Baboquivari USD40

Transition Assessment Toolkit

Baboquivari Unified School District #40, Sells, Arizona (2017). Transition Assessment Toolkit

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Many people have contributed to the completion of this

toolkit. Without their time, knowledge, ideas, and

collaborative effort the completion of this toolkit would

not be possible. Thanks to our Transition Assessment

Self-Study team members who are the core creators of

this toolkit:

Paula Anderson - Special Education Teacher

Nerissa Birdsell – Transition Specialist

Rebecca Cohen – College and Career Mentor

Jerald Hopkins – General Education Teacher

Our gratitude also goes to the facilitators of the Transition

Coalition who guided the team to the completion of this

toolkit and to David Randall, ESS Director, for his

support of the district’s transition program.

Acknowledgements

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Introduction.......................................................................4

Transition Assessments

What is transition assessment?..................................5

Why assess for transition?..........................................6

What policies govern transition assessment?.............7

How to assess for transition?.....................................8

What are the roles of stakeholders in the transition

assessment process?.................................................9

Transition Timeline.........................................................10

Annual School Assessment Schedule .............................11

Formal Assessments........................................................13

Informal Assessments......................................................15

Summary and Result Sharing..........................................20

References.......................................................................21

Table of Contents

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Providing transition services tailored to each student’s skills and

interests has been a continuous goal of Baboquivari Unified School

District's Exceptional Student Services program. One of the means of

identifying student’s skills and interests is through the result of

appropriate assessments. These assessments make post-secondary goals

and services easier to plan and pursue.

Good transition assessment addresses each individual’s goals and

expectations for a transition period or event. Good transitions

assessment also suggests planning areas, preparation needs, or decision

making that would increase the likelihood of achieving and being

satisfied with those goals and expectations (Clark, 2007).

This Transition Assessment Toolkit is designed to guide the Baboquivari

Unified School District teachers and staff on the process of effective use

of assessments in planning for student’s transition to community life.

This toolkit includes legal guidelines, assessment types and descriptions,

list of assessments, a timeline, and a summary of how assessments and

results are to be used to benefit the students with special needs.

Introduction

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What is transition assessment?

“Transition assessment is an on-going process of collecting information

on the student’s strengths, needs, preferences, and interests as they relate

to the demands of current and future living, learning, and working

environments. This process should begin in middle school and continue

until the student graduates or exits high school. Information from this

process should be used to drive the IEP and transition planning process

and to develop the SOP (Summary of Performance) document detailing

the student’s academic and functional performance and postsecondary

goals” (Sitlington, Neubert, Begun, Lobard and Leconte, 2007, pp.2-3).

The assessment process differs per student and depends on the

student’s current needs and what they can and cannot do.

The main purpose of the assessment process is to open

opportunities for the students in their move towards

postsecondary education, employment, independent living, and

community participation.

Transition Assessment

6

Why assess for transition?

We assess for several reasons…

Federal law requires students to have postsecondary goals

based on transition assessments related to training,

education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent

living skills” (§300.320[b][1]). The state of Arizona mandates that all students complete an

Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP) prior to

graduation from high school.

It is an ADE/ESS school district compliance requirement for

Indicator 13 (Secondary Transition). To develop postsecondary goals, related transition services and

annual goals and objectives for the component of the IEP, to

make instructional programming decisions, and to include

information in the present level of performance related to a

student’s interests, preferences, and needs in the IEP

(NSTTAC).

To learn about individual students outside of academic and

career ambitions (Kortering, Sitlington, & Braziel, 2010).

To help students learn about themselves so as to better prepare

them for taking an active role in their career development

(Zunker and Osborn, 2006).

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What policies govern the transition assessment?

Federal law: Requires (§300.320[b][1]) “appropriate measurable

postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments

related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate,

independent living skills.”

