September 2003

In our community, our students are struggling once they leave our programs and enter post secondary schools/jobs. How can we better prepare our students for this transition?

Preparing for postsecondary education

Students with disabilities need to know about the nature of their disability and the kinds of support they may require. They need to understand that as they enter postsecondary school, they will be taking on more responsibility for themselves than they have ever had before. That responsibility includes advocating for accommodations and services and self-monitoring progress in classes. Students with disabilities should be aware of their rights in school and know what to do if those rights are violated.

Another responsibility they will have is developing vocational goals for a career after college. Having goals can help them with selecting programs to enroll in and may help with obtaining financial aid.

IEP team considerations for postsecondary education

Because the environment in postsecondary education is so different from secondary education, transition planning is critical and should involve the following components:

• Students should be involved in developing their IEP/transition plan.
• Students should be given opportunities to develop self-determination, self-advocacy, communication, and independent living skills.
• Efforts should be made to make sure students' interests, goals, and strengths guide the planning process.
• Interagency collaboration is important. The kinds of people that should be involved in the planning process include students, parents, teachers, college personnel, school-to-career personnel, guidance counselors, Department of Mental Retardation service coordinators, vocational rehabilitation counselors, Independent Living Center counselors, and service provider personnel.
• Obtaining assessment and disability documentation that is acceptable to postsecondary institutions is also important. Many postsecondary institutions state that they will not provide services to a student who does not have a "documented" disability.
• Information about the requirements for entering postsecondary institutions should be obtained and used to plan students' secondary coursework. The classes that secondary students take should meet requirements not only for graduating from secondary school, but also for entering postsecondary school.
• The team should identify and explore the types of supports and accommodations that students will need in postsecondary environments and plan for ways to prepare students to transition to these supports. For example, students may need documentation of their disability that is different from the documentation that is required at the secondary level. The kinds of supports that will be available to the students and/or the kinds of supports that are appropriate for postsecondary environments will also likely be quite different than they are at the secondary school level.

Parents and teachers role in helping students with disabilities prepare for postsecondary education

Parents and teachers can provide information to students about their disability and the kinds of supports that they will need to request in postsecondary education. Parents and teachers can also help prepare the student by teaching and reinforcing self-determination, self-advocacy, and career development skills and by facilitating an internal locus of control (sense of responsibility and control over one's own future). They can also help students explore the issues outlined in this document.*

*Content has been excerpted from materials on the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition's Web site. For more information, visit www.ncset.org .