Transition Services for Special Education Students Essay Example for Free

Transition Services for Special Education Students Essay Abstract This study examined the issues on life-span transition services for special education students. By exploring the existing approaches to transition services and analyzing outcomes they provide for the disabled persons the study tried to find out the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches as well as to define the future trends able to enhance transition programs designed to increase the likelihood that the disabled person will be able to secure and maintain employment, function independently in the community, and ultimately become a satisfied and productive member of society. The results of the study demonstrated that to be successful transition services have to be transdisciplinary in nature. Besides, the use of collaborative teaming among professionals, agencies, the student, and family members, the use of the curriculum that focuses on the interactions between the student and his/her environments as well as the establishment and use of interagency linkages to facilitate the smooth transfer of support and training from the school to adult and community agencies when the student exits public schools are the most important components of successful life-span transition programs. A few decades ago the society faced disturbing outcome data of the students with disabilities (Repetto, 1995, p. 128) and fully realized that due to little concern given to vocational and transition programs for these students the latter experienced increased school dropout and unemployment rates as statistics showed. Those students have often graduated from the school lacking the skills essential to live or function autonomously in the community, and often failing to find and keep job (Levinson, 1998, p. 29). It is evident such state of things has been costly for both financial and personal considerations. On the one hand, the society was to provide social security for these persons, and on the other hand, the person himself was not satisfied with job career and own dependence. The necessity to change this state of affairs has led to growing concentration upon enhancing transition services for the persons with disabilities within the past one and a half decade. Three factors contributed to this process: adoption of federal legislation supporting and promoting transition services; availability of state, federal, and local funds invested in their development (Shapiro Rich, 1999, p.51); and a number of scientific and empirical studies on effective transition practices (Kohler Field, 2003, p. 174). The purpose of this study is to explore how life-span transition services can ensure smooth integration of the special needs students into the community and provide them with the skills sufficient for successful career development. Toward this end we will scrutinize prevailing approaches to transition services, discuss their advantages and shortcomings; analyze the components making transition programs implementation successful; and make the conclusions as to the ways of these programs improvement. Definition of Transition Services Transition services were defined in by the law as: A coordinated set of activities for a student, designed with an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based on the individual students needs, taking into account the students preferences and interests, and shall include instruction, community experiences, the development of employment, and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation (P.L. 101-476, pp. 1103-1104). Thus, transition services, mandated by legislation, reflect the major performance areas that are typically addressed by transition services: work or education, independent living including activities of daily living, and community participation, which may include community mobility and transportation, access to community services and activities, recreation and leisure, and socialization and relationships. This definition distinctly implies that transition services should involve a diversity of school and community staff. It also assumes that they have to contain the parents of the children and the children themselves (Shapiro Rich, 1999, p. 132). Besides, the definition entails that a transition program is an outcome-oriented, well-planned and methodical process to be launched long before the student is graduating from school (Levinson, 1998, p. 2) to achieve its goals. Legislative Background of Transition Services As it was mentioned above one of the main factors promoting transition services prevalence was adoption of supporting federal legislation and availability of state, federal, and local funds invested in their development. Since the 1970s the United States Congress has passed several legislative acts that have directly affected the availability and use of transition services for the individuals with disabilities. Since the passage of Public Law 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EHA), special education and related services have been made available through the public education system to the nations children and youth who have disabilities (Levinson, 1998, p. 27). The Rehabilitation Act, which was first introduced in 1973 and then rewritten in 1986 (Public Law 99-506), stipulates for provision of transition services to individuals with disabilities to (1) have greater control over their lives; (2) participate in home, school, and work environments; (3) interact with peers who do not have disabilities; and (4) otherwise do acts taken for granted by individuals without any known disability (Repetto, 1995, p. 127). The EHA and its subsequent amendments (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 1990, 1997) guaranteed the provision of transition services as required to provide