different job clusters

Explore chosen job titles in more depth

Dream Job

Explore a few jobs using directed prompts provided by the lessons

Conduct dream job interview– Scripted form to prepare for and guide the

interview



Vocational ChoiceMaking

Students With Mental Retardation and Other Severe Disabilities

Discrepancy Problems

Discrepancy problems occur when– Chosen job, task, and characteristics do not match

specific jobs

Discrepancy problems diminish when job site characteristics match preferences

Logical choice making occurs when chosen preferences match available jobs.

Basic Procedures Prior to visiting a job site, individual will select

preferred tasks and characteristics Visit job site and spend time watching and/or

doing tasks After visit, will compare initial preferences to

those at the site Process repeated across numerous sites

Characteristics I Like

All Choices Get Graphed

Shadowing Form

Means to structure the shadowing process.

Enables person to leave a record of their opinions.

Char I Like vs Here

Compares initial preferences to those experienced at a particular job site.

Characteristics Graph

Resource

Self-Directed Employment– Paul Brookes Publishing– Baltimore– www.brookespublishing.com



Choose and Take Action ChoiceMaking Software

Use of a software program and community experiences to teach basic self-determination

Publisher

Choose and Take Action: Finding a Job for YouSopris West4093 Specialty PlaceLongmont, CO 80504800.547.6747www.sopriswest.com

Transition Success Assessment


Missing Link In Transition Assessment

The field needs a transition assessment tool based on actual postschool success predictors

No tool like that exists that we could find The field needs a tool to assess students’

current behavior and attitudes relative to identified transition success predictors– Self-Determination, Adaptive Behavior, and

Vocational Interest assessments do not do this.

Postschool Success Predictors

Reviewed the literature to identify personal and program traits that predicted postschool success.

Used Purpose of Special Education to Define Success– . . . a free appropriate public education that

emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet students’ unique needs and to prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.

Identified Predictor Clusters Disability awareness Choicemaking, goal setting, and goal attainment Social skills Positive personal characteristics Employment during high school years Transition education Family involvement Supportive system Academic success as a predictor for postschool

success???– Not currently in the Transition Success Assessment

Student-Directed Transition Planning

Just released transition instructional program. Check at www.education.ou.edu/zarrow

Percent of Intervals Discussed Transition

Special Ed50%

General Ed 4%

Admin8%

Family8%

Support Staff20%

Students10%

Soon available at ou.edu/zarrow

Collaborative Effort

Documents

A Four-Part Transition Assessment Model