Transition Planning for Students with EBD Across School Levels

Introduction

The school discussed in this paper is a small, rural school with a student population of approximately 375 students housed in a single building. The school serves children of all ages from pre-kindergarten through high school, with approximately 116 high school students. In this cross-categorical program, transition planning may be less complicated than in schools with more formal divisions between age-level and grade-level programs, simply because everyone is under the same roof. On the other hand, one of the tenets of transition planning is to extend students' experiences beyond their current environment — this is the fundamental challenge facing this school, a challenge that naturally takes on greater significance as students mature and progress through their programs.

In Wisconsin, the Cooperative Educational Services Agency (CESA) operates a Center for Students with Disabilities that helps deliver services and programs under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Wisconsin Public Law 11, which pertains to the needs of children and adolescents with disabilities, their families, and the agencies that provide them with a continuum of services (CESA, 2011). One of the services that CESA provides is assistance with transition planning (CESA, 2011). In addition, the Wisconsin Statewide Transition Initiative (WSTI) receives grant funding from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to help school districts meet the transition requirements of IDEA 2004 (CESA, 2011).

Transition Between Programs: Zero-to-Three to Three-to-Six Years

Transition activities at this program and age level — referred to as Part C to Part B in federal policy nomenclature — deal primarily with building familiarity and enhancing communication (CESA, 2011). By the time a child has been in an infant program and is preparing to move to a pre-school setting, the child's parents and teachers have learned a great deal about the child (CESA, 2011). Ideas about how the child is best supported for learning, and what programming parents can conduct at home, all need to be communicated by the sending program to the receiving program (CESA, 2011). Informal meetings between staff at each program, held with the parent and child present, can facilitate a relationship that supports the child and prevents unnecessary disruption during the first few weeks of the educational change. Parents are invited to sit in on group sessions at the new setting, and teachers will have established some cross-visitation as well.

Transition Between Programs: Three-to-Six Years to Six-to-Fourteen Years

Transitions at this program and age level are particularly important because the child will have established only one schema for school — the one he or she has attended — and the change will be among the most dramatic from the child's perspective, and very likely from the parents' perspective as well. This is especially true when the relationship between the parent and staff members at the sending school has been positive. At this age, teachers and aides act as surrogate parents, and for children who have emotional and behavioral disabilities, nuanced interactions occur that help maintain the emotional and behavioral consistency required for stable and productive school days.

These nuanced interactions are highly person-dependent, and transitions for students labeled EBD — as well as their parents and teachers — can be quite challenging. It is highly recommended that several visits to the new program occur and that an aide from the sending program accompany individual students during those visits. It is often important to establish a reward system that specifically applies to behaviors during transition activities. As with the pre-school transition, it is important for parents and teachers to have time to discuss the changes, and for the sending and receiving teachers to have face-to-face time to address the best ways to support the child during transition. The formal exchange of information and proactive ideas occurs at the IEP meeting, but additional observation and informal exchange may also need to be considered.