Transition Services
Transition services are experiences, supports, and instruction other than academic courses that will assist the student in achieving his or her postsecondary goals.
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.
Background Information
Overview
Overview and historical perspective on coordinating transition services. 7:46-minutes.
Areas of Transition Service
2:52-minutes.
Long Range Planning
Importance of considering a long range timeframe when crafting transition services. 5:24-minutes
Examples of transition service documentation in the IEP
Employment
Transition service: Amir will complete two different job shadows in his interest area of computers
Time period: 2019-20 school year
Agency responsible: High school job coordinator, guidance counselor, parents, established community partners, student
Instruction
Transition service: Jim will contact the Disabilities Resource office at his three colleges of choice and find out the services they offer students with disabilities and how to access their services.
Time period: 2019-20 school year
Agency responsible: Case manager, guidance counselor, student
Adult Living
Transition service: Rhonda will take a trip to a community college bookstore and independently purchase supplies needed for…
Time period: 2019-20 school year
Agency responsible: Student, parents
Resources
Examples
- Many transition services and courses of study from Ed O’Leary’s Revised Transition Services: Helping Educators, Parents, and other Stakeholders Understand Postschool Outcomes, Course of Study, and Coordinated Set of Activities (MSWord, 28 pages, 2009).
- Many transition service activities in different areas: Coordinated Set of Needed Activities/Strategies (PDF, 9 pages).
- Transition Services/Needs page from New Hampshire exemplar IEPs:
Other
- The Life After High School Transition Tool Kit (PDF, 80 pages, 2018), is designed to help parents understand issues related to postsecondary transition planning. Includes examples.
- Overview of transition services and their relationship with measurable postsecondary goals, annual IEP goals, and Courses of Study, written in parent friendly language from the Center for Parent Information and Resources.
- Related Service Providers in Transition (PDF, 54 slides, 2015), is a PowerPoint with a focus on the overlooked role of occupational, physical, and speech language therapists in transition.
- Developing Courses of Study and Transition Services is a one-hour recorded webinar from the Strafford Learning Center in New Hampshire, part two of a Secondary Transition Webinar Series.
I-13 Requirement
Will transition services reasonably enable the student to meet his or her postsecondary goals?
Essential Elements adapted from O’Leary (2010), Reviewer Reference Form for the Transition Requirements Checklist
Updated 5/10/17
