Age Appropriate Transition Assessment

What is transition assessment? 

The Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) of the Council for Exceptional Children defines transition assessment as an “…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 (IEP)” (p. 70-71). Federal law requires “appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills” (§300.320[b][1]). Types of transition assessments include:

• behavioral assessment information

• aptitude tests

• interest inventories

• work values inventories,

• intelligence tests and achievement tests

• personality or preference tests

• career maturity or readiness tests

• sef-determination assessments

• work-related temperament scales

• transition planning inventories

Most states suggest using some combination of the following types of transition assessments: paper and pencil tests, structured student and family interviews, observational community or work-based assessments (situational) and curriculum-based assessments. These assessments or procedures come in two general formats – formal and informal.

There are many assessment samples in the NSTTAC website. NSTTAC transition assessment guide

Transition assessments will vary depending on the actual instrument(s) and procedures
being used and various student characteristics. However, Sitlington, Neubert, and
Leconte (1997) suggest that the following guidelines may be followed when selecting
methods to be used in the process.
1. “Assessment methods must incorporate assistive technology or accommodations
that will allow an individual to demonstrate his or her abilities and potential.
2. Assessment methods must occur in environments that resemble actual vocational
training, employment, independent living, or community environments.
3. Assessment methods must produce outcomes that contribute to ongoing
development, planning, and implementation of “next steps” in the individual’s
transition process.
4. Assessment methods must be varied and include a sequence of activities that
sample an individual’s behavior and skills over time.
5. Assessment data must be verified by more than one method and by more than one
person.
6. Assessment data must be synthesized and interpreted to individuals with
disabilities, their families, and transition team members.
7. Assessment data and the results of the assessment process must be documented in
a format that can be used to facilitate transition planning (p. 75).”
Finally, selected methods should be appropriate for the learning characteristics of the
individual, including cultural and linguistic differences.