Transition Services

Essential Elements

• Transition service areas may include instruction, related services, community experiences, or development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.
• The transition services and activities (actions/steps) described under all of these areas form a coordinated plan for the transition from school to post-school adult life.
• While each of the transition service areas must be considered in relation to the measurable postsecondary goals, the criteria for meeting this requirement do not determine whether the postsecondary goals were or were not written so they are measurable.  The focus is on the determination of transition services in association with the postsecondary goals.
• Transition services are a “coordinated set of activities designed within a results-oriented process.” The activities should specify what will occur, who is responsible, and when (within the current IEP year) the transition activity will take place. Coordinated means that the transition activities are planned and the responsibility for completing the activities is shared. Schools, parents, outside agencies, and students cannot, individually, do all of the activities necessary to help the student achieve their desired measurable postsecondary goals.  The activities must be well planned and shared between all parties.
• As with other components of the postsecondary transition process, this information must be updated at least annually, but also at any point that information in the IEP changes or will not be completed during the time period.