purposeful transitions: teacher introduction

Heather Holmes and Jacob Pfau-Martinez

www.pepnet.org

Our Goal: To improve postsecondary outcomes for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, including those with co-

occurring disabilities. Our Mission: To increase the educational, career and lifetime choices available to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Reality Check #1

Transition is NOT a service added to the end of a student’s high school career.

The school-to-work transition is not a single point in time but part of the lifelong process of individual development.

(Szymanski, 1993)

Transition is NOT the responsibility of ONE entity.

A coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.

(Levinson, Ferchalk, & Seifert, 2004)

Transition aged students

More than 100 ASL videos, which include English narration and captions, support: • concepts fundamental to self-determination • identification of students’ strengths and

needs • goal writing activities and practice

opportunities

Navigation is simple and intuitive. Pepnet 2 conducted several rounds of beta testing with high school students to be sure they were able to navigate through Map It easily.

There are a total of four verification forms : • Section 1 • Section 2 • Section 3 • Final These verification forms can be submitted to teachers, job coaches, or other team members to document completion.

Student answers to every activity, assessment, and interaction are saved in an online portfolio as a PDF file. This makes it easy to share their work with teachers, parents, or someone else on their team.

Twelve young-adult role models lead this interactive and unique online training.

The role models use different modes of communication and have diverse transition goals that include: • plans for

employment • training programs • postsecondary

education options

These role models were chosen to represent the diversity among students who are deaf or hard of hearing across the country.

Educator’s Guide includes:

• Checklist of activities in Map It supporting SPP Indicator 13

• List of videos, interactions, assessments, and activities and where they appear in the training

Map It Map:

A quick overview of the key features and content in the training

http://www.pepnet.org/training/mapit

pepnet 2 is funded by the Research to Practice Division,

Office of Special Education Programs

and the US Department of Education

via Cooperative Agreement #H326D110003

www.pepnet.org

Online Portfolio