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/
4/13/2015
Transition IEPs: Lessons
Learned From Across the State
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• 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
4/13/2015
Purpose of Today
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• 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
4/13/2015
Review Process
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Student Invited to the IEP
 Some needed to be verified if the Invite
list was not accessible and/or the student
did not attend
4/13/2015
• 93% across the state
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Measurable Postsecondary
Goals
Education/
Training
Employment
Ind. Living
Can the goal(s) be measured?
88%
87%
84%
Will the goal(s) occur after the student
graduates/transitions from school?
95%
95%
89%
Based on the information available,
does the post-secondary goal seem
appropriate for this student?
94%
94%
87%
4/13/2015
Improved progress over the years:
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Measurable Postsecondary Goals
 Often used non-measurable terms such as “seek”,
hopes to find”, “maybe get”, “not really sure but…”,
“wants to”
4/13/2015
 Has to occur after high school
 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.
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 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.
4/13/2015
Measurable Postsecondary Goals
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Is there evidence that the
measurable post‐secondary
goals were based upon
an age‐appropriate transition
assessment?
Education/
Training
Employment
Ind. Living
77%
77%
64%
4/13/2015
Evidence that Postsecondary Goals
Were Based Upon Transition
Assessments
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• 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
4/13/2015
Evidence that Postsecondary Goals
Were Based Upon Transition
Assessments
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• Remember: Transition assessment is an
ongoing process. . . . .we build upon it over
the years to help the student identify
strengths, preferences, interests and needs.
4/13/2015
Evidence that Postsecondary Goals
Were Based Upon Transition
Assessments
• http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionassessment
• For more information email Mary Held
maheld@indiana.edu or tgrossi@indiana.edu
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Is there evidence that the
measurable post‐secondary
goals were updated annually
Education/
Training
Employment
98%
98%
Ind. Living
96%
4/13/2015
Postsecondary Goal Updated
Annually
• Most were fine unless there wasn’t a
postsecondary goal
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Is there documentation
regarding whether the student
will pursue a high
school diploma or certificate of
completion
99%
4/13/2015
Documentation of
Diploma/Certificate
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Is (are) there measureable
annual Transition IEP goal(s)
that reasonably
enable the student to meet
his/her post‐secondary goals?
Education/
Training
Employment
90%
90%
Ind. Living
85%
4/13/2015
Measurable Annual Goals
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Annual Goals
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]
4/13/2015
(6) (A) A statement of measurable annual goals, including
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 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.
4/13/2015
Measurable Annual Goals
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Transition Services
Employment
77%
77%
Ind. Living
77%
4/13/2015
Are there transition services in
the Transition IEP that focus on
improving
academic and functional
achievement of the student to
facilitate their movement
from school to post‐school?
Education/
Training
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 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.
4/13/2015
Transition Services
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 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.
4/13/2015
Transition Services
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If appropriate, is there evidence
that a representative of any
participating agency was invited
to the IEP Team meeting
with the prior consent of the
parent or student who has
reached the age of majority?
Education/
Training
N= 69
Employment
Ind. Living
N =70
N=32
86%
87%
4/13/2015
Transition Services Likely to be
Paid for or Provided by Others
32%
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• 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)
4/13/2015
Paid or Provided by Others
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Course of Study
Do the transition services
include a course of study that
focuses on improving
the academic and functional
achievement of the student to
facilitate their
movement from school to
post‐school?
94%
Employment
94%
Ind. Living
97%
4/13/2015
Education/
Training
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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]
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• 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?
4/13/2015
Course of Study
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• 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).
4/13/2015
Course of Study
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 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
4/13/2015
Resources
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Resources
 Community Resource Map
 Modules:
 Transition IEPs- http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionieps
 Vocational Rehabilitation Serviceshttp://breeze.iu.edu/vrstransition
 Transition Assessment http://breeze.iu.edu/transitionassessment
4/13/2015
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/instrcmap/gismap.html
 Writing Good Transition IEP Annual Goals -
• Coming Soon to A Tuesday Tip Near You!!!!!
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Title: Transition Assessment for Students with
Severe and Multiple Disabilities
Presenter: James Martin, Ph.D., Director Zarrow
Center at the University of OK
4/13/2015
Coming Soon:
November 1, 2011
Time: 3:15 -4:30 PM (Eastern Time)
Register (free):
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=3
477
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4/13/2015
THANK YOU
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