Focus area 02

Secondary Transition Planning

Transition planning fails on sequence more often than on effort. A vocational rehabilitation referral made in the spring of the exit year arrives too late to matter, and a work-based learning experience scheduled after the student has already left has no place to go. The tool below lays out what has to happen in each remaining year, given the student's age and post-school goal.

An instructor presenting to a seated group of young adults in a training room

Work-based learning is the strongest single predictor of post-school employment

State transition-start policy

Federal transition trigger Age 16 34 CFR 300.320(b)

Required Pre-ETS activities 5 Rehabilitation Act sec. 113, as amended by WIOA Title IV

Planning years available 6 from first transition IEP to age 22 Illustrative

Referrals made in exit year 41% too late to establish services Illustrative

Two clocks run at once, and they are not synchronized

The IDEA clock starts with the first IEP that will be in effect when the student turns 16, which must include measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessment, the transition services needed to reach them, and the course of study 34 CFR 300.320(b). Many states start at 14 by their own rule, which is permitted, and a handful start at 15. The second clock belongs to vocational rehabilitation. Pre-employment transition services under WIOA Title IV reach students with disabilities who are in a secondary program and within the state's defined age range, and those services do not require a VR eligibility determination first.

Because the two systems have separate intake, the linkage has to be scheduled rather than assumed. A student can sit in a compliant transition IEP for four years and still exit without an open VR case, without a work-based learning experience on record, and without the Summary of Performance that a postsecondary disability services office will ask for. The checklist below places each of those items in the year it has to happen.

Student's current age

Current grade

Primary post-school goal

Competitive integrated employment Postsecondary education Independent living

State transition-IEP start age

Planned exit age

Year-by-year transition checklist

Myth or fact?

Transition planning must begin no later than the first IEP in effect when the student turns 16.

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Fact. Federal regulation sets 16 as the outer limit, and requires the IEP to be updated annually thereafter with measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessment, plus the transition services needed to assist the student in reaching them. States may require an earlier start, and many require age 14. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.320(b)

Myth or fact?

A student must be found eligible for vocational rehabilitation before receiving any Pre-ETS.

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Myth. Pre-employment transition services are available to students with disabilities who are potentially eligible, which means an eligibility determination is not a prerequisite. The five required activities are job exploration counseling, work-based learning experiences, counseling on postsecondary education programs, workplace readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy. Source: WIOA Title IV, Rehabilitation Act sec. 113; RSA policy guidance

Myth or fact?

The student must be invited to any IEP meeting where transition is discussed.

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Fact. The public agency must invite the student to the IEP team meeting if a purpose of the meeting is consideration of postsecondary goals and the transition services needed to reach them. If the student does not attend, the agency must take other steps to ensure the student's preferences and interests are considered. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.321(b)

Myth or fact?

The IEP follows the student into college and keeps the same accommodations.

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Myth. IDEA entitlement ends at exit from secondary school. In postsecondary settings the governing law is the ADA and Section 504, which are non-discrimination statutes rather than entitlement statutes. The student must self-disclose, provide documentation, and request accommodations from the institution. This is why the Summary of Performance issued at exit matters, and why self-advocacy instruction belongs in the transition plan. Source: IDEA 34 CFR Part 300, 300.305(e)(3); DOL ODEP transition guidance

Technical assistance CAPE-Youth Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth. Practice guides on work-based learning and cross-agency transition coordination. Federal Rehabilitation Services Administration Pre-ETS policy, RSA-911 reporting requirements, and state VR agency contacts for the referral your team needs to schedule. Federal DOL Office of Disability Employment Policy Youth employment practice, apprenticeship pathways, and the evidence base behind paid work experience before exit. Benefits SSA Red Book Work incentives, the Student Earned Income Exclusion, and what happens to benefits when a student starts paid work. This project K-12 Special Education Project hub The other three focus areas and the three engagement levels for school and district teams.