free and appropriate education for all children with disabilities (Benz, Lindstrom Yovanoff, 2000, p. 509). An appropriate education is one in which children with disabilities acquire, to the maximum extent possible, the skills, knowledge, and behaviors that will ultimately help them function successfully as adults. After initial passage of the EHA, several major benefits were realized: Formal mechanisms were established to identify and bring children with disabilities into the public education process. Parents and guardians were identified as essential members of the educational team and were provided with legal rights related to their childs education. All identified children were provided with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) developed by an educational team that included the students parents or guardians (Shapiro Rich, 1999, p. 131). The 1997 amendments to IDEA continued to emphasize the use of transition services to enable the success of students with disabilities in their educational and school-to-career programs. These legislative acts have improved the access to transition services by children with disabilities (Levinson, 1998, p. 29). Moreover, through the Tech Act (Public Law 100-407), states have established resource centers and information systems for consumers of transition services. The goals of this legislation are to foster interagency cooperation, develop flexible and effective funding strategies, and promote access to transition services for individuals with disabilities throughout their life spans (Johnson et al., 2002, p. 520). The Goal of Transition Services – Life-Span Assistance for the Student’s Empowerment Such well-founded legislation on transition services paved the way for their wide spread implementation all over the nation, successful realization and continuous enhancement of the delivered services. From the definition of transition services it is clear they require â€Å"an outcome-oriented approach that looks at future vocational placements, residential options, funding sources, and community resources† (Nuehring Sitlington, 2003, p. 23). A number of studies examined the practical ways of applying this approach. In particular, Wehman Revell (1997) found the following: Transition for any student with a disability involves several key components, including: (1) an appropriate school program; (2) formalized plans involving parents and the entire array of community agencies that are responsible for providing services; and (3) multiple, quality options for gainful employment and meaningful post-school education and community living. (p. 67). All these components in combination are assigned to promote the smooth movement of young children with disabilities from a preschool program to a kindergarten class and into a school setting, and further the movement of young adults from one grade of the secondary school to the next and to post-school activities.   Thus, the special needs children may spend from 12 to 18 years getting the certain form of transition services (Spencer 2001, p. 893) which Donald Super in his theory of career development called â€Å"life-span and life-space transition† (Szymanski, 1994, p. 402). Many scholars agree that early childhood influences are the crucial determinants of later professional behavior (Turner Szymanski, 1990, p. 20). Reflecting this concept, IDEA 1997 while not requiring the local education agency to consider transition activities and sites for students with disabilities before the students 14th birthday, does require that services be provided earlier if the IEP team feels such is appropriate (Daugherty, 2001, p. 45). Therefore, families and educators should consider the child’s abilities, interests, and opportunities for community-based activities and kindergarten- or home-based special education while the child is in pre-school years and in elementary school. Doing so should help the child to develop skills and interests for maintaining that activity later in life (Levinson, 1998, p. 10). Research indicates that such early involvement of the child with special needs into transition programs improves and enhances self-concept, competence, and social skills of him/her (Szymanski, 1994, p. 403). The very important thing here is that professionals and families should recognize that families play an integral role especially in early year’s transition planning (Scott Baldwin, 2005, p. 173). The scholars suggested a number of guidelines for such planning: transition should be viewed within a larger context of community inclusion and participation; transition should be family- and individual-directed; families should be educated and empowered to acquire and assist in the creation of appropriate inclusive services and supports; transition should be embedded in elementary and secondary curriculum reform; the process required to create the Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) should not distract families; to achieve the most satisfactory result for their children, families should provide basic support to one another (Levinson, 1998, p. 3). As to the instruction the basic academic skills in reading, writing, and computation is usually emphasized at the elementary school level, but some elements of them are being taught as early as during pre-school years (Repetto, 1995, p. 125). When structuring instruction, educators sequence skills properly. Each skill is taught in sequence, and only when mastery of one skill is attained the next skill should be introduced. This is particularly important with skills that are dependent upon each other (Levinson, 1998, p. 91). Indeed, it may be difficult for some families to focus on post-school transition needs when their child is just in the kindergarten. If this is the case, professionals should take care not to overwhelm families with transition planning. Professionals