AZ State Board of Education: R7-2-302.05. Arizona Education and

Career Action Plan for Students in Grades 9-12 A. Effective for the

graduation class of 2013, schools shall complete for every student in

grades 9-12 an Arizona Education and Career Action Plan (“ECAP”)

prior to graduation. Schools shall develop an Education and Career

Action Plan in consultation with the student, the student’s parent or

guardian and the appropriate school personnel as designated

by the school principal or chief administrative officer. Schools shall

monitor, review and update each Education and Career Action Plan at

least annually. Completion of an Education and Career Action Plan shall

be verified by appropriate school personnel.

ADE/ESS School District Monitoring: III.A.6 Documentation of

Required Postsecondary Transition Components will now follow

Checklist B as provided by NTACT, which includes guiding

questions that will assist in determination of compliance with federal

requirements for Indicator 13 (Secondary Transition).

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How to assess for transition?

Assessment is an ongoing process

Utilize age-appropriate assessments

Gather data and information from multiple people who know the

student

Gather information about student’s performance in multiple

environments

Use multiple sources of information e.g. formal/informal assessments,

school records, interviews, evaluations, observations, questionnaires,

checklist, and inventories

Data collected from the assessment forms the basis for creating goals

and services relating to education, employment, living, and community

participation

Identify / plan the outcome in postsecondary, employments, and if

necessary, independent living areas

Include information that is “expressed, observed, and tested”

Source: NSTTAC Indicator 13

Kochhar-Bryant (2007) identifies the following guiding questions to

consider as part of this process:

1. What knowledge and skills does the student need to be successful

when he/she continues into the following domains?

a. employment b. postsecondary education

c. adult services d. independent living

e. community participation

2. What knowledge and skills does the student currently demonstrate

in each of the above domains?

3. What knowledge and skills does the student still need to acquire

over the next few years? (p.37)

9

Roles of Stakeholders in the Transition Assessment Process

The assessment process involves many participants.

1. The student and his or her family are the most important players in

this process.

2. Students in special education should participate in the same

activities with other students in their high school if they develop a

5th year plan, portfolios, senior projects and pathways within the

school curricula.

3. Information from guidance counselor and career-technical

department may acquaint special education staff with vocational

assessment for all students.

4. Input from the psychologist, special education teacher, and general

education teachers, occupational and physical therapists, speech

and language pathologists, paraprofessionals, employers, friends,

and any other persons knowledgeable about the student’s

preferences and abilities will be helpful.

5. The special education teacher is responsible for generating the

transition assessments.

6. Support agencies provide resources and information about services

that are available after graduation.

Source: Center for Change in Transition Services, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington. 2017

Retrieved from

https://www.seattleu.edu/media/CCTS/TransitionServices/guide_to_transition_assessment_in_wa_state.p

df

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Grade 8 Identify learning styles

Interest survey

Practice self-advocacy

Choose and schedule high school coursework

Identify expected graduation year

Grade 9

Discuss high school options: schedule,

electives, career related/community based

activities

Identify interests, learning styles, aptitude

Identify postsecondary goals

Enroll student in appropriate courses

Create four-year plan

(Course of Study)

Continue self-advocacy and

communication

Grade 10

Review: interest, aptitude, postsecondary

goals

Adjust: Course of Study

Enroll student in appropriate courses

Review/revise high school options

Complete transition skills questionnaire

and interest inventories

Job or career exploration

Agency linkage

Determine graduation status (credits)

Transition Timeline

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18 – 21 years old Off-campus employment and/or training

Independent Living

Work 20 hour/week

Transportation Skills

Housing Options

Leisure skills

Summary of Performance

Grade 11

Review and update: interest, aptitude,

postsecondary goals, and transition plan

Adjust: Course of Study

Enroll student in appropriate courses

Work experience and/or technical training

Apply to an agency

Review graduation status

Go on job shadow

Conduct career project

Attend panel/talk on business and industry

Meet with College & Career Mentor

At least one college visit

Take PSAT (Fall) and ACT (Spring)

