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"The New England Secondary School Consortium state liaisons are our in-state representatives and spokespersons. In collaboration with each state's department of education, they lead Consortium programs and support on-the-ground activities, from providing technical assistance to participating schools and working with state partner organizations to delivering presentations and coordinating events. If you are interested in learning more about Consortium activities in your state, reach out to your state liaison."

This website was created by the Disability Rights organization in New Jersey. This organization aims to "advocat[e] and advanc[e] the human, civil and legal rights of persons with disabilities." The website for this organization provides a variety of information based around the law in New Jersey that covers people with disabilities, as well as provides numerous helpful resources. One of the major resources that this website provides is information about assistive technology resources. It provides information about the Assistive Technology Advocacy Center (ATAC) of Disability Rights New Jersey (DRNJ) which offers services to people with disabilities. As a special educator, I would use this website to learn about what the state of New Jersey does for people with disabilities. This would be helpful in terms of transition and career development because it would give me knowledge about what another state does for students if one of my students chooses to go to college in New Jersey.

Excellent resource Sarah! It is interesting to read about another state and I think it is important to be knowledgeable about other states, not just our own.

"Many states in the Northeast & Islands Region have increasingly begun to view proficiency- or competency-based learning (P/CBL) as a way to boost graduation rates and prepare students for success after high school. In P/CBL approaches, students demonstrate mastery of a defined set of proficiencies or competencies in their courses in lieu of completing credit requirements based on time spent in class. Although many states in the region are adopting P/CBL policies, full implementation of this reform is still in progress, and more information is needed to help states define P/CBL, inform their policymaking, and effectively confront barriers to and leverage facilitators of implementation."

"The CCRS Center, in partnership with the Center on Great Teachers and LeadersExternal Links icon (GTL Center) and RTI InternationalExternal Links icon, developed Integrating Employability Skills: A Framework for All Educators, a Professional Learning Module (PLM), to support regional comprehensive centers, state educational agency staff, and state regional centers in building their knowledge and capacity to integrate and prioritize employability skills at the state and local levels."

"Hope Street Group (HSG) National Teacher Fellows (NTFs) are fulltime classroom teachers who serve as local and national spokespersons, trained to explore their state's education policy efforts and engage their peers in solutions-based conversations. This year, our NTF cohort consisted of 18 teachers and instructional coaches representing 17 states. Together, they collected data the United States Department of Education (USDOE), the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), and state leaders can use to inform their policy decisions in order to improve teacher preparation for future educators."

NASET has updated its very popular IEP Goals/Objectives App. This vastly updated application allows you to easily build a list of students, and for each one, choose & build a list of IEP Annual Goals, Short Term and Behavioral Objectives, that include Common Core State Standards (CCSS). For each behavioral objective, you are provided with the option to add a Mastery Level. The output of each student's list of Goals and Objectives can then be sent by email or text message. This App Allows You to: * Build a list of students and then save, edit, add, and/or delete selected Goals and Objectives that are unique for each student * Develop multiple Goals and Objectives for each student * Export the assembled annual goals, short term objectives and behavioral objectives for each student via email or text message * Plan certain significant components of each student's educational curriculum * Build an exportable list of enrichment experiences to enhance each student's development from a list of over 2,700 Suggested Activities What's New in this Version: * More than double the number of Annual Goals and Short Term Objectives from which to choose * Includes Common Core State Standards (CCSS) * Optional Mastery Level selections offered for each Behavioral Objective * Allows you to build a list of students and then save the selections of goals and objectives for each student * Easier to use the collected choices by including the student's first name in the final behavioral objectives list that you compile * More flexibility that allows you to add, delete and/or edit the selected goals and objectives

"Many students still struggle to graduate on time within traditional school systems, particularly racial and ethnic minority students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. States and schools are shifting their focus to ensure college and career readiness is a realistic and attainable goal for all students. This brief provides an overview of competency-based education (CBE), one model to support college and career readiness for all"

"A career pathways system is a coordinated system of programs and services supporting students in the transition from school to the workforce, and it can be one part of a comprehensive system to support students' college and career readiness. The College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Center's resource Designing a Career Pathways System: A Framework for State Education Agencies is a four-chapter module intended to help state education agency staff design, implement, and evaluate a career pathways system. Each chapter includes a facilitator's guide, slide presentation, and activity handouts. The four chapters include:"

This website was created by the Center for Independent Futures, a non-profit organization in Illinois. This organization aims to help "adults with disabilities and their families plan, support and sustain new ways of living in their community." The website and organization provides information about having a disability, as well as services and accommodations that they can provide for adults with disabilities. Because the Center for Independent Futures is a non-profit organization, they host a variety of fund raising events each year. These events, as well as other ways to donate to the organization can be found on the website. If I were a special educator working on transition and career development, I would use this website for students who are looking at attending school in Illinois. The site would provide very useful information for the student because it would tell them what kind of supports they can receive in the state and where they can get those supports. Illinois has a variety of colleges and universities, and the Center for Independent Futures would be a very positive support system for new students in the state.

