Transition Project

SEFB 420-900

Student Summary
Kara Krista Shimmers is a Caucasian (part German and part French) 18 year old
girl in the 11th grade. She prefers to go by her middle name, Krista Shimmers. Krista is
currently an upperclassman attending Adventure High School. She has moved several
times in her life. Originally coming from Louisiana, Krista has moved back and forth from
College Station to Louisiana several times. Krista currently lives with her mother and her
mothers boyfriend, as her initial father and mother divorced. She often visits Louisiana
for family trips on weekends, but definitely prefers to be in College Station.
Krista loves to be out and about in the great outdoors. From hunting and fishing
to football and tennis, Krista enjoys spending her leisure time being active and soaking
in the sun. As Krista loves to watch and play football, she proclaims herself a Cowboys
fan and a split LSU/Aggie girl, rooting for Tony Romo (Cowboys) and Kyle Allen
(Aggies). Also, as an outdoors-woman, Krista takes pleasure in caring for animals of all
sizes: rabbits, cows, horses, etc. Along with her love for the outdoors, Krista finds
herself to be very hands-on. Solving problems, building things, and doing projects with
her hands engages Krista much more than watching or hearing things. At the moment,
Krista participates as an officer for her schools Future Farmers of America (FFA) club
and finds herself tinkering with things in the tech-shop. In particular, she loves to work
on different welding projects. Some other recreational activities that Krista takes
pleasure in include going to the movies, watching and playing sports with her family,
eating some good seafood, and even reading romantic novels.
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Based on various assessments, Krista is much more inclined to math than she is
to reading. She wrestles with a learning disability in reading which can explain her
distaste for it. Her results from the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement (WJ-III
ACH) in 2011 show that in all Cluster and Individual tests, she scored below the
average; however, all subjects involving reading skills, fluency, recall, word attack, and
writing yielded scores in the very low range. Her broad math, brief math, math
calculation, and math reasoning were low average. Still, her math scores were
significantly higher than her reading scores. Her General Intellectual Ability scored at an
82 equating to a low average ranking on the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive
Ability. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Krista failed to perform satisfactorily on
the STAAR assessment and was provided with an accelerated instruction plan along
with encouragement to attend tutorials. Currently she is waiting for her new scores to
come out as she just took the STAAR again this year.
Attending and passing her classes are not a problem. Krista is a very consistent
student who values her education and displays this by showing up to class regularly.
She also passed every class in the 2013-2014 academic school year. Unfortunately in
regards to her end of course exams (EOC), she only passed Biology and World
Geography. Thus, she was required to retake English I and II, Algebra, and U.S.
History. Her most recently updated Individualized Education Program (IEP) indicates
that she has made meaningful progress, and will graduate in May of 2016 on the
recommended graduation plan, should she continue to progress accordingly.
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Krista is very good about speaking her mind when needed, understanding what
is going on, and standing up for others. She is also a natural when it comes to using her
hands for making things, building projects, and being outdoors. When in class, she is
able to give her best effort in paying attention and participating. To add to her strengths,
Krista displays strong nurturing characteristics and is very caring towards other people
and animals. She is very hardworking, honest, and punctual and good about being in
attendance, missing only three days of school due to FFA activities according to the
most recent attendance records.
On the flip side, Krista has a difficult time reading out loud and would rather avoid
doing so in any given situation. She also does not enjoy reading, writing, or history,
which sometimes adversely factors into how well she performs in these subjects.
Unfortunately, her IEP has determined that her struggle with reading negatively affects
her present performing levels in all content area subjects. At times Krista speaks in a
manner that is very flippant and inappropriate when communicating with adults, which
can often be a limitation in her ability to converse with adults.
Krista has not had too much work experience. She had tried for a while to get a
job at a local fast food chain restaurant, but due to complications, was not able to and
gave up that endeavor. She has worked at a local thrift store in the past and had a
terrible experience there as she felt mistreated by her boss. This ended in Krista leaving
the job and not getting too much work experience under her belt.
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Looking forward into the future, Krista plans to attend college after graduating
high school. She will be the first of her siblings to choose this route for a future. During
her time in college, she plans to work part time to help with the finances for paying off
her college expenses. Once finished with college, Krista would like to become a teacher
for students with special needs and later a stay at home mother. In all this, a bright and
optimistic perspective is seen in Kristas eyes, and the future is highly promising for her.

