Transition Resources for Professionals

Do you work with teens who have disabilities? Are you involved in helping them to plan for their transition to life after high school? This involves a lot of planning, as you probably already know! If you're looking for ideas or the latest in research or materials, then we hope that the resources listed in this page will be a pleasant surprise and a useful tool in your work.

This page of resources begins where another resource on our site leaves off: Transition 101. Transition 101 kicks off NICHCY's suite of transition pages and is provided to lay a critical foundation of understanding on transition in law and in practice. Very valuable resources are listed therein, so we strongly recommend that, if you haven't taken a look at what we've listed there, you do. There, you'll find information organized into the following sections: Students in the viewfinder, What does IDEA require?, Other laws impacting transition, Transition planning in action, Organizations that can help, Transition in your state, and Spanish materials.

The transition suite has other stand-alone pages as well. The suite consists of:

• Transition 101
• Transition Resources for Parents
• Transition Resources for Students
• Transition Resources for Professionals (you're here!)
• Transition for Students with Specific Disabilities

For Those Inside the System

• An administrator's guide to transition.
  www.seattleu.edu/ccts/docs/Administrators%20Guide.pdf
  This 75-page Administrator's Guide is a reference for administrators and educational staff on transition services for students with disabilities and outlines the transition process as required by law. The guide is available online courtesy of the Center for Change in Transition Services, at Seattle University. It's a large file, so it may take a few minutes to open.
• Support for transition professionals: Everything but the kitchen sink.
  www.wrightslaw.com/heath/transition.work.htm
  The Transition Coalition provides FREE research-based online training for professionals and others involved in transition planning. These modules are developed using up-to-date research in transition, effective practices in professional development, and are tested by practitioners across the country. (Full access to the modules requires completion of a 10-minute demographic survey.) Topics? At the moment...
  