should appropriately explain the importance of developing skills and interests in mental and physical activity while the child is young in order to maximize current and future involvement in various activities offered through the school and community. Such explanations, among other advantages, allow to prevent secondary disabilities, to help the child to socialize and get the necessary social skills as early as in childhood (Scott Baldwin, 2005, p. 174). Research proved that it is never too early to begin planning for transition to family- and community-based transition programs. Good planning always includes identification of the childs abilities and the childs and familys interests and goals for education considering their cultural beliefs and values. Such transition plan for the pre-school or elementary student remains flexible, because the childs abilities may change and/or the childs or familys interests and resources may change (Benz, Lindstrom Yovanoff, 2000, p. 512). General education and special education teachers are in the best position to encourage parents of pre-school and elementary school children to facilitate the transition planning. Studies show that children who are participants of transition programs from the early years have a better chance of becoming socially active, intelligent, competent and healthy adults (Carter Wehby 2003, p. 450). Moving from the kindergarten and elementary school to the secondary school implies the new challenges for the students of special education. Scholars defined what secondary transition practices are contributing to the future children retention and success when they enter high school and further get job. These are: direct, individualized tutoring and support to complete homework assignments, attend class, and stay focused on school; 2. participation in vocational education classes during the last 2 years of high school, especially classes that offer occupationally specific instruction; 3. participation in paid work experience in the community during the last 2 years of high school; 4. competence in functional academic [†¦] and transition [†¦] skills; 5. participation in a transition planning process that promotes self-determination; 6. direct assistance to understand and connect with resources related to post-school goals [†¦]; 7. graduation from high school. (Benz et al., 2004, p. 39). Such comprehensive list of factors evidently testifies that due to recent standards-based secondary school reform the requirements to academic performance raised substantially. Accepting this challenge special education teachers have worked hard to make sure that the special needs students are involved in these general reform efforts (Benz, Lindstrom Yovanoff, 2000, p. 511). They developed adoptive methods helping to ease the process of learning. For instance, when the student has difficulty in learning needed skills combined with incapacity to readily transfer or generalize learning to new environments or situations, they provide education in the actual environments that the student will be using, which allows for explicit teaching to the real-life demands of a particular environment and eliminates the need for the student to transfer skills (Spencer 2001, p. 884). At this all it is significant that emphasizing of an environmental curriculum on preparing the students of secondary school to functionate in main life domains (domestic, school, community, leisure, and vocational), efficient transition practices demand continuous assessment of the extent and quality of performance in each domain (Turner Szymanski, 1990, p. 22). Modern science in the sphere of special education developed several methodologies which allow achieving high academic performance by the secondary school students with disabilities. They include direct instruction, meta-cognitive reading comprehension strategies, peer-mediated instruction and interventions, and social skills training (Conderman Katsiyannis, 2002, p. 169). One of the important issues in secondary school transition services is inclusion of the students with disabilities in the general curriculum. Federal legislation gives the clear mandate for educating all children with disabilities in the regular classroom to the maximum extent appropriate or possible (Daugherty, 2001, p. 48). The inclusion of students who have disabilities in typical educational activities and environments is believed to promote student performance, offer rich opportunities for learning, provide age-appropriate role modeling, increase awareness among all students of diverse learning styles and abilities, and provide opportunities for relationship building that is so important especially during adolescent development (Scott Baldwin, 2005, p. 175). Age-appropriate placement does not mean that students with disabilities are simply placed in a typical class or at a community job site. Appropriate support services and resources that facilitate the students full inclusion and maximum participation in the environment must accompany these placements. Thus, IDEA recognizes that a students successful transition from school to adult life requires opportunities to learn and to practice skills in a variety of relevant school and non-school learning environments. These environments may include the classroom, school lunchroom, home, public transit bus, work site, community recreation facility, and a variety of other relevant settings (Daugherty, 2001, p. 49). But here a danger exists that content instruction could impede the goals of inclusion education. As more special needs students are included in general education curriculum, they often need supplementary assistance from the special education teacher to do class and home assignments, to review the learned material, and to prepare for the exams which sometimes is given by these teachers when their students