Thursday, October 7, 2010

Transition training... where is it?

As a special education teacher, I am responsible for helping to plan and implement transition plans and services that allow students to make gains toward reaching their post secondary goals. The interesting part of this is that during my 20+ years of teaching special education, I have had very little training or staff development in the area of developing, writing and implementing transition plans on IEPs for my students. I am a teacher that has sought out information in this area to better assist me but there are many teachers who have been in the field for a long time who have never really had any training in the area of transition. The transition part of the IEP is a huge focus for our students 14 and older yet the very teachers responsible for handling this part of the IEP have very scattered training in this area.  Most teacher training programs in collages and universities offer maybe 1 or 2 classes on transition but there are only a few programs that I have been able to find in the country that offer a degree in special education transition. Also, the state of Tennessee does not have an endorsement area for transition in special education.  With all of the talk of "highly qualified" how is it that there are so few programs and classes in such an important part of special education?  Transition affects every single one of our students as they move from school to post secondary education, training, employment and living. I think that there needs to be a much bigger focus on the area of transition in special education since our overall focus should be to provide programs and instruction to help these students reach their potential and to reach for their goals in life.

1 comment:

  1. Transition is so important for students leaving high school. For many, there is no hope once they are done with high school. I agree with you, a much bigger focus needs to be placed on transition because it is what affects the rest of the students life! The students need to be provided some skills as to how to cope in the real world once they are done with high school. The state of Tennessee needs to give funding to forming transition classes. Transition affects all special education students!!!

    ReplyDelete