The transition of youth with disabilities first became a national priority in the early 1980s under the leadership of Madeleine Will—former assistant secretary for the U.S. Office of Special Education Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and an advocate who has led efforts to establish services for individuals with disabilities for more than three decades. Describing transition as “a bridge between the security and structure offered by the school and the risks of life,” the OSERS model focused solely on employment as a postsecondary outcome and geared all transition services and experiences toward preparing and placing youth in jobs.

The following decade brought, of course, change. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990 first mandated transition services, but it was the reauthorization of the IDEA in 1997 that truly broadened the definition of transition to include such outcomes as postsecondary education, independent living, and community participation, in addition to employment.

With a new century came still more adjustments to the rules governing transition. The most recent version of the law, IDEA 2004, mandates that transition planning must be in effect and documented in the individualized education program (IEP) by age 16, taking into account the student’s strengths and interests. To meet this requirement, transition planning must begin at an earlier age. The IEP should include appropriate, measurable postsecondary goals and a description of the transition services needed to reach those goals (see Glossary at right).

When transition plans are discussed, transition-aged students must be specifically invited to attend their IEP meetings; an invitation must also be extended to any public agency likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services. IDEA 2004 also required states to develop a six-year State Performance Plan (SPP) followed by an Annual Performance Report (APR) to evaluate the state’s progress toward implementing the IDEA mandates. The federal government’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) identified various aspects of special education to monitor in the SPP and the APR, called indicators. There are 20 indicators in Part B of IDEA that cover K-12 education.

Michigan’s transition-related indicators require school districts to collect data on the percent of youth with IEPs that meet specific requirements and on the percent of youth with IEPs who are employed and/or enrolled in postsecondary education within one year of leaving high school.

Coordinate: “To Harmonize in a Common Action or Effort”

As stated in the IDEA 2004, the basis of the transition process is planning for and providing “a coordinated set of activities,” leading to postsecondary outcomes appropriate for and desired by the student and his or her family. This set of activities may require an extensive array of processes and programs over a course of years involving the student, parents, school staff, and a variety of agencies. Transition coordinators are instrumental in helping these activities work in harmony, both at the district level and on a personal level for each individual student.

Each intermediate school district (ISD) in Michigan has a designated transition coordinator.
These ISD transition coordinators are supported, in part, by funds designated by the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Special Education (MDE, OSE) to support transition under the secondary Transition Coordination Grant.

All ISD transition coordinators must have approval as required by the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE). They must have a degree in special education or a field related to transition of youth with disabilities. He or she has also been involved in transition-related services or teaching for at least three years prior to taking the job. Download the MARSE from www.cenmi.org for more information about approval requirements.