Effective Assessments for Meaningful Transition Planning

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Effective Assessments for Meaningful Transition
Planning

• Medicaid in the Schools Summit
• January 24, 2008

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True or False?

• Transition is just an attachment to the IEPyou
  can do it last.
• Transition activities must relate to post-school
  outcomes.
• All you have to do is change the date at the top
  of the Transition page and check no updates
  needed.

3
True or False?

• Post-school outcomes must be based on
  age-appropriate transition assessments.
• If students are going to get a job then they
  dont need linkages with agencies.

4
True or False?

• A completed Transition Service Inventory is all I
  need to write a Transition Plan.
• If your student doesnt know what he/she wants to
  do, a transition plan isnt necessary.
• If a student has unrealistic goals, a transition
  plan cant be written.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• Instructions Decide whether the statement is a
  Myth or Reality.
• 1. The transition assessment process is developed
  using a specific protocol, and it is important to
  administer them as instructed.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is MYTH
• Schools often base the entire assessment process
  on a pre-established protocol designed by the
  school or a certain program, and not on the needs
  of the student (Cohen Spenciner, 1996). In
  reality, transition assessments should be
  developed and individualized with each student in
  mind. Student participation in developing the
  types and methods of assessment is the best way
  to go.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• 2. Transition assessment is an ongoing process
  that takes place throughout and across the
  secondary school years.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is REALITY
• While transition assessment is often thought of
  as a once-a-year event occurring over a short
  period of time to guide the development of the
  IEP, it is in fact most useful when thought of
  within a broader context. Cohen and Spenciner
  (1996) observed that transition assessment is
  often wrongly considered to be an add-on, done by
  one person during a short period of time to
  prepare for the IEP. The reality is that in order
  to be effective and meaningful to the student and
  the school program, the transition assessment
  process must be ongoing throughout the school
  year.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• 3. Transition assessment is primarily for youth
  with severe disabilities.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is MYTH
• While many assessment approaches and tools are
  created with one disability population in mind,
  other assessments are appropriate for all youth.
  What is most important is for the transition
  practitioner to familiarize his or herself with
  each assessment measure and determine its
  usefulness to the overall transition process, and
  not to assume that a certain instrument or method
  is not appropriate for a particular student
  because of his or her label or disability
  category. Accommodations can be made so that a
  particular assessment can used effectively to
  meet the ability level of the student.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• 4. Transition assessment is not required by IDEA,
  it is just a good thing to do in preparation for
  the IEP.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is MYTH
• Transition assessment is now required by law. In
  fact, since 1990, the law has required that
  students' interests and preferences are taken
  into consideration during transition planning and
  developing the IEP. With the passage of the 2004
  reauthorization of IDEA, within the IEP, we are
  now required to identify appropriate and
  measurable postsecondary goals based upon
  age-appropriate transition assessments. The IDEA
  transition requirements for assessment center on
  assessing for transition postschool goals, to
  inform the IEP planning process, and to identify
  students' needs, interests and preferences
  (Lohrmann-O'Rourke Gomez, 2001). In fact,
  several major pieces of disability legislation
  (i.e., IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act) require
  assessment for transition.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• 5. The main purpose of transition assessment is
  to identify future employment goals of students
  with disabilities.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is MYTH
• In the past, transition assessment has often been
  limited to focusing only on vocational interests
  and career development (Lohrmann-ORourke
  Gomez, 2001). However, best practices dictate
  that transition assessment is expanded to include
  other postschool outcomes areas such as
  postsecondary education, independent living,
  community participation, and social
  relationships, as well as the ongoing focus on
  career development. In addition, transition
  assessment must be focused on the students
  strengths, needs, preference and interests as
  they relate to the demands of current and future
  educational, living, and personal and social
  environments.

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MYTH or REALITY?

