Education Transition Planning
Transition to adulthood begins in school, and effective planning is the key to success. To ensure a smooth transition from school to higher education or employment, it’s important to understand the different types of plans designed to assist in transition planning, who is involved in developing them, the different aspects they cover and how to self-advocate for your needs.
School-Based Transition Plans
Generally, four official types of school-based plans have been created under federal law to protect young people with disabilities in education and employment. Depending on which laws cover them and what stage of transition they’re in, young people with disabilities will have one or more (probably at least two) of these four types of plans, known by the acronyms or abbreviations below:
1 | IEP
2 | 504 Plan
3 | TIEP
4 | IPE
The Individual Educational Program (or Plan) (IEP) is a detailed, legal document that indicates the supports and services a student with a disability will receive in order to be provided a free and appropriate public education.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that all the students it covers—that is, students in special education—have IEPs, which are written by teams that vary in composition according to the needs of each student. The IEP team is required to meet the following composition of Florida Rule 6A-6.03028 by including at least one general education teacher if the student is or may be participating in the regular education environment, at least one special education teacher, one representative of the school district (local education agency (LEA)), an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results, and other individuals invited by the parent or the school district who may have special knowledge of the student. IEPs are updated at least every year. If you feel your plan needs to be changed or clarified you can request an interim review.
Also, in this rule an IEP team member may be excused if the parent of a student with a disability and the school district agree in writing that the member’s attendance is not necessary because their area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or discussed in the meeting. Any such member of the IEP team may also be excused from attending an IEP team meeting, in whole or in part, when the meeting involves a modification to or discussion of the member’s area of the curriculum or related services, if the parent and the school district consent, in writing, to the excusal and the member submits, in writing to the parent and the IEP team, input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting.
Students between the ages of 3 and 22 are evaluated by the appropriate professionals and are determined by a multidisciplinary team to be eligible for an IEP because of one or more of the 13 specific categories of disability. These are:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder.
- Deaf-Blindness.
- Deafness.
- Emotional Disturbance.
- Hearing Impairment.
- Intellectual Disability.
- Multiple Disabilities.
- Orthopedic Impairment.
- Other Health Impairment.
- Specific Learning Disability.
- Speech or Language Impairment.
- Traumatic Brain Injury.
- Visual Impairment, Including Blindness.
Those who are covered by IDEA are also eligible for assistance under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, but during the person’s school years, the requirements of IDEA are more specific. To be sure a child receives the services they need, IDEA spells out a concrete and specific process. That process guarantees that useful steps will be taken to give the child equal access to an education.
Students with disabilities who are not covered by IDEA—that is, students who need accommodations in education but do not need specially designed instruction—have a plan similar in purpose to the IEP. Because it comes from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, it is most often called a “504 Plan.”
A 504 Plan, like an IEP, specifies the steps to be taken to give the young person an equal chance to be educated. It describes the kind of education that is right for them and the accommodations to make it possible. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act covers people who have a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one of the legally defined major life activities (among them walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself or performing manual tasks) but do not need the special instruction and related services that are covered by IDEA.
The 504 Plan can and should be handled as carefully and thoroughly as the law requires for an IEP. The person with a disability, their parents or surrogate parent, and an advocate have a right to insist on a thorough process and all necessary services and benefits for which the student is eligible.
By age 16 or younger, IDEA requires a student’s IEP team to address transition services the student needs to achieve their post-school desired outcomes. When transition services are addressed, the IEP becomes a Transition Individual Educational Plan (TIEP). Florida law requires that transition planning begin at age 12 or in the seventh grade, whichever comes first. Florida law also requires the TIEP to be implemented by the first day of the first year the student enters high school. Students who have 504 Plans are not legally required to have separate transition plans, but they are entitled to transition planning as part of their 504 Plans.
The student who attends school with an IEP or a 504 Plan is likely to leave school with a new kind of plan—an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE). The IPE is a blueprint for successful employment for the person who uses the services of the Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) or the Division of Blind Services (DBS). A student who is eligible for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services has a right to an IPE developed by DVR or DBS before they leave school. Without the IPE, the student can’t gain access to services from DVR or DBS. It is a roadmap to reach their desired and appropriate employment goals in adult life.
What Should the Plans Cover?
All four types of plans are designed individually and should reflect each person’s vision and values.
