Your Complete Guide to Transition Planning and Services

If you're a special educator or transition coordinator for high school students with disabilities, you play a critical role in empowering young people to achieve their goals and dreams. It's a complex and challenging job--and this introductory guide will help you every step of the way as you support students' successful transition to college, work, and community life.

You'll get the how-to guidance you need to master all the basics of transition planning and services, from assessing each learner's strengths and writing IEPs to evaluating student progress. Research-based strategies help you develop effective plans with confidence, and the reproducible checklists and forms keep critical information organized as you prepare each student for life beyond the classroom. A must-read for all transition coordinators--and any secondary educator with a role on the transition team--this book is your essential guide to supporting successful, self-determined futures for all your students.

• Getting started. For each major transition topic covered, you'll find a thorough introduction to the fundamentals, including definitions of key terms and concrete examples.
• Making it happen. Get in-depth guidance and practical strategies for creating and carrying out each step of an effective transition plan.
• What you can do right now. Put the ideas in each chapter into immediate action with quick tips, helpful forms, and a list of the best online resources.

DISCOVER HOW TO: build a transition assessment toolkit - write transition IEPs with measurable goals - increase family and student involvement in transition planning - strengthen student self-determination - embed transition skills in core academic content - boost student engagement in school - create a quality career development program - prepare students for postsecondary education - teach independent living skills - enhance students (TM) social skills - support participation in community experiences - promote interagency collaboration - evaluate student progress - and more

• Skills and Knowledge Checklist for transition specialists
• Self-determination forms for students and families
• Helpful forms for your career development program
• Ecological inventory and task analysis forms

Mary E. Morningstar, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas and Director of the Transition Coalition, which offers online transition training and resources for practitioners. She coordinates the online masters program in transition and teaches several classes related to secondary education and transition including vocational training and employment, interagency and community services, and transition assessment. She also coordinates the teacher education program for teachers of students with significant disabilities. Dr. Morningstar has been involved in training and staff development regarding transition from school to adult life for over 25 years. Prior to moving to Kansas, she worked as a teacher for students with significant intellectual disabilities. Dr. Morningstar has been an active advocate for all persons with disabilities based on her experiences as a sibling of a brother with disabilities.

Elizabeth Clavenna-Deane, Ph.D., has worked with secondary students with disabilities for over 25 years; she began her career as a secondary special education teacher before spending almost 10 years as a transition coordinator. She has provided special education services to students with varying levels of disability ranging from mild to significant. Over the past decade, Dr. Clavenna -Deane has focused her expertise and research on autism, behavior, and social -emotional learning, and on the impact of related characteristics and skills upon the transition to adulthood. She cur ¬rently provides technical assistance and training to multiple Kansas school districts on making universal, targeted, and intensive supports available for all students needing assistance through the Kansas MTSS framework.

Dawn A. Rowe, M.A., is a doctoral student working on her Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her current interests include parent and family involvement in special education, interagency collaboration, and transition from school to adult life for students with disabilities.