Building State Capacity: Tools for Analyzing Transition-Related Policies

1
Building State Capacity Tools for Analyzing
Transition-Related Policies

• Paula D. Kohler, Ph.D., Western Michigan
  University
• National Secondary Transition Technical
  Assistance Center

2
Topics

• Effective transition practices
• Conceptualizing transition-related policies
• Tools for policy planning

3
Taxonomy for Transition Programming
4
Taxonomy for Transition Programming

• FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
• Family Training
• Family Involvement
• Family Empowerment

• STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
• Life Skills Instruction
• Employment Skills Instruction
• Career Vocational Curricula
• Structured Work Experience
• Assessment
• Support Services

• PROGRAM STRUCTURES
• Program Philosophy
• Program Policy
• Strategic Planning
• Program Evaluation
• Resource Allocation
• Human Resource Development

5
Student-Focused Planning

• Short and long-term goals reflect interests,
  preferences, needs
• Program of study addresses goals
• Students prepared to participate
• Self-determination skills applied

6
Student Development

• Develop student competence in academic,
  occupational, life, social, and
  self-determination skills and behaviors
• Develop career awareness
• Provide, facilitate paid work experience
• Provide instruction in school, work and other
  community-based settings
• Identify and generalize student supports

7
Interagency Collaboration

• When done well, facilitates transition when done
  poorly, impedes success
• IEP/transition teams include relevant members,
  including service providers
• Teams address individual student needs
• Community planning addresses service needs and
  delivery

8
Family Involvement

• Families participate in multiple roles, but
  participation often limited by others
  assumptions and attitudes
• Effective communication, collaborative
  partnerships, caring attitudes facilitate family
  involvement
• Family involvement is dependent on quality and
  quantity of information provided to them

9
Program Structures

• Policies and philosophy provide context for
  transition-focused education
• Professional development fosters extension of
  research to practice
• Leadership facilitates system-wide implementation
  and resource allocation
• Program evaluation supports improvement and
  ongoing reform

10
Hold those thoughts
11
Make the Connection

• Q Whats the purpose of aligning
  transition-related policies across ministries?
• A Facilitate implementation of effective
  transition practices to improve transition
  outcomes

12
Your Challenge 1

• Use this state planning institute to
• Provide context for analyzing state and local
  level policies and their effects on facilitating
  implementation of effective transition practices
• Move toward systems reform and service improvement

13
Your Challenge 2

• Determine the extent to which your policies
• Complement collaborative service delivery
• Facilitate implementation of effective transition
  services
• Communicate a transition perspective of
  education

14
What Policies Do We Examine?

• Any policy instruments that influence how, when,
  where, and who provides transition-related
  education, services, and resources to individuals
  with disabilities

15
What are Policy Instruments?

• State or federal legislation, and specifically
  laws, regarding
• Special, general, and career education
• Services to children, youth, and adults with
  developmental disabilities
• Other relevant services
• State plans for service provision e.g., state
  plans for special education, rehabilitation
  services, career and technical education

16
What are Policy Instruments?

• Ministry and agency regulations
• Training and resource materials
• Special project proposals, annual reports,
  surveys or needs assessments, products

17
Make Sense of the Instruments

• Apply Analytic Frameworks
• Policy Analysis
• How do we organize the many policy instruments?
• Transition practices
• What practices do/should the policies promote?

18
Policy Analysis Framework

• McDonnell Elmore (1987)
• Mandates
• Inducements
• Capacity Building
• System Change

19
Mandates

• Usually in the form of laws, rules, regulations
• Focused on producing compliance
• Example Licensure requirements

20
Inducements

• Typically utilize the transfer of money from one
  organization to another
• Money is used to produce specific goods or
  services
• Example Local agency/organization must establish
  interagency council to receive grant funds

21
Capacity Building

• Focuses on transferring money or other resources
  to produce some desired benefit in the future
• Generally concerned with developing future
  potential or growth, but often difficult to
  measure impact
• Example Providing funds to an agency or
  organization to conduct professional development

22
System Change

• Focuses on transferring authority so the way
  goods and services are delivered is altered
• Results in a new structure or method for
  delivering goods or services
• Example Policy to require community service
  agency to develop individual service plan prior
  to students exit from school

23
Conceptualizing State Agency Roles and Policy
Tools

STATE ED AGENCY
Roles Provide Leadership Provide Funding and
Other Resources Set Policy Assure Compliance
Policy Tools Mandates Inducements Capacity
Building System Change
Regional and Local Education Agencies
Students and Families
24
Transition Practices Framework

• What practices do the policy instruments
  foster/facilitate?
• Do they
• Facilitate implementation of the Taxonomy for
  Transition Programming?
• Apply a transition perspective of education
• Result in seamless, successful transitions for
  young people with disabilities?

25
Policy Analysis Process

• Review Instruments (e.g., documents)
• Organize by type
• Identify responsible agency
• Determine policy actions
• Identify intended results
• Summarize Findings
• Develop Recommendations

26
Policy Analysis Tools

• Summary document for gathering and reviewing your
  policy instruments
• Applicable for use either inter- or intra-agency

27
Example Mandate
Policy Instrument Implementing Agency Policy Actions Intended Results
Michigan Pupil Accounting Rules Michigan Department of Education -Allows for use of state aid (education funding) for provision of work-based education -Student acquisition of employment-related and specific occupational skills -Post-school employment
28
Example Inducements
Policy Instrument Implementing Agency Policy Actions Intended Results
Special funding to schools to implement student leadership activities and self-determination curricula New Mexico Governors Council on Developmental Disabilities (DDPC) -Fund and support trainers and TA providers to assist schools to implement self-determination curricula -Fund purchase of self-determination curricula -Require participation in evaluation of implementation -Increased implementation of self-determination curricula -Increased student competence to practice self-determination -Improved post-school outcomes
29
Example Capacity Building
Policy Instrument Implementing Agency Policy Actions Intended Results
OK State Professional Development Improvement Grant (SPDIG) OK Department of Education -Fund statewide transition institute -Fund transition-related technical assistance and professional development -Improved capacity to implement evidence-based transition education and services -Increased implementation of evidence-based transition education and services -Increased compliance and performance on SPP indicators -Improved student outcomes
30
Example Systems Change
Policy Instrument Implementing Agency Policy Actions Intended Results
NM state statuteslegislation to establish Vocational Rehabilitation licensure NM state rehab departmentlicensure unit -Establish definition of vocational rehabilitation counselor -Establish competencies of vocational rehabilitation counselor -Establish roles of vocational rehabilitation counselor -Increased voc rehab services to students while still in school -Increased collaboration between vocational rehab and special education -Improved student outcomes
31
Policy Analysis Process

• Effective transition practices

Policy tools that facilitate implementation
32
Conclusions Research

• Importance of a broad perspective of
  transition-focused education and services
• Complexity of transitions and transition
  practices research
• Critical relationship of all aspects of
  development and education to transition
• Importance of transition-focused programs that
  provide individualized education and services

33
Conclusions Policies

• Policies facilitate or throw up barriers to
  effective practices
• Policies come in many shapes and sizes
• Policies influence direct services and context of
  those services
• When considering policies, must consider explicit
  intended impact, and eventually measure that
  impact