Education
IEP and
504 Plan
Transition
TIEP(or transition portion
of a 504 Plan)
Employment/Vocational Rehabilitation
IPE
IEPs and 504 Plans ideally begin in childhood, the earlier the better, and deal primarily with the child’s education. Early planning is the bedrock of the transition plan. Even if the 504 Plan is developed later, it still provides the necessary structure for the transition plan. An IEP or 504 Plan should be reviewed at least annually (and can be reviewed anytime, upon request) to reflect the student’s progress and evolving situation, and to stimulate ideas about what will help them take advantage of new services and technology as they become available.
An IEP or 504 Plan should spell out:
- All the student’s educational needs related to their disabilities.
- The services to be provided and when they are expected to start and end.
- Which agencies or individuals will provide the services and who will pay for them.
- Measurable goals for the student, with dates to begin working toward them and to reach them (assessments conducted by professionals can be a basis for the goals, and new assessments periodically can measure the progress and inspire new goals).
- Program modifications and supports that will be needed to help the student reach the goals in the least restrictive environment. “Least restrictive environment” means that, as much as possible, the student learns in the regular curriculum, learns alongside other students (those who have disabilities and those who do not) and participates in extracurricular activities with other students (those who have disabilities and those who do not).
- Technology or other assistance that might make it possible for the student to participate fully and equally in mainstream school life, and who, or what agency, will supply it.
Adulthood brings new needs, rights and opportunities. As a student transitions to adulthood, their IEP could change significantly, and thus the transition plan should play an ever-larger role in this process.
In order to ensure quality transition planning and services, IEP teams shall begin the process of identifying transition services needs of students with disabilities, to include consideration of the student’s need for instruction or the provision of information in the area of self-determination to assist the student to be able to actively and effectively participate in IEP meetings and self-advocate, beginning no later than age 12, so that needed postsecondary goals may be identified and in place by age 16.
Self-determination skills are those skills needed to manage your own life. In schools, students’ needs for self-determination instruction are identified and documented in the IEP. The Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-603028(3)(h)9 indicates that the need for self-determination instruction should be identified early so that students will be prepared for self-advocacy as they plan their futures.
The transition plan will cover not only schooling but also vocational training and living skills—in short, whatever the young person will need to make a successful transition to adult life. The transition plan, whether a TIEP or a portion of a 504 Plan, should spell out:
- The high school program the student needs and the type of diploma the student is working towards.
- The student’s desired post-school outcome.
- The kind of work the student wants to do and can do with the right training, supports and services, and how they will prepare for that work.
- Any job training the student will need, whether it will be in a formal classroom setting, in the community or both.
- Post-school adult living arrangements.
- Functional vocational assessments, if needed.
- Any life skills the student has yet to learn.
- Services or assistive technology devices the student will need and which agencies can supply them.
Your educational rights under Part B of IDEA, which were safeguarded by your parent or legal guardian, transfer to you at the age of 18 if you are not under a guardianship or guardian advocacy. Once you turn 18, you are considered an adult, and you have the right to enter contracts and make your own decisions. Make sure you read documents completely before you sign or agree to them, and never sign anything if you do not agree or understand it. Rather, ask a trusted friend or family member to explain it to you until you do understand.
The IPE states the student’s employment goal and the services they will need to achieve it. It is important for a student with a disability and their VR counselor to choose an employment goal specific enough to make it clear which services are needed to reach it. The goal should not be, for example, “health care.” Rather, it should be a particular job in health care, such as nurse’s aide, records technician or surgeon. Instead of “business,” the goal should be receptionist or comptroller. Instead of “law enforcement,” it should be security guard, detective or prosecutor. The goal can always be changed if it proves to be too much, too little or simply in the wrong direction.
With a specific goal, an IPE can then list in detail the services that are needed to reach it and who will pay for them. These services can include further education, transportation, mental health therapy, medical treatment, technology and anything else necessary for the student to succeed. The IPE can also specify responsibilities of the young person, such as reporting progress to the counselor or regular attendance at classes. The plans are designed individually and reflect each person’s vision and values.
What Is the Purpose of Each Plan?
- Education plans should be detailed strategies for achieving the best possible adult life.
- A transition plan has the same purpose but looks ahead to the needs, changes and possibilities of adulthood.
- A vocational rehabilitation/employment plan focuses on preparing for work as an adult.
- An independent living plan builds self-sufficiency and the self-confidence needed to successfully enter the adult world.
Who Plans the Education Transition?
Who plans the transition? The student’s team, composed of the student, their main advocate (a family member or other determined advocate), and all professionals necessary to provide educational and other services.
Florida Rule 6A-6.03028 states that the student should be included, if appropriate, and in all cases where a purpose of the meeting will be the identification of their transition services needs or consideration of postsecondary goals and the transition services needed to assist in reaching those goals. If the student does not attend the IEP meeting to identify transition services needs or consider postsecondary and career goals and transition services, the school district shall take other steps to ensure that the student’s preferences and interests are considered.
