How can educators facilitate person-centered transition planning?
Page 8: Implementation Considerations
The successful implementation of any significant change, including person-centered transition planning, requires a systematic process. This process often begins when an individual educator learns about person-centered planning and commits to this approach. Then they share their knowledge with other members of their school team and build their buy-in and support. Finally, the team can begin planning new initiatives and strategies to support their students’ active engagement in transition planning.
Although many educators value the idea of person-centered planning, they sometimes find it challenging to make that a reality. Educators should start small—perhaps beginning with only one component of the transition planning process—and build on their successes. Below are ways to address common questions educators might have about implementing person-centered transition planning.
Rather than seeing this process as something added to your plate, think about how you can integrate it into your existing routines and lessons. You might spend a few moments each day having students monitor their progress with a simple checklist or chart. Transition-related knowledge and skills could be woven into specially designed instruction in academic, communication, functional, or vocational areas. Or you might use an existing self-determination curriculum to structure your approach. Although there is up-front work involved in preparing students to take more ownership of their own transition planning, this will ultimately reduce your workload as more responsibility shifts to your students.
self-determination curriculum
glossary
Gaining support from other members of the IEP team is crucial, and you can often achieve it by showing them the value of this change. Start by communicating the benefits of the process and encouraging students to make small but meaningful contributions. Buy-in tends to grow as others witness students successfully taking on more leadership. Then you can build on that foundation over time.
Help students recognize the value of their involvement. However, be patient because students who have little or no experience with the IEP process might need some convincing. One way to accomplish this is by allowing them to choose a specific component to start with. For example, one student might begin by conducting interviews as part of the transition assessment process, or another might decide to share only their strengths and interests at the beginning of an IEP meeting. Providing this autonomy increases their chances of early success, leading to empowerment and greater willingness to take a more active role in the process.
Every student can participate at some level. It is educators’ responsibility to find a meaningful way for students to contribute, be it through the use of gestures, by showing pictures depicting their strengths and goals, or by activating a switch to begin a slide presentation. It is usually as easy as adapting communication strategies that are already in place.
When students offer their input, IEP meetings focus on what’s most important—a future that students themselves are helping to define. Don’t worry, though, there will still be time to present your data and make your recommendations. In the meantime, you might be surprised by the new, more positive tone of meetings.
Fully implementing person-centered transition planning takes time and effort, but it is a worthwhile endeavor. The IEP team should routinely reflect on and refine this process. To do this, IEP team members can use a checklist, like the one below, to evaluate and guide improvements in assessment and goal development, IEP meeting leadership, and monitoring of progress.
| Assessment and Goal Development |
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| IEP Meeting Leadership |
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| Monitoring of Progress |
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In the following interviews, Jim Martin and Kelly Smoak discuss simple ways that teachers can encourage and prepare students to be actively involved in the transition planning process.
Jim Martin, PhD
Professor Emeritus
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Oklahoma
(time: 0:57)
Transcript: Jim Martin, PhD
Expect them to be there. Expect them to participate. The biggest facilitator we found to this whole process are teacher expectations. Teachers expect their students to become actively engaged and be there, provide them the opportunities to do it, and then make it a celebration of kids’ education and not just a rap sheet of all the things they’re not doing well. Some teachers will help students prepare invitations for their meeting. They’ll go to their English teacher and say, “Madam English teacher, my IEP meeting is a couple of weeks from now. Here’s an invitation to attend. I sure hope you can be there.” And they’ll give it to their parents. They might give it to one of their best friends to attend or the boyfriend or a girlfriend to attend if parents approve of that, of course. Some teachers encourage students to get dressed up. They’ll make it a celebration of the kid’s education. And then it becomes something that they want to attend.
Transcript: Kelly Smoak, MEd
For someone that wants to start the process, start with small steps. It may be overwhelming to think, “Oh, I need to have all of my kids running all of their IEP meetings this year.” That can be a daunting thought, but start small through activities in the classroom. That can be something as simple as having the kids know who their supports are, listing them out on paper, and meeting those people so that they know who those members of the team are. Who’s going to be at my IEP meeting? Who is helping me through this process? Build that relationship. Then, taking it a step further and beginning to break down the IEP for the students. That can be very simple.
You can spend time on it throughout the entire year. You can choose to build that into your day in many different ways, whether it be a 15-minute segment of your class period or whether it be a whole class period that you devote to the IEP. But breaking it down and teaching the students the different parts of the IEP and what they mean and why do we have them, why do we have accommodations, what are accommodations, so that the students can begin to understand them, know what they mean, and then start to have a voice as to whether they really need that accommodation or not. Is it something that’s helping them or is it not? That’s just one aspect of the IEP. Their present levels, what does that mean, what does that look like, where am I currently, and being able to see that and verbalize that can be a part of your class. Students that have that opportunity begin to understand the IEP is not just a document that their parent comes and signs once a year, but it is a part of their life and it will help them get to the next phase successfully.
Returning to the Challenge
By the end of the school year, Mr. Longoria is celebrating the progress that both Nia and Jeremy have made as active participants in their own transition planning. Although he began with doubts, he now sees how adding some relatively simple supports to structure their involvement made a significant difference. He feels especially proud of his students’ participation in goal development and leadership of IEP meetings. He wants to continue increasing their engagement in monitoring their own progress and has already begun planning ways to teach them to graph data and organize their work into portfolios next year. Select each student’s photo for a summary of their progress and next steps.
Nia
As Nia approaches her senior year, she is feeling empowered to speak up for herself and is beginning to see a clearer path toward a future career in the fashion industry. Having gained confidence by leading parts of her IEP meeting this year, she looks forward to contributing even more as she nears graduation. What’s more, Nia’s grandmother recently reached out to Mr. Longoria to share how much growth she has seen in her granddaughter’s self-awareness and problem-solving skills. Moreover, Nia is applying self-determination skills to other areas of her life. For example, she is managing her money more effectively and initiating more social interactions with peers.
Jeremy
Jeremy still has several years of transition planning left. Together with his team, he will continue to explore his options and develop goals for postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. Given Jeremy’s interests, Mr. Longoria plans to help him research potential careers involving animals. Mr. Longoria and Jeremy’s family also realize that they need to be more intentional about teaching Jeremy to use his communication device for self-advocacy and more complex decision-making as he approaches adulthood. However, Jeremy’s self-determination skills have grown throughout the year. For example, he is showing more confidence and independence in completing daily routines and academic tasks.
