Introduction to Secondary Transition

1. Introduction to Secondary Transition An overview of the variables affecting transition services and planning options for individuals with disabilities

2. A Note About Language Keeping in mind that individuals with disabilities are first and foremost individuals, I ask all of you to use person first language (i.e., “a person with a disability” as opposed to “an LD student”. Specific attention will be given to this point during the assessment of all written assignments.

3. Background Information • We will not discuss slides 4 – 46 in class unless you have specific questions. They are meant to provide an overview of the essential special education knowledge necessary for you to take an active role in this course.

4. Major Tenants of IDEA • Applies to children ages 3 - 21 • Zero reject - nonexclusionary education • FAPE - Free appropriate public education • LRE - Least restrictive environment • Nondiscriminatory evaluation • Due process • Transition planning • AYP - Adequate yearly progress • Advocacy • Confidentiality • Noncompliance - lawsuits • Person first language

5. Major Tenants of Section 504 • Prevents discrimination by any organization receiving federal funds • Defines a handicapped person as “Any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities” • Students served under IDEA are also eligible for 504 • Both laws mandate FAPE • IDEA requires an individual education program (IEP) while 504 requires schools to demonstrate how services are being provided

6. Major Tenants of ADA (1990) • Maximize the employment potential of individuals with disabilities. • Provide “reasonable accommodations” in the workplace. • Employers may not ask if an individual has a disability and may not discriminate against persons who have a disability. • Colleges and universities must provide appropriate modifications • Telecommunications must be accessible to individuals who are deaf

7. Brief history of IDEA • Public Law 94-142, Education For All Handicapped Children Act (1975). • This law was reauthorized and expanded as the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” (IDEA) in 1990. • Reauthorized again in 1997 & 2004 (P.L. 108-446). • Federal regulations for 2004 reauthorization were released August 14, 2006. • WA regulations released in July 2007.

8. Who is eligible for services under IDEA? Students who demonstrate the characteristics of any of the previous categories IF their disability adversely impacts educational performanceand requires specialized instruction.

9. What if the disability does not affect academic achievement? • Students are NOT eligible for services under IDEA • They may receive services under Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act (1973) • Section 504 covers many more students than IDEA

10. Students served under Section 504 Students served under IDEA Visual representation of school-aged populations served under IDEA and Section 504

11. Student Need Not Eligible Related Services Consider IDEA Adverse affect on educational performance? IDEA Eligible Consider 504 IEP Developed Not Eligible Disability substantially limits one or more major life activities 504 Protected Reasonable Accommodations FAPE Placement Options No No Yes

12. Developmentally Delayed (age 3 - 8) Emotional Behavioral Disability Speech or language impairment Orthopedically impairment Other Health impaired Specific learning disability Mental retardation Multiple disabilities Hearing impairment / Deafness Visually impairment / blindness Deaf / blindness Autism Traumatic brain injury Disability Categories in Washington

13. Categorical Disability Distribution U.S. Department of Education 2005

14. Nondiscriminatory Evaluation All Students Screening Prereferral Some Students Referral Nondiscriminatory Evaluation Procedures Students in need of special education and related services

15. IDEA Procedures • Pre-referral - consultation with instructional support team (IST) • Document current levels of student performance (academic, social, & behavioral) • Implement academic supports - document results • Referral (identification) • Notice of procedural safeguards & due process rights • Parental consent • Evaluation • Eligibility determination (within 35 school days of parental consent) • IEP development • Placement decision (LRE) • Annual review • Triennial reevaluation • Transition planning

16. Evaluation Procedures • Review existing data on the student including classroom-based, local, state assessments, and classroom observations. • Use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about the student. • Provide assessments in the student’s native language.

17. IEP Development - Who’s involved? • The student (when appropriate) • Local educational agency (LEA) - who will oversee implementation of the child’s plan • General classroom teachers (at least 1) • Special education teacher • Therapist • Parents • Others at the discretion of the parents or LEA • Evaluator if other than the special education teacher

18. Contents of the IEP • Child’s present levels of performance (e.g., educational, social, behavioral) • Specific measurable annual goals, objectives, expected levels of performance, timelines • Information regarding the students placement and related services • Modifications to the general education curriculum • Dates & times for delivery of services • Means to assess AYP • Transition plan (16 and up)

19. General Education (Gen Ed) Curriculum Gen Ed w/ consultative services Gen Ed & instruction & services Gen Ed & resource room Full time Sped classroom Special school Special facilities, day or residential Most intensive Continuum of Sped Services - LRE Most Inclusive

20. Help general education teachers help you! What should they do when a student is struggling in class? • Start a confidential file on a secure computer. • Describe the student in a one paragraph narrative that concludes w/ your concerns. • Identify the student’s current levels of functional performance in each of the following domains: academic, social, emotional/behavioral - one paragraph overview from IST pre-referral. • Begin to create a database so that you can chart the student’s progress over time. • Identify and implement research-based instructional strategies. • Build a relationship with the parents.