• 6. Assessment is very important during transition
  and if done well, it can provide us with
  information we really need to know.
• MYTH or REALITY?
• The correct answer is REALITY
• Of course the answer to this statement is true!
  In the past, dissatisfaction with traditional
  assessments have been the result of adhering to
  the myths surrounding assessment. Another reason
  has been that practitioners in districts might
  mirror established but poor assessment practices.
  This has lead to the inability of the assessment
  procedures used by schools to provide specific
  information about a students transition
  outcomes, preferences and needs as well as
  learning styles needed to improve instruction.
  Finally, the failure of many tests to assess
  higher order thinking and problem-solving skills
  has lead to poor assessment results (Daniels,
  1999). Ample attention must be made to the
  development of the individualized transition
  assessment plan, to ensure multiple assessment
  measures are productive and fruitful.

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Transition in Arkansas
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Transition Assessment

• Some of this presentation was taken from the
  Transition Coalition website, Transition
  Assessment Module.
• www.transitioncoalition.org

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What is Transition Assessment?

• Transition assessment is an umbrella term to
  encompass any type of assessment which targets
  areas critical for preparing youth with
  disabilities to achieve a high quality adult
  life. It can embody many different methods and
  approaches.

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Guiding Questions

• It is important to begin every assessment process
  with guiding questions about educational
  decisions
• Do we understand this student's preferences and
  interests?
• In what ways can the school prepare students for
  the future?
• Is the student making progress toward specific
  instructional goals?
• In addition to the above questions, Sitlington
  Clark (2001) relate how transition assessment
  plans should address these additional questions
• What do I already know about this student that
  would be helpful in identifying postschool
  outcomes?
• What information do I need to know about this
  individual to determine postschool goals?
• What methods/sources will provide this
  information?
• How will the assessment data be collected and
  used in the IEP process?

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Important Point

• Transition assessment needs to occur regularly
  and over a large span of time. It should not be
  completed all at once prior to an IEP meeting. It
  is a planned, continuous process of obtaining,
  organizing and using information to assist
  students of all ages and their families in making
  critical transitions throughout the lifespan
  (Clark, 1998).

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Assessment Plan Characteristics

• The primary rule in creating an assessment plan
  is to individualize types of assessments given to
  each student so they are responsive to the
  students needs.
• When choosing assessment instruments, it is
  important to use multiple types and levels of
  assessments. Measures must be selected based on
  how they address key questions for a students
  individual transitions planning
• Who am I?
• What do I want in life now and in the future?
• What are some of lifes demands that I can meet
  now?
• What are the main barriers to getting what I want
  from school and my community?
• What are my strengths and needs?
• What are my options in the school and community
  for preparing me for what I want now and in the
  future?
• (Clark, 2007)

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Integrating Assessment Data

• To ensure better postschool outcomes, assessment
  information should be coordinated with adult
  services providers.
• Results and copies of ongoing assessment should
  be included in the Summary of Performance that is
  required during the students last year of
  school.
• Communication with adult service agencies
  regarding an individuals needs, preferences, and
  interests of students, is integral in ensuring a
  high quality adult life for students with
  disabilities.

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Assessment Data and the Annual IEP

• Now that transition assessments are a key
  component of the annual IEP, the results should
  be included in the present levels of educational
  performance part of the IEP.
• In preparation for the IEP, schools should
  provide a student with tools needed to express
  his or her preferences, interests, and needs both
  prior to and during the meeting.

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Present Level of Educational Performance

• The students Present Levels of Educational
  Performance (PLEP) gives the IEP team a picture
  of how the student performs at the time of the
  IEP development and helps determine what needs to
  be assessed.