"Transition services are intended to prepare students to make the transition from the world of school to the world of adulthood. In planning what type of transition services a student needs to prepare for adulthood, the IEP team must first consider areas such as vocational training, community employment and post secondary education for the student. If the IEP team thinks that independent living and community participation are appropriate for a student then these areas should also be considered." This website is from the State of Vermont Department of Education. The website has an overview of transition planning and what to do. There are many other great links on the site as well. This is a terrific resource for anyone who will be working in Vermont. The laws are different in each state so it is good for those of us who are certified in NH and are planning to head to Vermont in the future.

How can educators align transition goals with standards-based education? Addressing the individual needs of students with disabilities and successfully meeting academic standards for all students is challenging. Therefore, it is critical that innovative curricula emerge that combine standards-based academics with transition planning to facilitate access to general education, including multiple-outcome measures and learning supports (Kochhar-Bryant & Bassett, 2002). This website is all about enhancing transition outcomes by using technology. The Ohio State University developed a standards-driven computer-based curriculum for students with disabilities in grade 8-10. They emphasized 3 skills: reading competencies, information literacy skills, and career planning. This would be great for a special educator to read and adopt the standards that OSU developed. It is interesting to see what different states are doing in the field as we at times tend to stay in our own little bubbles.

"The Institute on Disability is pursuing the expansion and further development of Assistive Technology (AT) services and training in the state of New Hampshire. Assistive Technology is integral to the daily lives of many New Hampshire residents. Awareness of and the ability to try assistive technology devices are important aspects to making a decision whether a particular technology is "the right fit." The IOD is actively involved in partnerships on campus, throughout the state, and on a national level to promote access to assistive technology services." This site is full of great information about assistive technology. The resources tab is where you want to direct most of your attention as many of the documents and resources that are identified are very practical and geared toward use by special education service providers, students, and parents. Of particular interest to schools is instructions for how to create a low cost case for the iPad for use in schools. Check it out! Application to Transition Practice The information provided on this site will help to support transition practices in the classroom (direct teaching of transition skills), in work-based learning experiences, and living. There are many suggestions for how to physically adapt assistive technology hardware to meet an individual's need in the workplace. Also, in the resources there is a resource list of "reviewed" iPad apps for use to assist individuals with disabilities to become more independent is environments both within and outside the classroom. For example, the dragon app is free and it can be used to dictate and transcribe text. Various apps used for study skills and time management and organization could be very useful for students with LD and ADD in a variety of environments. It would be important to introduce individuals to some of these apps while they are in high school so they can learn about how they might help them in college, daily living, or employment settings.

The Institute on Disability is part of the University Center for Excellence on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. "The Institute on Disability is pursuing the expansion and further development of Assistive Technology (AT) services and training in the state of New Hampshire. " This department at the University of New Hampshire provides information about disability services that are provided for their current students as well as information concerning training programs for professionals. Professionals can register to attend the assistive technology workshops to learn about the newest programs that will help students with disabilities in their education. As a special educator, I would use this website to attend workshops on the most current assistive technology resources. This would keep my knowledge up to date and give me the opportunity to experience new and different programs. Then, when I have new students who may need different assistive technology both in high school and transitioning to college, I will be better equipped to tech them how to use the program.

"The National Center on RTI in partnership with the Idaho's State Department of Education and Boise State University presents a webinar discussing Idaho's specific learning disability (SLD) criteria. The webinar illustrates the deliberate and continued collaboration among various programs in the SEA in the design, development, and implementation of Idaho's SLD eligibility process."

"U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of state schools superintendents Friday that he found it "fascinating" that some of the opposition to the Common Core State Standards has come from "white suburban moms who - all of a sudden - their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn't quite as good as they thought they were.""

"Welcome to the Think Tank related to demonstrating proficiency within the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics (Math) through transition-focused activities. We would like your input! Below are two tables of examples of activities that are focused on transition-related skills (e.g., self-advocacy, self-management, knowledge of career options, job-specific skills) connected to specific ELA and Math standards from the Common Core State Standards."

"hen California's state legislature voted to provide one-time revenue in support of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment System during the 2013-14 school year, many school districts immediately used those fiscal resources to provide students with access to one-to-one technology as a part of their daily curriculum."

"The notion of education implies that there's a path towards a definitive, finished state wherein an individual has become "educated." But in a world of accelerated change, with rapid disruption cycles in industry and with rising automation, that end state of being "educated" is just no longer meaningful. An individual must have learning agility - the ability to learn, adapt, and apply in quick cycles. "

"WestEd's National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) helps states transform their systems to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. NCSI provides states with technical assistance to support their school districts and local early intervention service programs in improving education results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities."

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is committed to ensuring that students and youth with disabilities are held to high expectations and have the resources and supports needed to expand their learning opportunities and prepare them for success in postsecondary education or careers. To that end, this "Questions and Answers" (Q&A) describes how State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies may coordinate to assist students and youth with disabilities, including students and youth with intellectual disabilities who are in high school and at postsecondary education institutions, through appropriate supports funded under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act), as amended by Title IV of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).