Age 17: Age of majority notification

Grade 12

Review and update: interest, aptitude,

postsecondary goals, and transition plan

Complete graduation requirements

Apply to postsecondary education or

training

Involve appropriate agency

Continue work experience or technical

training

Meet with College & Career Mentor

At least two college visits

Complete FAFSA

Apply for college, university, vocational or

job training program

Write Summary of Performance

Complete Senior Exit Survey

Consider completing the following tasks as

appropriate:

a) Develop a resume

b) Take additional college entrance exams

c) Register with ADA as an adult with a

disability

d) Apply for Arizona State ID (or driver’s

license)

e) Complete any assessments needed for

the workforce or military

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Annual School Assessment Schedule

Month Action & Type of Assessment Person/s Responsible

August

Obtain “Permission to Evaluate” for transition

Obtain consent to invite agencies to transition

IEP

Create/Update student’s Education and Career

Action Plan (ECAP)

Learning Style Inventory

Leisure /Community Recreation Inventory

ESS Teacher

Parent/Guardian

School Counselor

September

Self-Determination /Self-Advocacy Scales

High School to College Transition Questionnaire

(Grade 12)

ESS Teacher

College and Career

Mentor

October

Administer Preliminary SAT (PSAT) for

Grades 8, 9, and 11

College & Career Mentor

March

Career Inventory

Administer ACT for Grade 11

ESS Teacher

College and Career

Mentor

April

Give counselor result of interests inventory to

ensure student is enrolled in appropriate classes

Learning Support Services and Programs

Inventory/Postsecondary Education Support

Services Inventory (Grade 12)

ESS Teacher

Counselor

College & Career Mentor

Note: Transition assessments are an ongoing process.

13

Formal assessments are standardized instruments backed by data

showing that they are reliable, valid measures. They typically contain

standardized procedures for administration, scoring, and interpretation,

and scores may be compared across student populations.

Clark (2007) identifies the following types of formal assessments:

Academic achievement tests

Adaptive behavior scales

Aptitude tests

Interest inventories

Cognitive functioning assessments

Prevocational/Employability scales

Self-determination scales

Quality-of-life scales

Social skills inventories

Vocational skills assessments

Personality scales

Transition knowledge and skills

Formal Assessments

14

Source: Wirt Co Schools- Courtney Burns, Isac Osborn, Lisa Starcher, Taz Yoak Transition Assessment

Toolkit (2017) Transition Coalition, University of Kansas Self and Karen Ruddle, Pathways to the Future

2017

Types Description BUSD Assessments

Education

Academic Achievement Tests

Measure learning of general or

specific academic skills. Tests

can be criterion-referenced,

norm-referenced, or both and

are usually identified by grade

level.

Wechsler Individual

Achievement Test III

(WIAT III)

AZ Merit

School City

Independent Living

Adaptive Behavior and

Independent Living

Helps determine whether a

youth needs postsecondary

goal in the area of independent

living. These assessments rely

on informed source (e.g.

parent, care taker, teacher,

student) to provide

information

Brigance Life Skills

Inventory

Employment

Aptitude Tests

Measure of a specific ability

relative to a given norm group.

Ability involves what a person

can do nor or, given the proper

opportunity, possibly in the

future (Betz, Fitzgerald, Hill,

1989). There are two types of

aptitude tests: Multi-aptitude

ore general test batteries and

single tests measuring specific

aptitudes

Armed Services

Vocational Aptitude

Battery (ASVAB, U.S.

Department of Defense)

O*NET Ability Profiler

(U.S. Department of Labor

Employment and Training

Administration)

ACT / SAT

PSAT

Education

Intelligence Tests

Involve a single test or test

battery to assess a person’s

cognitive performance.

Wechsler Intelligence

Scale for Children Fourth

Edition (WISC-IV)

15

Informal assessments are non-standardized measures that often do not

contain reliability and validity measures. Criterion referenced

assessments measure performance against specific criteria. Informal

assessment procedures are typically less structured and do not allow

score comparisons across student populations.