  
  • Best Practices in Planning for Transition
  • Secondary Transition and Cultural Diversity
  • Transition Assessment: The Big Picture
  • Working with Families
• Transition responsibilities of secondary special educators.
  www.dcdt.org/pdf/transit_plan.pdf
  The Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT), a division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), is a membership organization for teachers, other professionals, and families of students with disabilities who are interested in their successful transition and positive post school outcomes for students with disabilities. This 2-pager spells out the transition-related planning, instruction, and service responsibilities for secondary special educators.
• The most important person at the table: Getting the young person involved.
  www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=30&type=topic&id=7
  This brief summarizes research on the participation of young people in person-centered planning, and gives specific recommendations to assist facilitators in maximizing student participation.
• What is self-determination, and why is it beneficial?
  www.cenmi.org/focus/transition/sept05/article_05-04.asp
  Self-determination is the understanding and ability to act on personal strengths and limitations. This FOCUS on Results brief examines the value and impact self-determination can have on the lives of persons with disabilities.
• Teaching self-determination.
  www.uncc.edu/sdsp/sd_lesson_plans.asp
  These Self-Determination Lesson Plan Starters are grounded in data-based research studies in which students or adults were taught a new self-determination skill or set of skills. The lesson plan starters have been developed based on the description of the intervention and data collection procedures provided in each study.
• Reevaluation and transition services: Best practices for school psychologists and transition teams.
  www.seattleu.edu/ccts/docs/Trans%20Re-Eval%20Process.pdf
  The purpose of this 13-page document is to recommend an evaluation process to secondary special education teams to enhance the transition of students with disabilities from school to their adult lives in order to increase positive post-school outcomes. Suggested timelines and resources are included to develop evaluations based on individual student needs.
• Career planning begins with assessment.
  www.ncwd-youth.info/resources_&_Publications/assessment.html
  The best decisions and choices made by transitioning youth are based on sound information including appropriate assessments that focus on the talents, knowledge, skills, interests, values, and aptitudes of each individual. This guide serves as a resource for multiple audiences within the workforce development system. Youth service practitioners will find information on selecting career-related assessments, determining when to refer youth for additional assessment, and additional issues such as accommodations, legal issues, and ethical considerations. Administrators and policymakers will find information on developing practical and effective policies, collaboration among programs, and interagency assessment systems.
• Assessing life skills.
  www.caseylifeskills.org/
  Career planning, communication, daily living...home life, work life, housing and money management. These are among the domains that Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment instruments evaluate, free, online. Several versions exist: English and Spanish, Youth and Caregiver. And you can also access customized learning plans that provide a clear outline of next steps, and accompanying teaching resources. Just visit the link above.
• Starting a community-based program for students.
  www.transitioncoalition.org/cgiwrap/tcacs/new/resources/publications/index.php
  This manual is based on the development and operation of one community-based transition program in Lawrence, KS called Community Transitions (C-Tran). The teachers of C-Tran reveal their insights and share many of their resources, programming, and curricula to help others develop community-based transition programs.
• How about a comprehensive work-based learning program?
  http://ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/flsa/default.asp
  This handbook provides guidance to schools operating a comprehensive work-based learning program consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• A toolkit for guidance & career counselors: Advising students with disabilities about postsecondary options.
  www.heath.gwu.edu/Toolkit/Toolkit.pdf
  This toolkit, 192 pages long, comes from the HEATH Resource Center, the nation's clearinghouse on postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities.
• High School/High Tech.
  www.ncwd-youth.info/HSHT/index.html
  HS/HT is a national network of state and locally operated programs designed to provide young people with all types of disabilities the opportunity to explore jobs or further education leading to technology-related careers.
• VR's role in postsecondary education and, down the road, employment.
  www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=44&type=topic&id=7
  Access to the opportunities afforded by a postsecondary education makes an enormous difference in the employability of people with disabilities. The state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system can be a good source of support for individuals with disabilities looking for higher education. This brief will focus on people who have received education supports from VR agencies over time and their rehabilitation outcomes.
• Planning rehab services: Ahhh! Don't forget the family!
  www.pacer.org/tatra/critpart.htm
  The "Family as a Critical Partner in the Achievement of a Successful Employment Outcomes" contains an administrative guide for rehabilitation professionals; sections identifying and explaining the roles of the VR counselor, consumer and family; and training materials and tools to help facilitate family involvement leading to quality employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
• SSI, work incentives, and youth with disabilities.
  http://ici2.umn.edu/ntn/pub/hdbk/default.html
  Yes, they're pretty baffling, but if you're involved in helping youth with disabilities transition from secondary school, then you'll probably want to know more about the SSI program as it applies to transition students and how it can be used to enhance postsecondary outcomes.
• When youth in transition are in foster care.
  www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/ItsMyLifeFramework.htm
  "It's My Life: A Framework for Youth Transitioning from Foster Care to Successful Adulthood" draws on the expertise and insights of youth in foster care, alumni of care, social workers, researchers, and education specialists. It is designed for child welfare professionals and others responsible for guiding and supporting teens as they prepare for adulthood.

Community Resource Mapping

• What's that?
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=939
  Mapping focuses on what communities have to offer by identifying assets and resources that can be used for building a system. The brief includes a detailed explanation of Community Resource Mapping, a list of the benefits of mapping, examples of mapping efforts, whom to contact information for further information, plus related resources.
• Go more indepth.
  http://ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/mapping/default.asp
• 10 steps.
  http://cyd.aed.org/cym/cym.html
  The Center for Youth Development and Policy Research provides this framework that briefly discusses the ten steps of effectively, efficiently and accurately mapping community resources for youth.
• Community mapping as a transition tool teachers and students can use.
  www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=2128
  Community mapping is an effective professional development activity for all types of teachers who use a CTL approach (contextualized teaching and learning). Mapping can acquaint teachers with the target community's culture, resources, transition assets, and needs. This topic brief offers guided process for teachers and students working together to map community resources.

Interagency Affairs

Transition planning and service delivery require that many partners come to the table: schools, vocational rehabilitation, social security, and community organizations and programs. This can be a very tricky part of providing transition services. How do you get all these different agencies and players to the table and coordinating their services on behalf of a youth with disabilities? Here are some materials that may help answer that question.