Age Appropriate Transition Assessment

10a: Age appropriate: activities, assessments, content, environments, instruction, and/ or materials that reflect a student's chronological age (Snell, 1987; Wehmeyer, 2002; Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 1995). Age appropriate assessments may necessitate adaptations to the administration for some students, so that meaningful data are obtained.

10: Transition assessment "is the ongoing process of collecting data on the individual's needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future working, educational, living, and personal and social environments. Assessment data serve as the common thread in the transition process and form the basis for defining goals and services to be included in the Individualized Education Program" (Sitlington, Neubert, & Leconte, Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 1997, p. 70-71).

*10.2.1: All students who have been on a general education track and plan on enrolling in post-secondary education (2 or 4-year college) should have the following information in their files:

1. State mandated test scores gathered during high school
2. Quarterly or semester grades throughout high school
3. Current psychological assessment data indicating areas of strength and weakness, while documenting the presence of a diagnosed disability
4. College entrance exam scores if applying to 4-year colleges

This information would include data gathered over time that can be associated with current and future environments. Additional information may include
informal interviews with students, student completion of interest inventories or questionnaires to establish student interests and preferences in transition planning to meet the basic requirements of age appropriate transition assessment.

Best practices would also include assessment information (a) provided by multiple people, (b) regarding student performance in multiple environments, (c) based on naturally occurring experiences, (c) that is understandable, and (d) that was gathered through instruments and methods sensitive to cultural diversity.

10.2.2: All students have the following data sources on file:

1. State mandated test scores (standardized or alternate)
2. Current psychological evaluation data
3. Quarterly grades, semester grades, or progress notes
4. Career Interest Inventory, Adaptive Behavior Scale, and/or Career Skill Inventory

An adaptive behavior scale (with a student self-assessment component included), interest inventory, and interview with the student should provide information to document student strengths, interests, and preferences. Presence of the above information in the student's file and a clear link of such information to the student's postsecondary goal(s) would meet the requirements of age appropriate transition assessment. Additional data may include teacher/ employer observations of school or community based work experiences, teacher/ transition coordinator completion of ecological assessments, or various student self-assessments.

10.4.1: All students with independent living postsecondary goal(s) on their IEPs should have the following data sources on file:

1. State mandated test scores from high school (alternate or standardized)
2. Psychological evaluation data indicating areas of strengths and weaknesses
3. Adaptive behavior scale
4. Quarterly grades, semester grades, or progress notes

These sources of data combined with a source of student interests and preferences (family interview, student interview, preference assessment data, observation of student choices in activities, formal self-report measure of interests) and a connection of this information to the postsecondary goal(s) would satisfy the inclusion of age appropriate transition assessment.