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Assessment Summary
Enderle-Severson Transition Rating ScaleForm J-Revised (ESTR)
Severson, S. and Enderle, J. (2003). Enderle-Severson Transition Rating Scale for
Learners with Disabilities. [Transition Assessment]. Columbus, OH: ESTR
publications.
Description of Assessment:
This is an assessment that provides a broad overview of strengths as well as
weaknesses regarding each area of transition.
Rationale:
This formal assessment was used and administered due to the broad range of
information covered with regards to employment, recreation & leisure, home living,
community participation, and post-secondary education. The assessment was also very
simple and easy to complete within 15 minutes.
Summary of Results:
Based on the Kristas self-ratings recreation and leisure, community participation,
and home living were highest scored percentages respectively at 100%, 100% and
93%. Obtaining 100% in both recreation and leisure and community participation
indicates that Krista is able to perform and function in these two areas of transition
independently and consistently. Krista is confident in her ability to choose her own free
time activities, act appropriately in public, and communicate with others in terms of
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recreation and leisure. At the same time, Krista is sure that she can get around the
community on her own, be frugal, use relevant community resources, and function
appropriately within the community. A plan for post-secondary housing is already in the
works and the basic insurance needs are also understood by Krista.
Kristas score of 77% on employment is slightly lower due to her struggle in
demonstrating appropriate hygiene and grooming, being punctual, and the lack of
community-based work experience. Krista is overall punctual and good about hygiene;
however, these are things that she finds herself to be independent with, but not
consistent in. Still, she demonstrates excellent attendance, understands the need to
eventually support herself, and comprehends that different jobs require varying levels of
training. Krista also feels that she has the necessary interpersonal skills to work with
others, the skills to successfully go through a job interview, and the ability to accurately
complete a job application. She has realistic expectations of her vocational potential and
responds appropriately to authority figures.
In considering home/independent living, Krista is very independent and
consistent in her abilities to use the telephone, dress appropriately, and safely perform
light household maintenance. She also feels that demonstrating the qualities of a good
citizen, basic parenting skills, understanding concepts relating to sexual awareness, and
practicing preventive health care are performed independently as well as consistently in
her life. According to the responses on the assessment, Krista knows how to respond in
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household emergencies, understands nutrition and balanced dieting, and performs

general cooking procedures. However, treatment of minor medical problems and basic
first aid are inconsistent for Krista.
Lastly, when addressing post-secondary education, Krista feels that she
demonstrates self-confidence and self-awareness. She also has begun to make plans
for post-secondary housing options as well as financial assistance. The 50% score is
fairly low due to a lack of transition plan identification, inability to identify a variety of
post-secondary options, and missing vocational assessments. These three areas in
post-secondary education are things that Krista had not explored prior to this
assessment. Since then she has been able to go through all three of these. Krista has
not submitted any applications for post-secondary education as she is a junior in high
school at the moment.
Kristas overall self-rating was 83% at 39 of 47 questions. This is a very positive
score and indicates that Kristas transition to post high school graduation could be easy
and smooth. However, recreation and leisure only had four assessment questions and
community participation consisted of seven questions. Thus, it is hard to determine
whether or not there were enough questions to truly gauge performance. Following the
scores, Krista expressed much interest in teaching as a future job, engaging in many
outdoor activities as interests, and an affinity for Blinn College, Texas A&M University,
or University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) for post-secondary options.
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Job-Related Preferences Checklist

Erickson, A., Clark, G. and Patton, J. (2000). Informal Assessments for Transition
Planning [Job-Related Preferences Checklist]. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Description of Assessment:
This assessment is intended to help students think about and identify what they
prefer in a work situation and to consider some selected occupational settings.
Rationale:
This was an informal assessment used in order to gain an understanding of the
students dream job and possible job setting preferences. The assessment was used
due to its simplicity as well as its help provided for the student to think about possible
work situations for the near future.
Summary of Results:
Through the assessment of her job preferences checklist, Krista seems to be
okay with working in many different circumstances and would like to receive many
benefits in her future place of work. She also would like to participate in a job that allows
for her to help others. She would like work to generally be outdoors, require the usage
of her hands, or involve working as a teacher. Krista often works with animals both at
school and at home and finds herself enjoying the company of animals and caring for

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them. These are things that factored into her choice of setting(s) to work in when getting
a job in the future.

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Personal Strengths
Erickson, A., Clark, G. and Patton, J. (2000). Informal Assessments for Transition
Planning [Personal Strengths]. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Description of Assessment:
This assessment presents students with a series of personal strength descriptors
that they can match with their own strengths.
Rationale:
This informal assessment was administered to help the student express her
personality as well as understand her own self and who she is by discovering her own
strengths. The assessment was used because it was easy to read and useful in
providing information about the student.
Summary of Results:
Taking this assessment shows that Krista has a very high and positive selfefficacy and self-esteem. She checked off every line of personal strength except for
being artistic, creative, and being polite. She considers herself to be a very good person
with many strong qualities about herself including, but not limited to: being reliable,
friendly, energetic, honest, hardworking, generous, musical, and good with hands.