Under IDEA, the IEP transition team should include the student, parents (or persons acting as the parent), and school staff who know the student, as well as representatives of every agency that might play a role in meeting the student’s needs. These agencies can include:
- Developmental services agencies.
- Alcohol, drug abuse and mental health programs.
- Community colleges.
- Florida Division of Blind Services (DBS).
- Florida Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).
- Deaf service centers.
- Children’s medical services.
- Children and family services.
- Community mental health services.
- Centers for Independent Living (CILs).
- Social Security programs.
- Speech-language programs.
- Any other agency with services or programs that might contribute to the student’s successful transition to adult life.
The composition of the 504 Plan team is less formally dictated by law than the IEP team, but it’s a good idea to have the same sort of mix to cover all the services and opportunities the student might need and want. The student or anyone responsible for that person can request the participation of experts.
The transition can be planned by the members of the IEP or 504 team, plus additional contributors such as professionals in the fields of higher education, adult living arrangements and employment.
The IPE plan is written by the student and their VR counselor, who enters the picture when the student is determined eligible for services from DVR or DBS. The counselor will be more valuable, however, if they have been involved in the student’s education planning from early on. Any involved family members and other members of the student’s IEP or 504 team should contribute to drafting the plan, but it’s the student and VR counselor who must agree on the final version.
Preparing for IEP Meetings
IDEA states if the purpose of the IEP meeting is to consider your postsecondary goals and transition services you should be invited to the meeting. Since these meetings are so important to your future, the more you can be part of them, the better the team will work together. Everyone wants you to be successful.
As you go through transition, it’s important for you and your IEP team to communicate well. The IEP maps out what you will learn in school and what you need to learn it. It tells your teachers how they can best help you learn and prepare for what you will do when you leave school. Your IEP could include goals such as balancing a checkbook, improving your reading skills or socializing with groups of people. Depending on your unique goals, your IEP team will plan, step by step, how to get you there.
It is important that your IEP team uses a person-centered planning (PCP) process that helps you plan for your future while also promoting self-determination. PCP helps you provide alternatives to traditional approaches to convey your strengths, preferences, interests and needs. Typically, a team of people, usually family, friends and sometimes service providers, work together over time to assist you in defining and reaching your goals. The team works collaboratively through informal meetings to identify your priorities and assist you in attaining your self-determined quality of life.
One of the things you can do to take charge of your success and outcomes is to learn to lead your IEP team meetings. At first you may just lead the introductions and make sure everyone knows what goals are important to you. As you get older you may decide that you want to lead parts or all of IEP team meetings.
- Get a copy of your IEP and go over it with your caregivers, teachers or other trusted adults until you understand it.
- Ask questions about the parts you don’t understand.
- Think about what you want to do. Write out your ideas ahead of time, and practice what you want to tell your team about your goals.
- Do your homework by learning what classes or training you need to achieve your goals.
- Invite someone you trust to attend the meeting to encourage and support you. It could be a relative, friend, guardian ad litem or attorney.
- Be sure you get enough sleep the night before and eat a good breakfast the day of your IEP meeting.
- Discuss with your team how your disability will affect your goals and plans.
- Know your strengths and your weaknesses.
- Focus on your abilities and possibilities, but be realistic.
- Know your rights. What will you do if your IEP team makes a decision you don’t agree with? You have dispute resolution options, which include asking for a facilitated IEP meeting, asking for mediation, filing a state complaint or filing for an impartial due process hearing. To read more about these options you may go to the Florida Department of Education dispute resolution website.
- Believe in yourself and your success.
Here are a few tips for having a successful IEP meeting:
- Read and get familiar with the laws that cover the youth’s rights. Bring copies to the meetings.
- If an agency representative says, “It’s not our job,” research the issue, and you may be able to respond, “Yes, it is.”
- Know the agencies and organizations that are equipped to help. Some will give you invaluable information, some will provide services and some will advocate to enforce the law if necessary. Others may need prodding.
- Remember that any of the plans can be amended to add services whenever necessary. Should you learn of one that would help you attain your goal, get it written into the plan.
- Make your requests in writing and get the answers in writing. If you are denied services, request in writing that the decision, its reason and the grounds for denial be provided in writing.
- Go up the chain of command. If an agency representative denies a service and you disagree, go to that person’s supervisor, then to the agency head. Then follow the agency’s appeal procedures. If you don’t know the rules and procedures, ask for them. They should be available in writing.