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Areas to consider when addressing present levels
of performance

• Career/Vocational Readiness and Habits
• Job Seeking
• Job Keeping
• Career/Vocational Interests/Goals
• Inventories
• Experience
• Job Shadows
• Career/Vocational Skills and Abilities
• Physical Capacities
• Perceptual Capacities
• Work Performance
• Motor Skills

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Areas to consider when addressing present levels
of performance

• Emotional and Social Tolerance
• Emotions
• Social Behavior
• Stress
• Frustration
• Tolerance
• Education
• Academic
• Learning Styles
• Study Skills
• Independence
• Self-help
• Domestic Skills
• Consumer Skills
• Health Care
• Transportation
• Family

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NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

• Think about your definition of transition
  assessment, and how you have applied it with
  students.
• Write your definition of transition assessment
• Now, compare your definition with that of the
  Division on Career Development and Transition
• Transition assessment is "the ongoing process of
  collecting data on the individuals strengths,
  needs, preferences, and interests as they relate
  to the demands of current and future working,
  educational, living, and personal, and social
  environments. Assessment data serve as the common
  thread in the transition process and form the
  basis for defining goals and services to be
  included in the IEP" (Sitlington, 1996).

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Why Assess?

• Why do you think it's important to assess
  students during transition planning?
• Answer
• In general, assessment fulfills the important
  function of facilitating a self-awareness for
  decision-making around critical life choices
  through informing, discussing, and providing
  transition services.

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Purposes of Transition Assessment

• Identify students interests and preferences
• Determine post-school goals and options
• Develop relevant learning experiences
  (instruction) and transition service needs
• Identify supports (linkages) needed to accomplish
  goals
• Evaluate instruction and supports.

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Types and Approaches to Transition Assessment

• Transition assessments can be categorized into
  two groups formal and informal.
• Defining an assessment instrument as either
  formal or informal usually depends on the
  following characteristics
• Purpose of the assessment
• Commercialization
• Standardization
• Assessment environment
• Administration procedures

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Formal Assessments

• Are norm referenced, have very detailed
  instructions for administering and scoring, and
  must have evidence of reliability and validity.
  That is, the consistency of the measurement, or
  the degree to which an instrument measures the
  same way each time it is used under the same
  condition with the same subjects and that the
  instrument measures what it purports to
  measure. Clark, 2007

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Formal Assessments

• Snares that limit formal assessments
• using results to label or stigmatize a student
• the possibility of errors due to test bias, poor
  validity, or low reliability, and
• the likelihood of fostering mechanistic
  decision-making rather than considering each
  individual student (Rojewski, 2002).

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Informal Assessments

• Non-standardized measures that can be modified
  and adjusted to gain useful information about a
  student. Informal assessments are very flexible
  and subjective, and many are locally developed,
  some for specific students.

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Informal Assessments

• Informal assessments are prevalent in schools,
  and are often created or modified by
  practitioners and shared among educators. These
  measures can provide critical information on
  student learning characteristics, and are often
  effective in helping teachers develop and
  implement more personalized, individualized
  instruction (Daniels, 1999).
• When deciding upon which informal assessments to
  administer, it is important to consider multiple
  domain areas where information is needed for high
  quality student-focused planning.

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Administering Informal Assessments

• As with standardized assessments, protocol for
  administering informal assessments can be
  developed to assure fairness and high quality
  information.
• Limitations of Informal Assessments
• Inaccuracy in observations
• Use of personal definitions of behavior
• Bias resulting from unsystematic observations
• Analyzing subjective information

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Self-Determination and Transition Assessment

• The ultimate goal of transition assessment is to
  help students and families develop an integrated
  picture of themselves and their future roles.
• In order to meet the principles of transition
  assessment, skills in self-determination and
  student involvement must be fostered and embedded
  in both the curricula and the assessment
  processes (Wehmeyer, 2001). The actions of
  self-determined people enable them to fulfill
  roles typically associated with adulthood.

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Definition of Self-Determination

• Self-determination can be defined as acting as
  the primary causal agent in ones life and making
  choices and decisions regarding ones quality of
  life free from undue external influence or
  interference (Wehmeyer, 2001).

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Why include self-determination in this transition
assessment training?