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Challenges in the Classroom

Erickson, A., Clark, G. and Patton, J. (2000). Informal Assessments for Transition
Planning [Challenges in the Classroom]. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Description of Assessment:
This assessment permits students to identify for themselves, their parents, and
their teachers the specific challenges they experience in learning activities involving
speaking, listening, reading, and writing at school or in other instructional or study
settings.
Rationale:
This was an informal assessment given to have the student identify for
themselves, parents, teachers, etc. the specific obstacles and challenges she
experienced in learning activities in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening
within a school/study setting. The test was very easy to read and gave a broad, yet
useful overview of things that the student does and does not struggle with.
Summary of Results:
This assessment showed that Krista often walks on the line of sometimes. She
does not often struggle with many things, nor does she excel in everything; rather, she
occasionally struggles in almost every aspect of writing, listening, speaking, and reading
within the classroom and study settings.
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Career CruisingMatchmaker
Anaca Technologies Ltd. (2000). Career Cruising: Career Matchmaker [Measurement
instrument] Retrieved from http://public.careercruising.com/en/
Description of Assessment:
This assessment is meant to help students discover what career choices fit their
interests best.
Rationale:
This assessment was used to help Krista sift through a list of jobs tailored to her
preferences. The results of the assessment provided links to job descriptions for each
occupation title. This was used to help Krista gain a general overview on a number of
employment options.
Summary of Results:
Several of the results from this assessment peaked Kristas interest. She
received some possible employment options that she had already expressed interest in.
This assessment displayed how much Krista preferred to use her hands, be on her feet,
and work outdoors. Career Cruising also identified that Krista might enjoy working with
children for a potential future career. Krista had the opportunity to browse through a
handful of career opportunities and, after reading the job descriptions, selected her
favorite from the list: horse trainer. Next, a number of questions were answered by
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Krista. She identified three reasons for choosing this job: her love for animals, the
opportunity to work with animals, and an interest in horse therapy for people with
disabilities.
Overall, the assessments administered were very useful indicators of Kristas
preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and where her knowledge base lies. With the
collected data from each assessment, a transition plan can be composed successfully
and appropriately.

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Self-Advocacy Statement(s)
Employment:
Krista will explain her disability and struggling points to her various employers
with confidence and detail.
Krista will ask a co-worker for help with reading difficult things when needed.
Krista will request jobs that do not have a time crunch and will ask for extended
time as needed for various tasks.
Post-Secondary Education:
Krista will notify her professors of her disability to get the services she needs in
the classroom.
Krista will get in contact with disability services and explain what modification and
accommodations will be needed for her to learn effectively.
o Option to have tests and quizzes read out loud
o Extended time on projects and tests
o Having a copy of the professors notes prior to lecture
o One less answer choice on tests
Independent Living:
Krista will ask her landlord to send her a verbal means of billing for rent and
utilities and explain her disability to her landlord.
Recreation and Leisure:
Krista will ask for the appropriate services when testing for her drivers license.
o Written test read out loud
o Extended time for the written test
Rationale:
A meeting with Krista was held in which self-advocacy was addressed and
defined. Each statements of advocacy for post-high school graduation were tailored to
the four areas of transition: employment, post-secondary education, independent living,
and recreation and leisure. Her modification and accommodations were used as a

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general foundation for creating practical statements to help with self-advocacy. Krista
came up with these through the use of meta-cognition (understanding ones own self).
Kristas needs in regards to independent living and recreation are not as
developed. This is because she is very capable of living on her own as stated in her IEP
and she does not need to advocate too much to gain access to recreational and leisure
activities. Krista is very capable of functioning appropriately with regards to independent
living, and recreation and leisure. However, because Krista will ideally enter postsecondary education and a part time job soon after high school, knowing what her basic
needs for these of transition are crucial. Krista will continue to work on discovering what
she needs to succeed and perhaps modify her own advocacy statements as time
progresses. However, for the time being, Krista will need to be honest with her choice of
college and employer to get the services she needs to function optimally in each
environment. Hearing the tests and quizzes will save her time when taking them and
receiving extra time in all aspects of transition will help her submit quality work.
The most preferred method of learning for Krista is through taking notes from a
lecture and slide show presentation along with hands on activities. Knowing this about
herself, Krista will need to obtain a copy of the professors notes prior to class so that
she can familiarize herself with the lecture of the day, take her own notes effectively,
and avoid missing anything from a lecture. She will have to proactively notify her

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professors in each course and be in contact with the disability services to make sure
she receives the help she requires.
In knowing these self-advocacy statements, Krista will be able to access the
support that she needs in order to succeed in transitioning from high school to the postsecondary.

