Transition Assessment
"Assessment is feedback." - Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D.
What is Transition Assessment?
The purpose of transition assessment to help students with disabilities answer questions about what he or she wants to do after they complete their secondary education. It "is the ongoing process of collecting data on the individual's working, educational, living, and personal and social experiences. Assessment data serve as the common thread in the transition process and form the basis of defining goals and services to be included in the Individualized Education Plan" (Stillington, Neubert, & Leconte, 1997). The assessments can be any combination of formal and informal data gathering to help develop goals and guide service provision to help the student meet his or her postsecondary interests related to future educational, vocational, and social environments. In a later study, Neubert and Laconte specifically stated part of the purpose of transition assessment is to "identify accommodations, supports, related services, and technology needs during the secondary years and identify accommodations, supports, services, technology, and funding needed upon exit from school to learn, live, and work in the community" (Neubert and Laconte, 2013). Though age appropriate transition assessment, educators should focus on developing student centered goals that are meaningful though using informal and formal assessments across multiple environments, including incorporation of assistive technology.
Commonly Available Assessments
There are a variety of standardized and nonstandardized formal assessment tools targeted for transition. Depending on the needs and skills of the students, assessment tools should be chosen accordingly.
There are curriculum-based assessments that develop a portfolio of skills. The Brigance Transition Skills Inventory by Curriculum Associates, $599 for complete kit, is an extensive example; the tool is a criterion-referenced assessment that analyzes level of abilities in hundreds of tasks related to academic skills, independent living, community participation and postsecondary opportunities. Because it is so thorough in its skill assessment, the tool can then be used as a curriculum base to improve the identified skills.
For more students with more intensive needs, The Functional Independence Skills Handbook for $79.00 through ProEd, provides activity analysis based curriculum and assessment in the areas of adaptive behavior, affect, cognition, sensorimotor, social, speech and language, and vocation. This assessment is also criterion referenced.
The Transition Planning Inventory–Second Edition (TPI-2) by Gary Clark and James Patton available through ProEd Inc. for $269.00 uses information gathered from the student, family, and school personnel via rating scales and open-ended questions.
Though very thorough analyzing the student’s skills in a variety of contexts, the above assessments lack any specific section or question related to assistive technology such as:
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Could Assistive Technology provide improved access to independent living settings?
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Could Assistive Technology provide improved access to vocational settings?
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Could Assistive Technology provide improved access to educational performance in post secondary settings?
