The Texas Education Agency in collaboration with Statewide Leadership in Secondary Transition and Post School Results at Education Service Center 11 are pleased to announce that the Texas Transition and Employment Guide has been posted to the Transition in Texas website. The purpose of this helpful guide is to provide information about statewide services and programs that assist students with disabilities in the transition to life outside of the public school system.
The Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) requires that "all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and/or independent living." It defines transition services as a "coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that is designed to be within a results-oriented process that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities."
Texas requirements for transition services are aligned to the federal requirements included in the IDEA 2004. However, state law and rules include additional requirements for the provision of transition services for students receiving Special Education services in Texas. A state law passed in the summer of 2011 requires that "appropriate state transition planning must begin for a student not later than when the student reaches 14 years of age."
The Texas Administrative Code (TAC) describes the following nine issues important to the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students receiving Special Education services.
- Appropriate student involvement in the student's transition to life outside of the public school system.
- If the student is younger than 18 years of age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's transition.
- If the student is at least 18 years of age, appropriate parental involvement in the student's transition if the parent is invited by the student or the school district in which the student is enrolled.
- Any post secondary options.
- A functional vocational evaluation.
- Employment goals and objectives.
- If the student is at least 18 years of age, the availability of age-appropriate instructional environments.
- Independent living goals and objectives.
- Appropriate circumstances for referring a student or the student's parents to a government agency for services.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Texas Transition & Employment Guide: English | Spanish