- If dealing with denial of services and other problems, you can obtain information and referral, and possibly legal representation, from Disability Rights Florida or your local legal aid program.
- Make certain the plans contain measurable goals. Without measurability, it is difficult to determine if you are making adequate progress toward your goal.
- Ask for an assessment to show the need for services. For example, instead of requesting speech therapy, request a speech assessment. Then, if you disagree with the assessment, in the school setting, you have the right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense.
- Ask for assessment reports prepared by professionals who can accurately measure needs and abilities. Future assessments will measure progress. Services should be provided based on the assessment findings. Assessments are mandatory for students covered by IDEA and are both desirable and available for students with 504 Plans. Youth in state care with a mental health diagnosis or severe behavioral problems, should have a current Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA); if they don’t, request that one be provided.
- Ask for a copy of all assessments before any meeting at which one will be discussed. Study the assessment and be ready to proceed with it or ask for another if it doesn’t seem adequate and correct.
- Take other stakeholders to the planning meetings. While advocating you’ll be more effective if you’re not alone. Take experts who will back up your judgment, friends or counselors who can speak knowledgeably about the situation, professionals who know the system, and other advisers who can help the team stay on track. Your companions may not need to speak at all, yet may nonetheless give weight to your analysis of the situation.
- Don’t back down to please the professionals working with you. Back down only when you decide you’ve been wrong about needs and strengths.
- Generally, you’ll accomplish more if you show respect for the professionals, even if they become impatient with you— but respect does not mean you have to agree with them. You may go online and read the websites of advocates and lawyers who have worked successfully with people with disabilities. Many of their tips are excellent.
- Remember that most decisions are not final. Stick with what works. Keep your written records in order. Should you encounter resistance, call another meeting, ask for another assessment, be persistent, quote the laws again and/or pull out the regulations. If you have tried to resolve the conflict yourself and have been unsuccessful, contact Disability Rights Florida for advocacy and legal help.
Tip
Ask for a copy of all assessments before any meeting at which one will be discussed. Study the assessment and be ready to proceed with it or ask for another if it doesn’t seem adequate and correct.
How Long Can Students with Disabilities Stay in School?
All students who are covered by IDEA may receive a standard diploma. Until they receive a standard diploma, they are entitled to remain in school until their 22nd birthday. However, many schools often choose to continue services until the end of the semester or school year in which the student turns 22. You can check on which policy covers your student’s school district at www.beessgsw.org/#/spp/institution/public.
A student who has earned a standard diploma or has reached the age of 22 usually forfeits the right to a “free and appropriate public education” or an IEP unless they are entitled to some form of compensatory education.
Courts sometimes order compensatory education for a student who did not receive free and appropriate education services at the appropriate time. When that happens, educational services may be delivered after the student turns 22 or receives a standard diploma.
Unless compensatory education is ordered, public schools are not responsible for determining and meeting a student’s educational needs if they have a standard diploma or are older than 22.
After high school, a student may seek a postsecondary education at a college, university or trade school, but the school will be responsible only for education and any accommodations necessary to achieve equal access under the law. IDEA does not apply to postsecondary education. Once you are in postsecondary education, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may apply for reasonable accommodations and equal access to education and vocational training programs.
A postsecondary educational program will not usually conduct meetings or write plans but will support students with disabilities via arrangements such as a reduced course load, recording devices, sign-language interpreters, readers, extended time for testing, or adaptive software and hardware for computers.
To receive accommodations, the student must notify the school that they have a disability and require certain accommodations, services or technology.
The postsecondary school is not required to lower its academic standards for a student with a disability. The school may be required to allow more time to take a test, for example, but is not required to alter the content of the test, nor is it required to fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or accept excessive financial burdens for students with disabilities.
There are many more opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in 18-to-22-year-old transition programs. For information on assisting students with disabilities to participate in postsecondary options that fit their interests and aptitudes, please see the Project 10: Transition Education Network site at http://project10.info/DPage.php?ID=314.
The Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, located at the University of Central Florida, was created by the Florida Legislature in 2016. The purpose of the center is to increase independent living, inclusive and experiential postsecondary education and employment opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities. Funding is available to help colleges set up new programs and for student scholarships to attend these programs.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when they reach the age of 18 or attend a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are “eligible students.”
- Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student’s education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
- Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct a record they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth their view about the contested information.
- Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student’s education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions:
– School officials with legitimate educational interest;
- Other schools to which a student is transferring;
- Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
- Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
- Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
- Accrediting organizations;
- To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
- Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
- State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific state law.
Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” information such as a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose such information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a parent bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.
