Transition Planning... what do you do when the student has unrealistic post secondary goals?

Another issue that comes up when teachers are helping students to plan for life after school is that some of these students have very unrealistic and most likely unobtainable goals. At some point you will have the student that has the goal to be a Doctor or the next Taylor Swift.  It is not our place to tell this students how unrealistic these may be but we are obligated to assist them in looking at breaking these overall goals down to find something that is related directly to their goals.  For instance, I have some of those students who just know they are going to be the next big hit in the music industry.   I sit down with these students and do some job exploration including web searches to look at jobs related to the music industry. I talk to them about their ultimate goal and then I encourage them to have back up plans to work toward first.  Many of my students start to think about other jobs or ways that they can do things that have to do with music.  The other day I had one of these students say that they think maybe working in a music store might be a good backup plan. 
It is difficult at times to know exactly what direction to look in depending on the post secondary goals that our students have in mind. I think that a big part of the transition process needs to be exposing these students to many different job opportunities through work based experiences and instruction.  Many special education teachers could benefit from traning to help direct them in assisting students to plan for transitioning into post secondary schools, training, work and living situations.

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.

Transition from school to ...?

Transition services are an important part of IEPs for students who have disabilities and are 16 years of age and older. The word transition is defined by Webster's as " a passing from one condition, place, etc.  to another".  With this definition in mind, I am puzzled as to why this "passing" seems to be a one sided issue.  The school district is responsible for transition planning with the student on post secondary goals and is required to provide transition services that help the students to reach for these goals.  The problem with this is that rarely are there representatives from community agencies available during the transition pre- planning meetings nor do they usually attend the actual IEP meetings for these students. Where is the receiving side to this issue?  Our focus as teachers is to prepare these students to be as independent as possible and to become productive/active members in society. We are helping them to explore their post secondary options but we as teachers need the input from the actual agencies that will be serving these students when they leave the school system at 22. It seems to me that there needs to be a step in between schools and the communtiy. Maybe an interagency collaboration team that can truely represent the bussinesses, schools and programs that these students will be participating with in their communities. Where is the coordination between school and the community agencies? We seem to be dropping the baton at the handoff of these students during the "race" called transition.

Inclusion... We Still have a long way to go.

When it comes to inclusion, there are basically 2 models that are looked at.  First is the "push in" model which has the SPED teacher coming into a general education class to help in providing instruction and support to the student and perhaps the teacher. A key to this model is the differentiated learning approach to education that has the general education and the special education teacher providing a range of activities and the use of a variety of teaching strategies for children with different abilities. Students in the "push in" model may be included for part or all of the day. Many times students are included for certain classes.
The other inclusion model is called "full inclusion". This model has students with special needs included full time in the general education class and the general education teacher is the teacher of record for this child.  This approach has many challenges, first and foremost the challange of truely meeting the needs of all students. Some students with special needs will be able to benefit from inclusion in the general education class while others may not really gain from being placed in the general education classroom.
My big concern with inclusion is that we seem to be focusing on the physical placement of the student instead of what we need to be focusing on educationally for this student to reach his/her potential. With NCLB, we have lost functional curriculum approaches and have made a push for more of a one set of standards fits all approach to education. I just keep thinking about after school for these students and I can not help but think that them sitting in an Algebra class and not really benefitting from it is not going to help them if they can not understand even some of the basic concepts of math and money.  In the vision education world we have what is called expanded core curriculum which focuses on the life concepts that students with vision impairments will need to be more independent in life.  I feel that we need this for all students, especailly for those with special needs. What are your thoughts on inclusion?

Inclusion... We have come a long way.

While working on our group project, I stopped to reflect on how far education of students with disabilities ( or varied abilities as I like to refer to it) has come, I had to think about those that helped to path the way.  There were some early court cases that played such an important part in the development of the laws that have shaped special education as we know it today.  Cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvannia, and Mills v. Board of Education directly influenced the development of
PL 94-142 in 1975.  Free appropriate education for all students became an expectation in education but there have been many bumps in the road and changes along the way on the journey called education for all. In my twenty plus years of teaching students with special needs I have seen first hand how new laws have influenced such things as inclusion in the classroom.  I firmly believe all children have the potential to learn and I  feel that there continues to be a need for a continuum of placement options for students with varied abilities. I  feel that having one set of standards for all students is a step away from the individualized education approach to education that many of the laws have fought so hard to change.
Inclusion to me is not just placing students in the regular education classroom, but rather is including students with varied abilities at the level that will allow them to engage in learning that is meaningful and serves to help these students reach for the potential in life. I see the value in the education of ALL students.  Aren"t they all SPECIAL and don't they ALL deserve a great opportunity to learn?

Inclusion... What does IDEA say.

While researching for our groups Prezi presentation for class, I have looked at IDEA and many of the case laws and how they influence Inclsion.  First, IDEA 2004 does not require inclusion but does require that students with disabilities be served educationally in the "least restricted environment appropriate" to meet their "unique needs". (websearch: www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource  ).  The article went on to discuss how the least restrictive environment begins with the regular classroom. It does state that the law knows that all students will not be appropriate for the regular classroom so it requires a "continuum of placements".  Inclusion should be driven by what best meets the needs of the student as determined by their IEP. The IEP team should first consider whether the regular classroom is  appropriate and if not, then look at the next least restrictive environment until the team feels they have placed the student in the best environment to meet that student's needs.
Over the years there have been many who feel that there is no place for self-contained classes or seperate school facilities.  But IDEA states that there should be a continuum of placements. After working for twenty years in a seperate school facility, I truely can see the benefits for some students who truely need a placement such as that. I diffinantly believe that one size does not fit all when it comes to special education placement for students with disabilities. What are your thoughts?

RTI...A new thought on the tiers of RTI

Kelly had a blog entry about the need for more attention for those students who fall in the gifted area which got me thinking.  Why can't there be a 4th tier. This tier (1+, just a suggestion), would function something like tier 2 for those students who are needing more intervention. If students do significantly above average on the 1st tier, then they are moved to this 1+ tier which will provide them with a more  challenging curriculum.  It seems like this would better address the needs of these students and would hopefully offer them more than most of the current once a week gifted programs do now.  Just a thought.  What are your thoughts on this?