Keene State College / MCST Transition Resources

Presenations and handouts from 2012 institute

This video shows you step by step a word document that someone created for a transition plan. I found many PDF versions but did not know how to share them so I found this youtube source. It is great for special educators who need to find a template or a different version because theirs may not work for every student. I would use this in the future when working with transition ages students.

This is a great youtube video. I would definitely use it as a refresher when I needed it, before working with high school students. It's helpful to have someone narrating the steps and reasons for each one.

Career portfolios are the way to go! I think every student should have one. Steve

"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.

Brief description of the site Application to Transition Planning

Online Notetaker Training This Online Notetaker Training is a temporary replacement for the 1.0 version. We are currently revising the training, so please look for a NEW improved 2.0 version in the summer of 2012. If you have a question related to this online notetaker training, please email cindy.camp@pepnet.org. If you have a general technical assistance question, contact us at help@pepnet.org.

"The only three true job interview questions are: 1. Can you do the job? 2. Will you love the job? 3. Can we tolerate working with you? That's it. Those three. Think back, every question you've ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit."

By knowing these three job interview questions we can be better prepare our students to recognize and answer them. As part of our transition preparation we should prepare students to successfully answer these three questions.

The access information is as follows: Username: USATEACHER Password: FEBFREE Future Forward, created by USA TODAY Education, offers real-world support for course content through a library of industry-focused articles and RSS feeds, simple and effective vocabulary and reading guides, and mini-assessments categorized by career cluster.

Here is a new online tool to calculate the cost savings and benefits of hiring a person with a disability. It includes customized results by type of business and listing of resources by State. The tool, known as "Hire Gauge," asks for basic information including the company's size, location and industry in order to provide an assessment of the expenses and incentives involved in selecting a job applicant with a disability. It is believed to be the first online tool to provide businesses with a real-time look at the tax incentives and other benefits they can tap into when hiring individuals with disabilities, according to officials with Think Beyond the Label, a public-private partnership which created Hire Gauge and supports disability employment.

Examples and non-examples--I-13

"When a teacher is looking for a new way to teach a student, a concept, or a lesson, the chances are the best resource is another teacher. On LessonCast, teachers share ideas and resources through screencast videos called lessoncasts. The LessonCast community connects educators with classroom-proven experience and great ideas"

In So What Do They Really Know? Cris Tovani explores the complex issue of monitoring, assessing, and grading students' thinking and performance with fairness and fidelity. Like all teachers, Cris struggles to balance her student-centered instruction with school system mandates.

Rutgers University professor Maurice Elias serves as director of the Social-Emotional Learning Lab and coordinator of the Expert Advisory Group to the NJ Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention. He is also academic director of Rutgers' Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships program. [Dr. Elias discusses the history and trends in Social and Emotional Learning and Character Development in this video.)

Educational software has been around for over 30 years now. In that time we have progressed from graphics that were just made by letters and numbers to programs now with rich graphics and that can really measure student progress in a multitude of areas. My current district has made a big push the last several years to move all software possible to online software. We are now down to just a few titles that are CD/DVD based. These are mostly in the areas of music, art, and special education due to the size of the programs. Below I answer some of the questions that I get from educational administrators:

Easiest way to share power points on the web. Check it out!

The Transition Coalition provides FREE research-based online training for professionals and others involved in transition planning. These modules are developed using up-to-date research in transition, effective practices in professional development, and are tested by practitioners across the country.

"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."

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires public accommodations (businesses and non-profit organizations) to provide goods and services to people with disabilities on an equal basis with the rest of the public. Businesses and non-profit organizations that serve the public are to remove architectural barriers when it is "readily achievable" to do so. The information and website links in the message I am forwarding (below my signature) are available courtesy of the Great Lakes ADA Center.

"The iPads are customizable to each child's needs, are lightweight and mobile, and give the kids the sense they're plugged into a larger, high-tech community, educators and parents said"

"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."