DOMAIN 2

ASSESSMENT IN PRACTICE

“Transition assessment is an ongoing process of collecting information on the student’s strengths, needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future living, learning, and working environments” (Sitlington, 2007). This process is required to start no later than the year the student turns 16 years old, according to the revision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004. However, it is never too early to start, and the basic information gathered through informal transition assessments can assist in developing individualized education plans at any age. Learning about an individual’s strengths, needs, preferences and interests is always a valuable process that can serve to inform practitioners about the need for specific services and best educational practices.

A wide range of assessment tools are available to use with students, although some may be specialized for use with certain populations. In general, transition assessments can be formal or informal, and collect information about different areas or aspects of a student’s life.

State education accountability measures can provide important information relating to a student’s academic strengths and needs. College and career readiness exams can also provide insight into a student’s ability to apply academic skills. Other formal assessments in the areas of adaptive functioning, vocational or occupational skills, social and emotional skills can be useful in determining strengths and needs in non-academic areas. Examples of many assessments can be found in the artifacts section below.

Formal assessments used for transition purposes in Nevada may include:

• Standardized tests administered at different grade levels as part of required state-wide accountability measures

  • Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)

  • American College Test (ACT)

  • Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

  • Adapted state standardized assessment

    • Nevada Alternate Assessment (NAA)  

• Achievement Scores

  • Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3)

• Intelligence Tests

  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

• Adaptive behavior scales

  • Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales

  • Functional Independence Skills Handbook (FISH)

• Vocational or occupational assessments

  • Environmental Job Assessment Measure (E-JAM)

  • Workplace Readiness Skills Assessment

  • End-of-Program Technical Assessments

• Social and Emotional Scales

  • Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3)

  • Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-3 BESS)

Informal assessments provide information about students that cannot be gathered from the formalized assessments and offer a different perspective. Informal assessments can come from a variety of sources and can be used to gather information about a student’s performance or preference in any domain. The Informal Assessments for Transition Series kit available for purchase from PRO-ED, Inc. is one resource I use frequently in my classroom. I do have to make adaptations to many of the assessments because my students have mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities, but the wide variety of assessments included in this kit have been very useful. The most frequent accommodations and modifications I use are to read the worksheet to the student and explain or alter the rating scales. Sometimes I will use these tools whole group with my entire class, and sometimes I will pick assessments to use individually with students based on their interests and needs. Examples of many assessments can be found in the artifacts section below.

Informal assessments used for transition purposes in Nevada, or any state, may include:

• Student interviews

  • Teacher made

  • Commercially made

• Parent interviews

  • Teacher made

  • Commercially made

• General education teacher feedback

  • Basic description of how a student does in the setting

    • May include observations about academic skills, social/emotional skills, accommodations used or needed

• Evaluation of performance in vocational settings

  • Data about student’s performance collected by job coach

  • Feedback from employer

• Interest surveys and inventories

  • Career based

  • Personality based

  • Learning styles

  • Recreation and Leisure

• Checklists

  • To keep track of skills, tasks, or domains assessed in transition process

  • To determine areas or activities of interest to the student

  • Identify accommodations needed for different settings

Regardless of the types of transition assessments used, it is imperative that the results are communicated to the student and family, and that the information is used to guide the development of the IEP and/or transition plan. A Positive Personal Profile (PPP) is one way to present the information to students and families. It can also be used as a reference when developing or planning as a team. “The Positive Personal Profile can form the basis for developing goals on individualized education programs and transition plans” (Luecking, 2009).

Another useful tool for communicating results of transition assessment is a Summary of Performance (SOP). As a case manager, I am required to develop a SOP when students exit high school. It has also been referred to as a summary of academic and functional performance or an exit IEP. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates that “districts shall provide the student with a summary of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance, which includes recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting desired postsecondary outcomes” (Martin, Van Dycke, D'Ottavio & Nickerson, 2007). This document looks similar to an IEP but does not list goals or objectives. Instead, it provides details about academic achievement, accommodations used, learning styles, functional performance (for students with significant disabilities), and information about what steps should be taken next for a student to pursue their postsecondary goals. This can include information about supportive services available through a disability resource center, vocational supports and services, or independent living supports as appropriate.

A critical area of transition assessment is that of using the information to match student interests, preferences and strengths of students with a future job or career, which aligns with assessment competency 2.7. In my program, students participate in community-based job training at least once a week for approximately an hour. We currently have four sites, which are arranged by another person in my school district and are predominately determined based on willingness to host students and proximity to our school. This year our sites have been the local Senior Center, a restaurant located in a small casino, The Salvation Army Thrift Store, and a local pizza restaurant. I give my students the opportunity to express interests and preferences by asking them to rank their preferences for job training sites. They give me their top three choices. I assign job training based on their preferences, level of experience with job training, support needs, and demands of the job. My sites do not change significantly over time, so students will likely have the opportunity to participate in job training for two-to-four years. The paraprofessional who takes students to the job training sites evaluates their performance using a progress monitoring tool. My district does not require a specific form to be used, so I modified one that other teachers used in the past. My form is easier to use and provides more detailed information about the level of support a student requires at the job training site.

Ultimately, a great deal of information can be gathered about a student through the use of a wide variety of both formal and informal assessments. Students and parents, along with job coaches, teachers and other service providers are useful sources of information. When a variety of tools and sources are used to assess multiple areas of a student’s life, an IEP or transition plan can be developed to be more comprehensive and valuable for the student; better preparing him or her for the future.