What is the school counselor’s responsibility in the transition planning process?

Page 4: Overview of a School Counselor’s Roles for Transition

School counselors provide counseling for all students, and this can include transition planning for students with disabilities. Careful organization and planning might help to avoid a major pitfall: developing a transition plan but failing to implement it.

As Mr. Hunter works with students and their families, he realizes that the goals and needs of each student are quite different and that transition services may vary greatly for students. As part of the transition planning process, school counselors may have many roles:

• Conveying information about career and personal competencies
• Identifying the post-school opportunities and services to which students may have access
• Supporting students to help them transition from high school to life after high school
• Working with students to develop their measurable post-secondary goals
• Helping the IEP team to develop measurable post-secondary goals and the transition services needed to achieve those goals
• Conducting assessments across all life domains
• Identifying the best curricular options and developing a course of study
• Guiding transition activities (e.g., connecting to service agencies)
• Monitoring progress on the transition plan

Because Sandra’s parents have encouraged her to dream about what she wants to do in her life, Sandra has an advantage over students who may not have been given the chance to think about their post-school expectations or aspirations. As a result, it is likely that Sandra will experience positive post-school employment outcomes. Of course, Mr. Hunter knows that for some of his students with disabilities he will have to do more in-depth planning and provide greater coordination with adult service agencies. Doing so will require him to work closely with students and families to offer higher levels of advocacy and support during the students’ transition process.