Transition Services | Professional Development & Resources

  • "Growing recognition of the dismal post-school outcomes of many youths with disabilities, combined with recent policy developments, is gradually leading to a more consumer-oriented education and service delivery paradigm based on student ability, aptitude, and self-determination.  According to this perspective, transition planning is not an add-on activity for students with disabilities when they reach the age of 16, but rather a foundation from which programs and activities are developed – as has historically been the case for college-bound students."

    Paula D. Kohler
    Taxonomy for Transition Programming:Linking Research and Practice, Univ. of Illinois, Transition Research Inst., 1996

    transition What is Transition Planning?

    Transition planning is the development of programs and instructional activities based upon 1) students’ post-school goals, and 2) driven by individual needs, interests and preferences. Transition planning creates the foundation from which a student’s educational programming and activities are developed to best ensure they reach the desired post-school outcomes. For students with disabilities, transition planning is an integral and critical part of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) plan process. In the state of Illinois, transition planning begins when the students is 14 ½ years of age.

    Best practice in transition planning involve programs and instructional activities that address student needs in moving from school to post school environments such as work environments, living in one’s community, social and interpersonal networks and other areas that impact a student’s overall quality of life. 

    What are the essential components of transition?

    In recent years a number of approaches have been set forth as best practice in the field of transition planning. In her work, Taxonomy for Transition Planning, Paula Kohler sets forth a comprehensive list of identified transition practices and a conceptual model, or framework, for those activities that have been comprehensively researched and socially validated. Within each of the five interconnected areas of the framework are specific activities that will have positive impact on the overall effectiveness of the transition planning process.

    Transition Parent Resource Manual

    Transition Staff Information
     

    For information, please contact:


     
    clarke Lynn Clarke, Director of Instruction, SLE/Arbor/Transition
    TrueNorth 804
    776 Red Oak Lane
    Highland Park, IL  60015
    (847) 831 5100 ext 2128


    watterson Sheena Watterson, Transition Learning Coordinator
    TrueNorth 804
    760 Red Oak Lane
    Highland Park, IL  60035
    (847) 831 5100 x3130