• IDEA requires students be invited to meetings
• Rehabilitation Act asserts that people with
  disabilities be equal partners in planning and
  decision-making
• Therefore
• Students must know their strengths and weaknesses

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Self-Determination Assessments

•  The ARCs Self-Determination Scaledesigned for
  use by students with mild levels of cognitive
  disability, mental retardation and global
  learning disabilities. It is also applicable to
  students with emotional and physical disabilities
  as indicated in field tests. It was field tested
  on students without disabilities and proved to be
  useful with them as well.

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ARCs Self-Determination Scale

• no longer in print but available in PDF format
  online
• Manual  http//www.beachcenter.org/books/default.a
  sp?actchaptersintResourceID1445typeGeneral20
  Topicid10
• Assessment   http//www.beachcenter.org/books/defa
  ult.asp?intResourceID779actdetailtypeallid0

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Self-Determination Curricula that include
assessments

• Next STEP Second Edition
• Order information- www.proedinc.com
• Whose Future Is It Anyway?
• AIR Self-Determination Scale
• http//www.sdtac.uncc.edu/air.pdf
• Choicemaker Self-Determination Assessment

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Characteristics of Self-Determined People

• Awareness of personal preferences, interests,
  strengths, and limitations
• Ability to see difference between wants and needs
• Ability to make choices
• Ability to consider multiple options and
  anticipate consequences
• Ability to initiate and take action

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More characteristics

• Ability to set goals and work toward them
• Self-advocacy skills
• Persistence
• Self-confidence
• Self-evaluation skills
• Ability to assume responsibility for actions

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NICHCYs Curriculum

• A Students Guide to the IEP
• Learning about the IEP and their disability
• http//www.nichcy.org/pubs/stuguide/st1.pdf
• Helping Students Develop Their IEPs
• A Technical Assistance Guide
• http//www.nichcy.org/pubs/stuguide/ta2.pdf

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To Summarize

• Transition assessment is now a part of IDEA
  requirements for transition planning and IEP
  development. It targets critical areas of adult
  life and can encompass a variety of approaches.
• Two critical elements of transition assessment
• Self-determined assessment should lead to greater
  self-awareness of student preferences, interests,
  and needs during transition.
• Person-centered planning offers a strategy for
  implementing an assessment process that focuses
  on the contributions and vision for the future
  with the input and involvement of those closest
  to the student.

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Assessment Selection

• How do we determine which assessment to use? This
  is a good question. Sitlington, Neubert,
  Leconte (1997) identified Eight Guiding
  Statements
• 1. Assessment methods must be customized to
  specific types of information needed for upcoming
  decisions
• 2. Methods must be appropriate to the learning
  and response characteristics of each individual
• 3. Assessments must incorporate assistive
  technology or accommodations when necessary
• 4. Assessments must occur in natural
  environments

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Assessment Selection

• 5. Assessment methods must produce outcomes that
  influence the development, planning and
  implementation of the transition process
• 6. Methods must include multiple ongoing
  activities that sample behavior and skills
• 7. Methods must be verified by multiple methods
  and persons
• 8. Assessment results must be stored in
  user-friendly format

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Learning Style Assessment

• VARKVisual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinestheticthis
  assessment can help teachers and students
  determine how students learn best.
• http//www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp
• The Learning Style Assessment
• http//www.ulc.arizona.edu/learn_styl_ass.html

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SOME Assessments

•  Interest Inventories and Career Exploration
• Kuder
• http//www.ark.kuder.com
• Arkoscar
• http//www.arkoscar.org
• Americas Career Infonet
• http//www.acinet.org
• Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory
• Order information-www.proedinc.com

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Commercially Available Transition-Referenced
Assessment Instruments

• Transition Planning Inventory (Clark Patton,
  1997)
• For all disability populations, ages 14-25 mild
  through severe levels of disability.