Clark (2007) lists the following examples of informal/non-standardized

assessment measures:

Structured interviews with students, parents, teachers, etc.

Observational assessments

Observational reports from various sources (parents, teachers,

employers, etc.)

Environmental assessments (specific to the student’s placement

options)

Situational assessments in home, community, and work settings

Curriculum- based assessments

Rating scales and checklists for general and specific planning areas

Adaptive, behavioral, or functional Skills inventories or checklists

Social histories

Learning styles inventories

Applied technology/ vocational education prerequisite skills

assessments

Medical appraisals

Personal future planning activities/ procedures

Informal Assessments

16

Source: Wirt Co Schools- Courtney Burns, Isac Osborn, Lisa Starcher, Taz Yoak Transition

Assessment Tooklit (2017) Transition Coalition, University of Kansas Self and Karen Ruddle,

Pathways to the Future 2017

Types Description BUSD Assessments

Education/Employment/

Independent Living

Interviews and Questionnaires

Gather information to be used

to determine a youth’s needs,

preferences, and interests

relative to anticipated post-

school outcomes. Help better

understand what is currently

known about a youth, their

perceptions of transition-

related factors, and familiar

influences on the career

development process.

1. Questionnaire

2. Enderle-Severson

Transition Rating Scales

3. Transition Planning

Inventory

Employment

Direct Observation

Conducted within the natural

school, employment,

education or training, or

community setting (Sitlington,

Neubert & Leconte, 1997).

This is also called “situational

assessment”. Includes task

analytic behavior and affective

information.

1. Example of Task Analysis

Employment

Environmental or Situational

Analysis

Involves carefully examining

environment where activities

normally occur. Also called

ecological assessment. A

critical part of a job analysis

involves the identification of

reasonable accommodations

and modifications that could

help students be successful.

1. Job Site Analysis Survey

2. E-JAM

17

Education

Curriculum-based

Assessments

Assessments designed by

educators to gather

information about the

student’s performance in a

specific curriculum

(McLoughlin & Lewis, 2005)

Task analyses

Work samples

Portfolio Assessments

Education

School Performance Measures

Informal curriculum based

measures, course and grade

assessments, state-wide tests,

and observations of student

classroom behaviors that

provide useful information on

student’s strengths, interests,

and needs.

School City

AZ Merit

Education/Employment/

Independent Living

Inventories

Tool that helps identify a

student’s strengths and needs

as they prepare to transition

from school to the community.

Enderle-Severson

Transition Rating Scales

3rd

Edition

Transition Planning

Inventory

Employment

Interest Inventories

Compare the student interest

with those of individuals in

specific occupation groups or

selected peer groups.

O-NET Career Interest

Inventory (U.S.

Department of Labor)

Arizona Career

Information System

(AZCIS)

Education/ Employment

Personality or Preference

Tests

Measure individual difference

in social traits, motivational

drives and needs, attitudes,

and adjustment.

*Myer-Briggs Type Indicator

18

Employment

On the Job or Training

Evaluations

On site assessment that

provide information on a

student’s general

employability relative to a

training or job site.

Job Observation and

Behavior Scale (JOBS)

Education/Employment/

Independent Living

Self-Determination

Help determine a student’s

attitude and opportunity for

specific components of self-

determination such as goal-

setting, problem solving, self-

advocacy, self-evaluation,

persistence and self-

confidence.