pass the tests, for example. The pressure on special educators to provide academic progress of their wards could make more harm than good for them. Passing grades in school progress record sometimes do not mean quality of the student’s knowledge and skills (Conderman Katsiyannis, 2002, p. 170). Although the general education curriculum contains both academic (e.g., math, science) and nonacademic (e.g., career education, arts, citizenship) domains, student performance is assessed primarily in academics. As a result, it is not uncommon for portions of the general curriculum as well as transition goals to receive limited or no attention. There also may result a narrowing of curriculum and instruction to focus on content assessed in state or local tests. This may limit the range of program options for students due to intensified efforts to concentrate on areas of weakness identified by testing. Efforts must be undertaken to ensure that students with disabilities remain on a full curriculum track, with learning expectations that guide the instruction of general education students. IEP teams must work to ensure that high expectations are maintained and students are afforded opportunities to develop skills through a wide range of curriculum options, including vocational education, service learning, community work experience, and adult living skills (Repetto Correa, 1996, p. 553). The present challenge is to integrate the IDEA requirements concerning access to the general education curriculum with the transition service provisions. There is an urgent need to view these requirements as unified and complementary in helping students to achieve the broadest possible range of school and post-school goals and results. Strategies for accomplishing this include promoting high expectations for student achievement and learning, making appropriate use of assessment and instructional accommodations, and ensuring that students have access to the full range of secondary education curricula and programs (Benz et al., 2004, p. 41). Another important issue, especially concerning the students with mild disabilities, is availability of continuous instruction of basic skills within the curriculum at the middle school and high school levels. Those skills need to be taught within the context of real-life applications (Spencer 2001, p. 881). That is, in elementary school, students are taught to add, subtract etc. using worksheets and other materials but are rarely given the opportunity to apply those skills to balancing a checkbook or determining whether they have received the correct change during a purchase. Additionally, in elementary school little opportunity is provided to apply those skills to vocationally or occupationally relevant activities. Although to make a successful transition from high school to work, college, or community living, students need to possess basic academic skills in reading, writing, and computation, at both the middle school and high school level students need to be provided with continuing opportunities to practice those basic skills in real-life situations (Conderman Katsiyannis, 2002, p. 172). At the same time after the students with disabilities graduated from the school they are still eligible for the transition services. At this stage namely the student is a person who defines which areas are given emphasis. For instance, the student with learning disabilities planning to enter the college may not need to be provided with extensive vocational and occupational training in high school but may need to focus on the development of academic skills specific to admission to and success in college, and life skills specific to making a successful adjustment from high school to college. In contrast, the student with severe cognitive and physical disabilities may need to focus on vocational and occupational functioning and basic life skills necessary for independent living (Repetto, 1996, p. 553). Besides, several other factors have an effect on the design of the vocational syllabus. Local conditions often define the studens’ plans for the future such as urban or rural district, the peculiarities of local economy and labor market, the rate of employment, the personal traits of the student himself and the type of his/her disability, and indeed availability of transition services. The vocational syllabus has to be designed in such a way to prepare the students with disabilities for jobs in demand on local labor market, because as a rule such students do not leave their communities trying to find job (Levinson, 1998, p. 88). When we consider post-secondary transition services for the college-bound students it is important to pay attention to the differences between high school and college requirements, such as time spent in class, class size, time for study, testing approaches, grading methods, teaching strategies, and freedom and independence. They all pose additional challenges for students with disabilities who are making the transition from high school to college. Discussing those differences and assessing student practices are important for students survival and adaptation. When evaluating post-secondary options, the students need to assess the amount and type of learning disabilities support services they require to be successful (Shapiro Rich, 1999, p. 171). Assisting the students with special needs to cope with the new challenges most post-secondary educational settings have programs for such individuals that provide the necessary support for them. These institutions often have an Office for Students with Disabilities that employs counselors and tutors and that provides a wide array of services for all students with disabilities. For instance, structural accommodations such as ramps and elevators exist to accommodate students with physical disabilities. Large-print and Braille textbooks exist