Transition IEPs: Lessons Learned From Across the State

1. Transition IEPs: Lessons Learned From Across the State Nicole Norvell, Director of Special Education, Indiana Department of Education And Teresa Grossi, Director, Secondary Transition Resource Center Center on Community Living and Careers Indiana Institute On Disability and Community Indiana University tgrossi@indiana.edu • http://www.instrc.indiana.edu/

2. Purpose of Today • Highlight reasons why IEPs were found non-compliant • Highlight what to do and what not to do • Understand the review process • Answer as many questions as possible • Provide you with additional resources

3. Review Process • 65,536 STNs were given for randomization • 3250 were randomly selected based on 5% of the district’s numbers or minimum 5 and maximum 25 per district • 2978 IEPs were used in the database • Reasons for disregarding other IEPS: • Not of age (13) • Not within 2010-2011 school year • IEP couldn’t be found

4. Student Invited to the IEP • 93% across the state • Some needed to be verified if the Invite list was not accessible and/or the student did not attend

5. Measurable Postsecondary Goals Improved progress over the years:

6. Measurable Postsecondary Goals • Has to occur after high school • Often used non-measurable terms such as “seek”, hopes to find”, “maybe get”, “not really sure but…”, “wants to” • Measurable terms- “I will . . . : obtain, attend, work, receive on-the-job training, participate in, use, enroll, get a job, live. • Too much verbiage or two or three goals where the reviewer was having to decipher the actual goal.

7. Measurable Postsecondary Goals • Many did not put N/A for Independent Living Skills Goal and when based on data not sure if it was needed. Therefore, an annual goal and transition services weren’t addressed. • If N/A for ILS, must provide justification via transition assessment or other evidence. • Student goal is to be a “lawyer” yet obtaining a certificate – no indication what the school (e.g., transition assessment or transition activities) to help make the informed decision.

8. Evidence that Postsecondary Goals Were Based Upon Transition Assessments

9. Evidence that Postsecondary Goals Were Based Upon Transition Assessments • A summary of findings would be provided but didn’t say how they obtained the data (what assessment was used) • Some just listed the assessments but didn’t summarize the findings • Others used the same assessment for all students and even wrote it in be the assessment for next year • Some just didn’t do the assessment; left it blank or talked about CORE 40/ECA

10. Evidence that Postsecondary Goals Were Based Upon Transition Assessments • Remember: Transition assessment is an ongoing process. . . . .we build upon it over the years to help the student identify strengths, preferences, interests and needs. • http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionassessment • For more information email Mary Held maheld@indiana.edu or tgrossi@indiana.edu

11. Postsecondary Goal Updated Annually • Most were fine unless there wasn’t a postsecondary goal

12. Documentation of Diploma/Certificate

13. Measurable Annual Goals

14. Annual Goals (6)(A) A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to support and align with the student's postsecondary goals, that meet: (i) the student's needs that result from the student's disability to enable the student to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and (ii) each of the student's other educational needs that result from the student's disability. (B) For students who participate in alternate assessments aligned to alternative academic achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short-term objectives. [Article7: 511 IAC 7-43-4]

15. Measurable Annual Goals • Quite a number indicted to “pass a class”; meet a percentage (e.g., 75% or better) of the Grade-level Academic Standards”, or earn credits • Goals would only state the measurement or criteria • Goals didn’t always match what was in the “needs section”, disability needs, or present level baseline data. • Had a ILS goal for a postsecondary but no annual goals • If you state “ ___ will increase her mastery of Math Computation from 60%-75% by completing the following elements at 85% accuracy”- then list the 2-4 elements or standards and make sure they are related and specific to math computation.

16. Transition Services

17. Transition Services • Quite a number of IEPS gave all the responsibility to the student/parent—schools must have responsibility • Some IEPs had completion dates outside the life of the IEP • Some didn’t have anything listed or could not determine the meaning. For example, “monitoring”, “transition”, “vocational”. • Some were not age –appropriate (e.g., 7th grader research colleges) • Some listed everything they would do from now until graduation—remember 1 year of services/activities with the IEP year.

18. Transition Services • Quite a number of IEPS gave all the responsibility to the student/parent—schools must have responsibility • Some IEPs had completion dates outside the life of the IEP • Some didn’t have anything listed or could not determine the meaning. For example, “monitoring”, “transition”, “vocational”. • Some were not age –appropriate (e.g., 7th grader research colleges) • Some listed everything they would do from now until graduation—remember 1 year of services/activities.

19. Transition Services Likely to be Paid for or Provided by Others

20. Paid or Provided by Others • IEPs that were out of compliant were mainly due to assigning services/activities to a participating agency (e.g., Vocational Rehabilitation, BDDS, Medicaid Waiver), without the agency being present OR no consent provided. • Must have the consent form signed prior to the invite or talking to the participating agency (not a school agency)

21. Course of Study

22. Course of Study - Defined • Courses of study are “a multi-year description of coursework (necessary) to achieve the student’s desired post school goals”. [Storms, O’Leary, & Williams, 2000 Transition Requirements, p. 8] • Courses of study focus on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child to facilitate their movement from school to post-school. [NSTTAC]

23. Course of Study • Some just put “diploma” • Others didn’t have anything at all • Where is the course of study? Most state it can be found in the guidance counselor’s office. • Remember: Does the course of study (instructional program of study) or list of courses of study align with the student’s identified postsecondary goals?

24. Course of Study • In Indiana we have basically 2 course of studies – Core 40 and General Diploma with a specific career academic sequence. • For students on Certificate – you can list the classes or sometimes it is assumed when stated “ life skills” for “Functional Curriculum”. • Middle school- you should list the courses the students is taking to reach Core 40 or General Diploma. • Again—they course of study needs to be “found” somewhere if a site visit occurs (e.g., Guidance Counselor’s office).

25. Resources • Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center- • Contact Teresa Grossi at tgrossi@indiana.edu; (812-855-4070) http://www.instrc.indiana.edu/ • Tuesday’s Transition Tips for Teachers • Skharris@indiana.edu • Transition Resource Guide and Student Folders • Is College For You: Setting Goals and Taking Action • How to Choose an Employment Provider (we have them in the office) http://www.instrc.indiana.edu/OR contact Teresa

26. Resources • Community Resource Map http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/instrcmap/gismap.html • Modules: • Transition IEPs- http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionieps • Vocational Rehabilitation Services- http://breeze.iu.edu/vrstransition • Transition Assessment - http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionassessment • Writing Good Transition IEP Annual Goals - • Coming Soon to A Tuesday Tip Near You!!!!!

27. Coming Soon: November 1, 2011 Title: Transition Assessment for Students with Severe and Multiple Disabilities Presenter:James Martin, Ph.D., Director Zarrow Center at the University of OK Time:3:15 -4:30 PM (Eastern Time) Register(free): http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=3477

28. THANK YOU