Transition Plans in Special Education - Essay Example

? Transition Plans in Special Education Transition Plans in Special Education Introduction Transition planningand its role in children development especially those with special disabilities is provided under the individuals with disability education act (IDEA), an act that mandates all schools to ensure all round development of all students with special disability cases. All students must be prepared for employment once they graduate from high school or colleges and this is one of the major goals of IDEA. The preparation of a student with disability for the eventual postsecondary exposure and life experience is an exclusive process that exists within the contexts of transition training and development. The transition process for students with disability begins as from age 14 when a student’s is within the educational system or high school. IDEA also offers funds to transition planning programs for student only when still under the confines of an educational system (Trach, 2012). The development of transitional plans targeting children with special disabilities has led to increased number of disabled youths registering for high school and post high school programs. A transition plan is contained under the individualized education program and refers to activities that outline the strengthening of needs, skills and interest of students with special disabilities immediately after high school. Through transition planning, the needs, strengths, skills and life goals of students can be identified long in advance and nurtured. Implementing such a plan in advance enables a student with disabilities to develop personality and skills that can enable them to overcome post high school challenges (Trach, 2012). Problem statement and significance of study The development of a child with special disabilities has thus been given much prominence and the education system within the United States mandates schools within role. It appreciates the barriers, challenges and problems that students undergo especially after graduating from high school. Understanding the various process, impacts and players in the transition planning development is an important aspect for all scholars within the special education fraternity. This study thus seeks to highlight the processes of transition planning and the impacts that it has created in the development of special education and the preparation of students for postsecondary school life. It seeks to identify the key stakeholders and collaborators of the process and the different roles that each plays (Trach, 2012). The impact of their input in developing a proper transition plan for students with disability will also be evaluated in the study to help discern the importance of transition planning in the education system of students with disabilities. Most student transition planning focuses on providing skills that can enable the students with special disabilities to secure employment and gainful engagement after high school. Comprehensive transitional plan thus ensures the coordination and liaison with external organization that may be interested in employing the students well in advance before they actually graduate from high school (Michaels & Ferrara, 2005). Research questions 1. What is the impact of transition planning in the educational development of students with disability? 2. What transition area holds the key to the success of any transition-planning program? 3. What are the impacts of formal and informal assessment methods available as IDEA regulations? 4. What are the roles of collaborators and how have they contributed towards the development of an effective transition planning approach Participants in transition planning Participants in transitional planning fall in different age groups and this makes their levels of exposure and life experiences vary significantly. Transition plans are thus developed and modeled depending on the needs of the students, their age groups and life experiences. Differences in the transitional planning takes the shape of age of the participants, the roles they take in the processes, maturity of the participants and personal desires of the students with different levels of disability. As high school days nears sunset for the different individuals, the transition plans adopted will also depend on the urgency of the participants (Li, Bassett & Hutchinson, 2009). In order to be initiated into the transition programs, a participant must attain a mean age, which is currently placed at 14 years. Most high school students with disabilities thus start their transition plans at this age while others may be initiated at an older age depending on the needs of the students. At ages of 17 and 18, most students with disabilities in the United States are part of the transition planning as they plan to exit high school life and enter the next important phase. A number of literature available point to the fact that the older the participant, the higher the level of responsibility that they will exhibit in their post high school days. This makes it highly possible that age is important in ensuring that a participant actively engages in various activities of the plan (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). According to Hutchinson, Bassett and Li (2009), one third of participant’s age around 14 years will be present for the transition but will not actively participate in the activities of the plan. However, one a fifth of the disabled students aged between 17 and 18 will take a passive role as their 14-year counterparts. It is therefore essential to include the students aged between 17 and 18 into active planning for the activities of the event, as they are the major participants. The leadership roles for the transition planning must also fall to students that belong in the 17 and 18-age bracket as they are more likely to increase the impacts of the program from active participation (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Benefits of transition planning Preparing a teenager for the next phase of life is an essential element of any education program for it equips them with necessary information and skills on how to overcome the different challenges of life. Transition planning is thus equally important in preparing high school students with disability on the life challenges they are likely to encounter. It thus provides a concrete background and foundation for disabled students and enables them to be ready to meet the various challenges they are likely to meet as post high school teenagers and as persons with disabilities. A number of literature have provided detailed description of the benefits of transition planning and how it ensures round development of teenagers and high school graduates (Trach, 2012). A large number of students with disabilities have been proved to drop out of high school without completion especially if the school lacks proper transition planning program. Such students feel out of place and without necessary skills to meet the various life challenges they are likely to meet because of their disabilities and as unskilled youths. Most disabled students also feel out of place in situations where schools lack accommodative and comprehensive programs like transition planning. Transition planning thus plays a major role in providing an accommodative environment for students with disability. It ensures that such students are physically, psychologically and mentally prepared for the lifelong roles and challenges that await them after high school. This has help in the reduction of the dropouts especially among