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Commercially Available Transition-Referenced
Assessment Instruments

• Enderle-Severson Transition Rating Scales (Form
  J) (Enderle Severson, 1991)
• For any disability group mild to severe levels
  of disability ages 14-21.
• Order information-http//www.estr.net

48
Commercially Available Transition-Referenced
Assessment Instruments

• BRIGANCE Employability Skills Inventory
  (Brigance, 1995a)
• For all disability populations, high school ages
  and adults mild cognitive disabilities, with
  reading grade levels 2-8.

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Commercially Available Transition-Referenced
Assessment Instruments

• BRIGANCE Life Skills Inventory (Brigance, 1995b)
• For all disability populations, high school ages
  and adults mild cognitive disabilities, with
  reading grade levels 2-8.
• Order information www.curriculumassociates.com

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Assessments

• Employability Skills
• Brigance Employability Skills Inventory
• Order information- http//www.curriculumassociates
  .com

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Online Assessments/Resources

• www.careervoyages.net
• Casey Life Skills- www.caseylifeskills.org
• Free, on-line, can be done by student, parent,
  teacher
• Scores assessment and gives report
• Lesson Plans

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Online Assessments/Resources

• Five of JISTs most popular career
  assessmentsBarriers to Employment Success
  Inventory (BESI) Career Exploration Inventory
  (CEI) Job Search Attitude Inventory (JSAI) Job
  Search Knowledge Scale (JSKS) Transition-to-Work
  Inventory (TWI)
• Benefits time-saving, less expensive, quicker
  results, purchase only the number of tests you
  need, free administrator guides.
• Go to www.jist.com

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Assessments

• The following school-based assessment information
  can be helpful if the results are shared
• Aptitude, Achievement, IQ, Adaptive Behavior, ACT
  Explore, ACT Plan
• Other ways to gather information
• Observations, Questionnaires, Interviews, and
  Rating Scales

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Person-Centered Planning and Transition
Assessment

• In order to accurately identify preferences,
  skills, and interests, it is critical to allow
  students to drive both the IEP and the transition
  assessment process. One way of doing that is
  through a person-centered planning approach.

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Definition and goal of Person-Centered Planning

• Person-centered planning can be defined as a
  process for planning and supporting youth and
  families that builds upon the individual's
  capacity to engage in community life. In
  addition, person-centered planning honors the
  individual's preferences, choices, and abilities.
  
• Person-centered planning is a guiding principle
  of transition assessment, for without it, there
  cannot be an accurate understanding of
  preferences, interests, and needs of the student.
  

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New Student Roles

• Student-centered transition planning must be
  based upon an individuals awareness of his or
  her present level of functioning, a personal
  vision for the future, and knowing what must be
  done to get where he or she wants to
  be.(Sitlington et al., p. 48).
• When it comes to transition assessment, students
  should play several new roles
• They can help plan for specific areas they want
  assessed
• They can participate in the assessment process by
  completing self-directed assessment instruments
• They can use the information gathered during the
  assessment process to develop their own
  transition plans.

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The 411 on Disability Disclosure

• FREE,Onlineyou download and print!
• Helps teachers help students understand about
  their individual disability, disclosure of their
  disability, rights and responsibilities
• Has a brief self-determination assessment
• Essential in helping students achieve
  self-awareness
• www.ncwd-youth.info/assets/guides/411/411_Disabili
  ty_Disclosure_complete.pdf

58
Important Point

• The focus on student-directed planning should be
  the underlying framework when assessing for
  transition. A student can express his interests,
  preferences, and abilities and help develop the
  assessment process. Students can also collect
  self-assessment data and develop transition
  goals.

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To Summarize

• There are multiple types and approaches to
  assessment. Two main classifications are formal
  and informal.
• Formal assessments refer to standardized
  assessment instruments that show evidence of
  reliability and are norm-referenced.
• Informal assessments are all other
  non-standardized methods.
• There are benefits and limitations to both of
  these approaches for transition planning.

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In a nutshell

• Assessments are key to effective transition
  planning!
• For more information contact your transition
  consultantcontact information available at
  www.highschoolmatters.com