What are some ways to involve students in student-centered transition planning?

Transcript: Erik Carter, PhD (audio #1)

For a teacher who really wants to make their transition planning process much more student-centered, I think the first step is really to make an investment in the preparation of their students and find time within the school day to prepare the students for these kind of meetings. I mean, very few students when even asked about the prospect of coming to a meeting filled with teachers and staff and others are going to probably be excited about that idea. What adolescent would feel really comfortable and confident in that kind of setting? So really preparing students so they understand the purpose of a meeting, the value of their presence and voice in that process, and understanding of the kind of things that would be shared, what their role would be in sharing some of that information and what the roles of others who are going to be invited to that meeting are, it’s really an important part of that preparation.

And I think a second thing for teachers is to think through what kind of process would make sense for students to have that active role in the planning meeting. There are a variety of ways students can be involved in that meeting, everything from having a list of steps that they would work through as part of that process from welcoming everyone to the meeting, making introductions, stating the purpose of that meeting, sharing the progress that they’ve made over the past year, and sharing some of their goals for the upcoming year. That step-by-step process needs to be outlined for students, and deciding what makes the most sense for your students in the context of the meeting is really important.

We encourage teachers to also think about what happens after the meeting. A student-centered planning meeting lasts an hour or two a year, and probably the place where students can have the most benefit and impact is what happens between those meetings. Looking for ways to encourage students’ continued involvement in their own transition plan is a way of making that continue to be student-centered, whether that’s having them self-monitor and self-evaluate their progress and keep track of that over the course of the school year, whether that’s having them share back their progress with team members at various points throughout the school year, or even sharing some of the lessons they’ve learned about having that leadership role with other students who’ve not yet had their transition planning. All those are ways that teachers can prepare and implement and follow-up on this whole idea of student-centered planning meetings.

One of the things that I want to emphasize is that the investment that we’re making of teachers in preparing students for this once-a-year planning meeting really does have a long-term ripple effect on students for the rest of their lives after they’ve exited school. They’re going to be part of these kinds of planning meetings, and the degree to which they’re prepared to contribute to those, to be able to advocate for what they need, communicate the supports and opportunities and linkages that they need to support them is going to be really important for living well long after graduation. So it’s easy for us to think in the very short term, wow, this requires my time and investment that we may struggle to make right now. That investment’s going to have a much longer term impact on students even after the meeting’s done and after they have graduated, so it’s worthwhile.

Transcript: Erik Carter, PhD (audio #2)

It definitely takes time to prepare students for these roles. I would emphasize that it’s not without benefits. It certainly has payoffs. We know that youth who are more actively involved in their own transition planning are ultimately more motivated to work towards those goals and ultimately accomplish those goals. But they have to be equipped with the skills and the knowledge and the attitudes to participate meaningfully and effectively in those kinds of planning meetings.

One approach, I think, is to simply draw upon the growing number of existing programs and curriculum materials that are already out there that have already been designed to equip students in exactly this way, a number of them that offer fairly structured approaches, things like the Self-Directed IEP, the Who’s Future Is It Anyway? curriculum, Take Charge for the Future, Next Steps, and a number of others that have already been evaluated students with disabilities and really lay out a step-by-step what’s involved in leading an IEP meeting. I think incorporating out of those curricula into your class or drawing upon components that you know would be really helpful for a particular student can at least make the planning aspect of that much more efficient for you as a teacher.

There’s also ways that you can involve students in things like role-playing as a group for an upcoming transition planning meeting followed by a time of discussion and reflection on how that went. You might have students who have either graduated or who are a little further along in their transition process share with younger students about their experiences leading their own transition planning meetings, or you could even connect students to any number of community organizations or self-advocacy groups that also gives students opportunities to build those self-advocacy skills and skills they would need to ultimately lead their own planning meetings.