students with special disabilities (Li, Bassett & Hutchinson, 2009). Transition planning also train students with special disabilities and thus prepare them for college and career life. It enables students to prepare for a life after high school and makes lifelong choice on the career paths they are willing to follow. Statistics has shown that without guidance to the students with special disabilities, most of them will fall before they achieve their final targets in life (Michaels & Ferrara, 2005). Thus, the transition plan must be developed under strict guidance provided by the framework to enable the students benefit out of the program as much as possible. Consequentially, the transition and IEP team must ensure that the program have much value for students and their families. It should be aligned and structure to tally with individual student’s vision and post school goals in life. It should also seek to provide relevant information important for all round development of the student, a process that will enable such students to acquire lifelong skills (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Transition areas In developing transition planning, evaluators must focus on the transition areas if they seek to achieve maximum impacts from the program and ensure all round development of the student. A number of environmental and societal factors affect the development of students and thus influences their ability to enter adulthood successfully. These are the focus areas of a transitional planning and should be adequately addressed if a plan is to be considered successful (Michaels & Ferrara, 2005). Adult living is an important transition stage that must be adequately addressed by any transition planning if such a plan is to be considered successful by any means. The preparation of the students with disabilities on how they can live their adult lives enables them to understand the challenges and responsibilities to expect once they graduate into adults. These experiences vary from filing tax returns, renting or buying a house, servicing a mortgage, obtaining insurance and social cover and accessing medical services. These responsibilities may be enormous especially for individual with special disabilities if they are prepared in advance and provided with skills and knowledge to enable them live with the challenges (Trach, 2012). An adult also has a number of communal challenges that he/she will be expected to fulfill and these may be overwhelming if an individual is not prepared adequately for the roles. The community has a number of expectations that may add more pressure on such a person. A comprehensive plan that exposes them to the communal expectations well in advance prepares them psychologically and socially for the different societal roles they will play. Transition planning program should thus prepare a student to participate in communal activities including making of a government, social and recreational activities, transportation and banking. One important purpose of any transition planning is to equip the students with daily living skills despite the disadvantages that their disabilities may present. These activities include preparing meals, budgeting, driving, and paying bills, having a family and the ability to groom well. These skills are essential in the life of any adult and must be developed in advance before a student can step out of school (Li, Bassett & Hutchinson, 2009). Transition planning also enables students to develop skills that can enable them to gain employment and thus be able to fend for themselves. Transition planning thus focuses in developing the personal and professional skills of students with disability to enable them explores different careers of choice. It thus provides skills and apprenticeship training to the students before they are allowed to step out of high school. Apart from the provision of technical skills, transition planning enables students with disability to develop other skills such as proper communication, behavioral sills, social skills and self-determination ability. These prepares a students for different challenges he is likely to meet once he steps out of high school and either joins college and finds gainful employment (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Transition assessment Upon completion of the transition period and during the processes of preparing the students with disabilities on how to overcome post-secondary school challenges, assessment is important to evaluate the impacts of the approaches use. Assessment thus seeks to weigh the measureable postsecondary goals to ascertain if the actions taken succeeded in achieving the target goals. Transition assessment are thus the actions taken to collect data from different participants of the transition planning exercise to determine if the program provided them with the necessary skills demanded by the current real life environment. Data from assessment helps program developers to refocus their energies and priorities to different areas of the training with the aim of improving the expected overall outcome. Transition assessment in most cases is age appropriate meaning that a student’s chronological age is given much prominence as compare to the developmental age (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Different types of transition assessments exist but empirical classification provides two types; formal and informal transition assessments. In formal assessment, standardized procedures are used to administer, score and interpret the data derived from the entire exercise. Formal assessment thus allows a student’s ability, performances and training levels to be evaluated based on the performance of other students in the same program. Formal assessment assists in the evaluation of the significance and effectiveness of instructional interventions that were used in preparing the students for the next phase of life (Trach, 2012). Formal transition assessment techniques and methods include the analysis of a student’s adaptive behavior and ability to adopt wide ranges of daily living skills. This enables the transition leaders to ascertain the level of assistance that a student with disability may need during the entire sessio. Aptitude skills testing are more specific as they measure specific skills and capabilities of the students including general knowledge, ability to make independent decisions, clerical abilities and the ability to form unbiased perception (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Informal transition assessment methods uses a number of tools including interviews and questionnaires which are geared towards collecting information that can be used by schools to improve their transition programs. It provides information on the student’s personal strengths, abilities, preferences, needs and interest in respect to the outcomes of the entire program. In this approach, information available on a student’s family and social background is used to develop individual oriented transition programs. Formal assessment thus adopts a pre-process approach in which the expected outcome of the exercise is pegged on a student’s need and abilities. A student whose dream may be to enroll in postsecondary college will be assessed based on the capabilities and financial strengths of their family to gauge if they will be able to accord him/her the wishes he/she nurtures (Li, Bassett & Hutchinson, 2009). Development of collaboration models According to Trach (2012), a number of constitutional and legislative amendments have changed transitional planning from an educational event that may happen