Transition from School to the Real World

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Transition from School to the Real World

• By Stacy Feasel
• TE 891

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Entering Starr

• Students are tested by the teacher consultant for
  beginning academic skills.
• Questions are asked of the student about their
  interests.
• Relationships are starting to be built between
  the student and other students. Also
  relationships are starting to be built between
  that staff and teachers and the new students
  coming into the program.

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Teacher Consultant

• The student is introduced to the consultant and
  then taken out of the classroom to their office.
• They are in the office about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
• During the testing time they are working on two
  tests to determine where the students are in
  their academics.
• The two tests that are given are the Woodcock
  Johnson and the Larson-Hamil Spelling Test.

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Questions to the Student

• The questions could be something such as
• What are your thoughts about school, do you like
  it or not like it?
• What are some things that you like to do for fun?
• Where are you from?
• Tell me why you were placed here at Starr
  Commonwealth.
• These questions are asked by the other students,
  teachers, staff, and teacher consultants.

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Building Relationships

• The students build their relationships in the
  group by doing team building activities. The
  staff plan activities such as these to form a
  culture in the group.
• The teachers build relationships with the
  students by helping them with their schoolwork.
  The job of the teacher is to help the students
  get caught up in their academics.
• The Starr staff build relationships with the
  students by talking about their treatment.

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Moving to the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

• Once the students records come through, then we
  can proceed with any IEP that may have been
  established upon coming to Starr Commonwealth.
• If the student has not previously received
  special education services, then we observe the
  student in order to determine if he should have
  services.

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IEP Form

• Page 1 Demographics of the student, attendance
  to the meeting, and the needs that need to be
  attended to when considering this students plan.
• Page 2 This is the page that is important
  during this transition process. We ask the
  students the questions and then we hear the
  answers and what they want for themselves.

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IEP Form

• Page 3 This is the goals and objectives page.
  We fill out goals and objectives for the subject
  area that the student is having difficulty. Our
  emotionally impaired students will receive a
  behavioral goal along with their academic goal.
• Page 4 This page states the least restrictive
  environment and any other supplementary aids that
  need to be used for the student.

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IEP Form

• Page 5 This page will let others know about the
  accommodations that need to be given when
  completing MEAP testing.
• Page 6 This is a signature page for the
  teacher, teacher consultant, parent, and student.
  There is a choice for the parents to agree and
  disagree with the information that is on the
  plan. If the parent disagrees we will have to
  complete another meeting and come to a resolution.

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Transition Definition

• The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  Amendments of 1997 defines transition as a
  coordinated set of activities for a student with
  a disability that is designed with an
  outward-oriented process, which promotes movement
  from school to post-school activities and is
  based on the individual students needs.

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Transition Page of the IEP

• This page helps us with building relationships,
  helping the student to become successful in the
  community and in school.
• Questions are asked about
• Adult Living Where do you want to live as an
  adult?
• Career/Employment What kind of work do you want
  to do?
• Community Participation What hobbies and
  activities do you want to have?
• Post-Secondary Education After high school what
  additional education and training do you want?

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Transition Page of the IEP

• Goals are set with the student in order to help
  them reach the answers that were just given to
  the questions asked previously.
• These goals cover the area of
• Adult Living
• Daily Living Skills
• Functional Vocational Assessment
• Employment
• Community Experiences
• Related Services
• Instruction

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Time at Starr

• The duration at Starr is helping students with
  their treatment, schoolwork and learning about
  the real world.
• The teachers go back to the academic goals and
  objectives and the transition goals and
  objectives frequently in order to make sure that
  the students are getting their academic and
  living needs met.

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Leaving Starr Commonwealth

• When the students think that it is time for them
  to leave, they are to ask their group and team if
  they are ready.
• The student will get their concerns about success
  from the group and team.
• The Family Worker and the Teacher Consultant will
  help get the student enrolled in school.
• The student will leave and hopefully be
  successful.

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Plan for Improvement

• At Starr I would like to start to get students
  more prepared for the real world.
• I talked with three former students and all three
  of those students are struggling in school. One
  is not going to school at all, one is skipping
  school frequently, and the other will go but does
  not participate.
• These students also told me that they would have
  liked to be more prepared for doing some work and
  then saving the money that was made from their
  job. This would help them be more responsible.

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Plan for Improvement

• Teachers could have individual meetings with each
  child at a scheduled time in order to find out
  their concerns about the real world. Also this
  could be a time that we can teach students about
  the concerns that they have previously shared.
• Teachers could be more involved with the family
  service workers when taking the students back
  into the community.
• My ultimate plan for improvement is that someone
  is hired to make sure that the students get back
  into the real-world successfully. This person
  would take so much more pressure off of the
  teacher, by getting the transition information to
  the teacher. This person could have students on
  their caseload that they would follow from the
  time that they were at Starr until the time that
  they leave.

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Resources

• http//www.pai-ca.org/pubs/505001.htm
• This is a series of questions that were asked
  about transition.
• http//www.pinofpa.org/resources/fact-10.html
• This is a treatment facility that is similar
  to ours by the way that it sounds.
• http//www.questforexcellentschools.org/article.as
  p?ID1349
• This is a case study that involves Starr
  Commonwealth.
• http//ericec.org/digests/e598.html
• This is a website that talks a lot about
  transition.

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Resources

• http//www.cafec.org/transition.2.final.pdfsearch
  'transition20in20education
• This is an article that is titled preserving
  education continuity.
• http//www.ncset.org/
• This is a website that talks about secondary
  education and transition.

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Quote for Teachers

• A teacher affects eternity he can never tell
  where his influence stops.
• Author  Henry Brooks Adams 1838-1918, American
  Historian
• Lets work together and help these students
  succeed in the real world.