Self-Determination Survey

Student/Parent/Teachers

(See link below)

“Become Your Own

Expert” Self-Advocacy

Curriculum for Individuals

with Learning Disabilities

American Institutes for

Research (AIR) Self-

Determination Scale

The ARC’s Self-

Determination Scale

Independent Living

Checklists / Inventories /

Surveys

Help identify student’s

adaptive and daily living skills

Assessment of Financial

Skills and abilities

Survey of Indoor and

Outdoor Recreational

Activities

Self-Care

Independent Living Skills

Assessment Tool

Postsecondary Education

Interviews, Checklists,

Inventories and Surveys

Help identify strengths and

weaknesses in necessary

postsecondary academic skills;

helps students strengthen self-

advocacy skills and

understand their disability

rights and services at

postsecondary level; helps

students keep track of

necessary logistical steps to

enroll in college

Why Am I Going To

College? survey

High School to College

Transition Questionnaire

Study Skills Checklist

Inventory

Postsecondary Learning

Support Services and

Programs inventory

CITE Learning Style

19

Links to Assessments:

1) AIR Self-Determination Scale: http://www.ou.edu/content/education/centers-and-

partnerships/zarrow/self-determination-assessment-tools/air-self-determination-assessment.html

2) ARC Self-Determination Scale: http://www.ou.edu/education/centers-and-

partnerships/zarrow/self-determination-assessment-tools/arc-self-determination-scale.html 3) Arizona Career Information System: https://portal.azcis.intocareers.org/ 4) E-JAM: https://www.transitioncoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/E-

Jam_final1208291707.pdf 5) Enderle-Severson Transition Rating Scales 3

rd Edition: https://www.estr.net/history.cfm

6) Independent Living Skills Assessment Tool:

http://www.sped.sbcsc.k12.in.us/PDF%20Files/tassessments/Independent%20Living/Life%20Skills%

20Inventory_Independent%20Living.pdf 7) Job Observation and Behavior Scale (JOBS): https://www.stoeltingco.com/job-observation-and-

behavior-scale-jobs-complete-test-kit.html 8) O-NET Career Interest Survey: https://www.onetcenter.org/IP.html

9) Self-Determination Survey: https://lsiprdsdiwb.cc.ku.edu/index.php

10) Transition Planning Inventory-2: http://www.proedinc.com/customer/ProductView.aspx?ID=6063

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The results of transition assessments should be the basis for making

recommendations for instructional strategies and accommodations in

instructions and environments to meet the students’ needs. (NSTTAC,

2017)

The result should lead the student to better understand the connection

between their individual academic program and post-school

ambitions. (Kortering & Braziel, 2008)

The result should be the basis for identifying postsecondary goals in

education or training, employment, and independent living (as

appropriate) for a student who’s IEP is being developed for the

purpose of transition planning. (NSTTAC, 2017)

Data on postsecondary goals, interests, and preferences, and data

pertaining to student strengths and needs that may impact the

realization of the postsecondary goals are summarized in the Present

Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

(PLAAFP) on the IEP. Needs identified in the PLAAFP drive the

remaining components of the IEP transition services, including

courses of study and transition activities, annual goals, and

accommodations. (Virginia Department of Education Training and

Technical Assistance Center. Transition Assessment Packet, 2008)

Summary and Result Sharing

21

Byrne, D. (2009). Transition treasures toolkit: An informal guide about transition

assessments. Olathe, KS.

Carpenter, W.D. “"Become Your Own Expert!" Self-advocacy curriculum for

individuals with learning disabilities (1995). Minnesota Educational Services

Center for Change in Transition Services, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington

Rev. 12/07 Retrieved from

https://www.seattleu.edu/media/CCTS/TransitionServices/guide_to_transition_ass

essment_in_wa_state.pdf

Clark, G. M. (2007). Assessment for transition planning (2nd Ed.). Austin, TX: Pro

Ed.

Transition Assessment Toolkit (2017). Transition Coalition, University of Kansas

Websites:

http://project10.info/DetailPage.php?MainPageID=146

http://www.rpesd.org/AgeAppropriateTransition.aspx

https://vimeo.com/39068682

http://www.sped.sbcsc.k12.in.us/ppm/transitionplanning/transitionassessments.htm

l

https://www.rcsdk12.org/Page/38453

http://www.bcsbc.org/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/51f9197248bf4/TransAssessS

amples.pdf

http://www.ncwd-youth.info/assets/guides/assessment/AssessGuideComplete.pdf

http://www.azed.gov/ecap/

References