21. Listening comprehension Oral expression Basic reading skills (alphabetic principle, decoding, phonemic awareness, fluency, semantics) Reading comprehension Basic writing skills (handwriting, spelling, grammar) Written expression Math computation Math reasoning Problem solving Academic areas of focus

22. Listening Comprehension Sara is able to sustain her attention during group activities for 15 - 20 minutes. She follows three-step oral directions and is able to recall at least five story elements from orally read texts. She asks clarifying questions, provides feedback pertinent to the listening activity (e.g., I’ve seen my dog chase cats too!), and responds to verbal cues. Sara is meeting GLEs for listening comprehension and is a joy to have in class. Sample Documentation

23. Oral Expression • Sara adjusts her language based on the situation (e.g., when speaking with friends vs. adults). She initiates discussions and participates in group activities (e.g., brainstorming). She is able to articulate supporting details and organize information into logical sequences. She speaks clearly and distinctly using developmentally appropriate grammar, syntax, tone, and inflection. Sample Documentation

24. Basic Reading Skills • While Sara possesses strong listening comprehension and oral expression skills, she struggles with basic reading skills. For example, during a Pre-Primer Subject Word List screening using the Qualitative Reading Inventory- 4, Sara scored in the 60th percentile or frustration level. She was unable to automatically identify the words “children”, “other”, “animal”, “place”, “every”, “thing”, “write”, and “live”. Sara is often unable to read words containing complex letter patterns (e.g., -ought, -aught). She has difficulty decoding multi-syllabic words (i.e., two and three syllable). When prompted she is able to use prefixes and suffixes to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words 50% of the time. Sample Documentation

25. Using data to inform instruction Sara’s Reading Performance Intervention

26. Results of FBA for Ji m bo Rucksack i n m ulti p le class e s Jimboﾕs Daily Schedule: 7:50 - 8:1 0 Arrive at school . Breakfast on th e playgroun d . 8:10 - 9:0 0 Language Arts with Ms . Janis 9:00 - 9:4 0 Social Studies 9:40 - 10:2 0 Gym or Cu r rent Events 10:20 - 11:0 0 Science 11:00 - 11:3 0 Lunch 11:30 - 11:5 0 Recess s 11:50 - 12:3 0 Math 12:30 - 1:1 0 Specials (Music, Art) 1:10 - 1:4 0 Study Hall 1:40 - 2:2 0 Technology, Dram a , Community Projects

27. Scientifically-based Research • Involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to educational activities. • Employs systematic empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment. • Includes rigorous data analysis. • Is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs • Has been accepted by a peer reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts.

28. Specific Learning Disabilities Section IV

29. Defining SLD • The definition of SLD is changing (IDEA 2004) • Sometimes called the “invisible disability” • Unexpected difficulty / low performance • Inefficient processing in the area of disability • “… a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical computations.”

30. Early Warning Signs of SLD The following behaviors may indicate that a child has a specific learning disability: • Slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds • Difficulty "sounding out" unknown words • Repeatedly misidentifying known words • Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home) • Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =) • Difficulty understanding or remembering what is read because so much time and effort is spent figuring each word Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (1999). How children learn to read. Retrieved September 2, 2006 from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6253

31. NOT SLD if The deficit is primarily the result of: • Hearing, visual, or motor disability • MR (mental retardation) • SBD (serious behavioral disorder) • Environmental, cultural, economic disadvantage • LACK OF APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION

32. SLD Determination • School districts have two means to determine if a student qualifies as having a learning disability: • Severe discrepancy model (Classic) • Response to Intervention (IDEA 2004)

33. Lyon, R. G., Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Torgesson, J. K., Wood, F. B., et al. (2001). Rethinking learning disabilities. In C. E. Finn, A. J. Rotherham, & C. R. Hokanson (Eds.), Rethinking special education for a new century (p. 270).