for students with visual impairments. Students with hearing impairments can be provided with prepared lecture notes (Levinson, 1998, p. 152). In addition, modifications in test-taking procedures, tutoring, and academic and personal counseling are available for the special needs students. Given the array of services available, post-secondary educational settings are now an appropriate option for many students with disabilities whose occupational aspirations require advanced formal education (Benz, Lindstrom Yovanoff, 2000, p. 513). Numerous methods are available to provide individuals with the additional post-secondary training they need in order to acquire the skills and credentials necessary for entry into their chosen occupations (Benz, Lindstrom Yovanoff, 2000, p. 510). In addition to the vocational training and work experience programs offered by most school districts, individuals with disabilities may gain additional training after high school via apprenticeship programs, the military, trade and technical schools, community colleges and junior colleges, and four-year colleges and universities. All offer programs that may be suitable post-secondary options for the students with disabilities (Johnson et al., 2002, p. 522). In general, the legislation includes the following in its description of post-school activities: post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, and community participation. Clearly, then, transition is meant to address not just employment needs, but future needs within the broader focus of life within the community (Repetto, 1995, p. 130). In any case, to the maximum extent possible, the individuals with disabilities should be placed in the least restrictive environment and in settings that facilitate the normalization process. Delivering transition services from high school to work-force, transition personnel should attempt to ensure that a full range of placement options exist for the individuals with whom they work. This often necessitates that transition personnel market individuals with disabilities to employers, neighbors, or admission personnel and conduct public relations campaigns on behalf of their clients. Because many people have unrealistic and faulty expectations and perceptions of individuals with disabilities, transition personnel also have to educate the public about disability issues and have to work hard to overcome the public resistance that so often accompanies the placement of those individuals in occupational, residential, and educational settings (Johnson et al., 2002, p.   520). Both scholars and special educators recognize the importance of specific career development skills to a students success in the workforce. Learning how to search for job openings, write a CV, establish and prepare for an interview, understand the relationship between employer and employee, and be knowledgeable as to the rights of workers are all important areas to address. Additionally, successful transition programs address work ethics, work habits, and motivation issues as well. For instance, the students with disabilities would greatly benefit from preparation regarding employers expectations in terms of work habits. For instance, they should learn the importance of taking responsibility for calling in if they were unable to be at work. Very often these major work habits and ethics are missing from the students skills. Besides, students with disabilities are excessively sheltered and are often not compelled to take responsibility for their own actions while responsibility is crucial for getting and keeping employment (Nuehring Sitlington, 2003, p. 28). Conclusion In summary, the study showed that the transition process is in fact a part of the broader process of career development. Moreover, transition is about societal empowerment not only of the individuals with disabilities, but of all of us. Our communities and our society will be enriched and empowered when all citizens, including those with disabilities, are valued and seen as contributing members. The challenge of transition professionals is to facilitate that empowerment through appropriate transition services that empower individuals and their families and through the actions as community catalysts who work in a respectful partnership with people with disabilities. The conducted study clearly demonstrated the concept of transition-focused education represents a shift from disability-focused, deficit-driven programs to an education and service-delivery approach based on abilities, options, and self-determination. This approach incorporates quality-of-life issues, life span and life space considerations, and suggestions for seamless transition approaches together with the key elements – outcome-oriented, community-based, student-centered, and family-centered transition services. At the same time the study proved that there is no one fitting all transition planning strategy able to effectively prepare students with disabilities who all have unique needs for successful, fulfilling adult roles. Only through continued attention to establishing effective transition services flexible enough to meet individual student needs, the society can arm students with information and opportunities on which they can build their futures. Thus, the society has to bend every effort to ensure that students with disabilities fully access and benefit from the general education curriculum, and leave our school systems prepared to successfully participate in post-secondary education, enter meaningful employment, live independently in communities, and pursue lifelong learning opportunities.       References Benz, M. R., Lindstrom, L., Yovanoff, P. (2000). Improving Graduation and Employment Outcomes of Students with Disabilities: Predictive Factors and Student Perspectives. 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