to one which must happen especially in the context of students with disability. Schools are today held accountable for the student’s fate after graduation, during postsecondary experiences and even while already employed. This makes it imperative for schools to develop proper plans that results into proper transition skills for students with disabilities. The transition was developed to describe a process of development that is essential in ensuring successful movement of students with disability from high school life to live an independent, product and gratifying post-secondary school life. The understanding that adult life presents a number of challenges to different people and it became even tougher for people with disabilities bolstered this. Being a problem viewed as communal as opposed to personal, different entities within the community have come together with professional educators to mitigate the challenges facing transition planning (Thomas, Baker & Saddler, 2002). Collaboration is considered as an individually powered and determined process geared towards improving the current transition planning. In a collaborative process, a conglomerate of professionals, well-wishers and stakeholders in disability education thus determines the content of the training. Any transition plan is began with the teacher and developed by the IEP team and other well-wishers within the sector. The collaborative team is made up of expertise from different levels of human development and special education to enable the team make informed decisions and policies (Trach, 2012). The students, the ultimate beneficiary and their parents are also core members of the team. This enables the team to identify different approaches to use which are acceptable to all concerned parties and individuals. The students and their parents are thus consulted on various issues that affect the student’s personality and development before they are actually adopted. Other members of the collaborative team of transition planning should include special education professionals, normal teachers within our education systems and transition specialists. Transitional specialists include social workers found within vocational rehabilitation centers who are responsible for the provision of post high school training and experience for the students (Li, Bassett & Hutchinson, 2009). Design and methodology In this section, the methods used to accomplish the objectives of this study will be discussed in details to provide an overview of how the research shall be conducted. In this research, qualitative approach shall be employed to assist in the process of data collection, analysis and presentation. Qualitative research design is described as a subjective approach that seeks to describe the different life experiences and provides logical meaning to each experience. It seeks to provide insightful approach that explores the depths and complex scenarios that are presented by the research project. In order to answer the questions presented by this research, a direct interactive approach will be used that will involve one-one experience with the various players within special education department. Interactions and direct observation will be used to understand the approaches used and how they affect the processes of transition planning within the special education sector. An analysis of the experience and the observations made with provide basis for the analysis and evaluation of the outcomes of this study and thus enable me make conclusive discussions on the research questions. Data collection The collection of empirical data is essential in conclusively making discussions on the research questions presented by this paper. Different methods of data collections will be used in this research to enable conclusive collection of essential materials necessary for providing detailed answers to the research questions. The use of interview questionnaires will be the primary source of data collection approach in which different parties involved with transition planning will be interviewed to collect the needed information. The interview will take the form of audio and video tapes, which shall provide a one-on-one opportunity to interact with the policy makers within special education sector. As the sector has a large number of participants and collaborators, electronic questionnaires will also be designed and sent to the respective target group to ensure that the subject target is increased significantly. Direct and participant observation will also be used to collect information on how this approach has influenced the development of students with special disabilities. Postsecondary school graduates will thus form part of this study for the observation of their skills, personal attributes and ability to approach different aspects of life will be evaluated. Both the graduates who participated in this program and those who never participated will be analyzed to enable a comparison of the impacts to be drawn and estimated. The field notes, available journals and scientific publications currently available on various aspects of this subject will also be evaluated and reviewed to provide professional view on the development and determinants of transition planning. Reflection The use of qualitative research design in this exercise provides proper grounds for an interactive data collection and subject interview process. It thus enables the researcher to interact with the various parties and subjects of the study that enhances the process of data collection. Through qualitative approach, the process of developing a common and observation-based conclusion on the benefits of transition planning on students is enhanced. This study design provides a better foundation upon which the research questions can be conclusively answered as it involves an active approach in data collection. Qualitative study design is based on the development of a personal experience and feeling of the real happenings on the ground thus eliminating the need for second person reports. Through this study, the benefits of proper transition planning will be highlighted thus emphasizing the need for developing proper policies that enhances development of students with disabilities. The development of proper educational frameworks that improves the impacts of transition of students will be augmented through the results and conclusions from this study. As special education specialist, these results will enable me understand the basics of transition and appreciate why there is need for developing proper transition framework within the special education sector. In conducting this study, the main challenge will arise during the data collection process as most of the study participants are either professionals engaged in various jobs assignments or students in class. The post-secondary subjects will also present a challenge as the process of interviewing them and collecting adequate data from them may be limited by time constraints. References Li. J., Bassett, D., & Hutchinson, S. (2009). Secondary special educators transition involvement. Journal of intellectual and developmental disability, 34(2), 163-172. Michaels, C. & Ferrara, D. (2005). Promoting post-school success for all: The role of collaboration in person-centered transition planning. Journal of Education and Psychological Consultation 16(4), 278-313. Thomas, C., Baker, S. & Saddler, S. (2002). Self-determination in teacher education. Emerald and Special Education 23 (2), 82-89. Trach, J. (2012). Degree of collaboration for successful transition outcomes. Journal of Rehabilitation 78(2), 39-48. Read More