34. Mental Retardation MR IQ cut points: 50 - 70 = mild 35 - 50 = moderate 20 - 35 = severe Below 20 = profound

36. Response to Intervention (RTI) • IDEA 2004 regulations state: “The criteria adopted by the State [to determine the child’s eligibility as SLD] must permit the use of a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention” Section 300.307 (a) (2)

37. Defining RTI “…an assessment and intervention process for systematically monitoring student progress and making decisions about the need for instructional modifications or increasingly intensified services using progress monitoring data.” The National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD, 2006)

38. Seven Core Principles of RTI • Use all available resources to teach students • Use scientific, research-based instruction • Monitor classroom performance • Conduct universal screening / benchmarking • Use a multi-tier model of service delivery • Make data-based decisions • Monitor progress frequently

39. Three-Tier Model of School Supports Academic Behavioral Intensive Interventions Intensive Interventions Individual students Targeted assessment-based Progress monitoring 1x per week Individual students Targeted assessment-based Progress monitoring 1x per week Strategic Interventions Strategic Interventions Some at-risk students High efficiency Progress monitoring 2x per month Some at-risk students High efficiency Progress monitoring 2x per month Core Interventions Core Interventions All students Preventative / proactive Students benchmarked 3x per year on core academic skills All students Preventative / proactive Students benchmarked 3x per year on social/behavior skills

40. Key Terms • Fidelity - the extent to which the instruction is implemented as planned. • Universal screening (Tier I) - benchmarking of academic, social skills, and behavior (fall, winter, & spring). • Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) - a means to measure student development over time.

41. Interventions • Strategic interventions (Tier II) • Short-term (9 - 12 weeks) interventions provided to small groups of students (3 - 6) where remedial instruction occurs in a core academic, social skills, or behavioral area (e.g., phonemic awareness). • Three to four sessions per week • 30 - 60 min. per session. • Progress monitoring biweekly (minimum) • Intensive interventions (Tier III) - • Small group (3 or less) or individual instruction • May be for 12 weeks or more • Up to two 30 min sessions daily • Weekly progress monitoring (minimum)

42. RTI is a Problem Solving Process • RTI is a flexible service delivery model • Define the problem • Analyze the cause - this requires a conceptual shift from the problem occurring in the student to a need for improvement educational environment “What can we as educators do differently?” • Develop a plan • Implement the plan • Evaluate the plan

43. Inclusion Section 1

44. Inclusion Conceptually similar to mainstreaming but… represents a paradigm shift where students have an inherent right to be in the general education classroom without demands to “keep up” in order to remain there. Mainstreaming Selective placement of students in one or more general education classrooms Based on the assumption that students have earned the opportunity to “keep up” with other students. Mainstreaming vs. Inclusion Rogers, 1993 Note: Full inclusion is > 80% of the school day in a general education setting

45. Inclusion Readiness • Effective inclusion requires comprehensive collaborative efforts that involve system-wide planning, implementation, and ongoing evaluation (McGregor & Vogelsberg, 1998) • Common understanding of purpose and need • Incentives • Administrative support • Leadership • Resources

46. Triangle of Supports(Fisher, 2000) Personal Supports Curriculum accommodations & modifications - UDL Assistive and instructive technology

47. Transition Defined • Transition - A change in status from behaving primarily as a student to assuming emergent adult roles in a community(deFur, Todd-Allen, & Getzel, 2001) • Effective transition begins at the elementary and middle school with students assuming a maximum responsibility for developing the plan (Wehman, 2006)

48. National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS-2, 2005) • High school completion rates up 17%, with 70% completing high school • Increase in postsecondary education enrollment from 15% to 37% • Lower full time employment rates (39% vs. 57%) • 90% remain single • 75% live with parents • > 50% had been subject to disciplinary action at school, fired from a job, or arrested compared to 33% in 1987. • Approximately 70% were employed at some level (Benz, Lindstrom, & Yovanoff, 2000)

49. Transition Services - IDEA • Must be based on student needs, taking into account their preferences and interests • Be results oriented • Focus on improving the academic and functional achievement of a student with a disability • Facilitate the movement from school to postschool activities

50. IEP requirements under IDEA 2004 At age 16 the IEP must include: • Appropriate measurable goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and where appropriate independent living skills; • The transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the child in reaching these goals. The goals in IDEA 2004 represent a shift from process to results and outcomes