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Outcomes and IEP Goals

Employment:
Outcome: After graduation, the student will find a part-time job.
IEP Objectives:
o The student will apply to three part-time jobs near whichever location postsecondary education is chosen.
Rational: Krista needs to contribute to paying for her college tuition as her family may
not be able to cover the entirety of it. She needs to go the part-time route so she may do
well in her academics as well. Krista will apply to multiple places so that she can shoot
for having multiple options in working rather than hoping for only one opportunity. This is
a goal that Krista can certainly obtain independently, but she would benefit from having
support from agencies such as DARS. DARS consent has already been signed by her
parent and she is up for recommendation to receive services as needed. Obtaining a
job as soon as possible would be the most beneficial option; however, this does not
have to be the immediate focus. Thus, after graduation Krista will secure a part-time job
by the end of her first semester in college.

Timeline:
Begin Resume
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September 2015
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Complete Resume

November 2015

Begin Job Search

April 2016

Apply to First Job

June 2016

Apply to Second Job

June/July 2016

Apply to Third Job

July 2016

Independent Living:
Outcome: After graduation, the student will live in an apartment.
IEP Objectives:
o The student will be able to correctly complete all parts of writing a check
regularly.
o The student will be able to pay the rent and utilities bills on a consistent
basis.
Rational: In one of the assessments given to Krista, she mentioned that she would
prefer to live in an apartment after high school. Given that she does not stay at home
and live with her mother (this would be ideal), Krista would live alone until marriage and
then move in together with her spouse. She already knows how to manage her own
bank account, thus she will not need much support in this area of transition. Krista will
complete this independently if not with minimal support, and will receive checkups to
measure the progress being made towards this goal. As college starts at the beginning
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of the fall semester, Krista will have obtained an apartment by the fall of 2016, and will
have begun paying her bills appropriately and consistently.
Timeline:
Practice Writing Checks

August 2015

Successfully and Consistently Write Checks

October 2015

Practice Paying Bills

February 2016

Pay Current Bills

April 2016

Post-Secondary Education
Outcome: After graduation, the student will enroll part-time in a college or community
college and receive training to be a teacher.

IEP Objectives:
o The student will successfully submit all parts of the Texas A&M University,
Blinn College, and University of Louisiana Monroe college/community
college applications.
Rational: Krista has expressed many times her desire to attend a post-secondary school
and one day walk into the real world with a collegiate degree. She would like to be a
teacher and thus a degree in education would suit her well. Due to financial reasons,
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Krista will enroll as a part-time student so that she can accomplish school while working
to be able to pay for tuition, independent living expenses, and various other
needs/wants while attending college. She will use the Go-Center within her high school
to prepare and help with the application process for college. Therefore, minor supports
will be implemented to aid with applying for post-secondary education opportunities.
Accommodations and modifications will need to be addressed as well when in college.
Krista will learn and practice her self-advocacy statements with regards to transition.
Particularly she will quickly contact disability services as well as her professors to
address what accommodations and modifications she will need to succeed in college.
These will include extended time for tests, projects, and various assignments,
professors notes prior to lectures, the option to have tests and quizzes read out loud to
her, and reduced answer choices.
Timeline:
Take SAT

August 2015

Begin Resume

September 2015

Complete Resume

October 2015

Obtain Transcript

October 2015

Begin College Essay(s)

November 2015

Complete Essay(s) and Submit for Editing

November 2015

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Apply to Texas A&M University

December 2015

Apply to Blinn College

January 2016

Apply to University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM)

January 2016

Recreation and Leisure

Outcome: After graduation, the student will obtain a drivers license.
IEP Objectives:
o The student will apply for and complete drivers education.
Rational: In order to have access to recreation and leisure, Krista needs to be able to
get around places. She mentioned that she really wanted to obtain her drivers license.
Therefore as a goal, Krista will work towards completing drivers education so that she
can legally drive. This will allow her to drive around and enjoy different leisure activities
that require some form of long distance transportation. Should she require
accommodations and modifications for the written portion of the drivers education test,
she will ask and find out what services she can obtain to help her pass the test. Krista
will also receive coaching on how to drive from her mother, thus few supports will be
administered so that Krista can adequately and appropriately complete a drivers
education course.
Timeline:
Sign Up for Drivers Education
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June 2015
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Take Written Portion of Drivers Education

July 2015

Begin Drivers Ed. Practice Hours

August 2015

Take the Driving Skills Test

February 2016

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Job Analysis
*Note that the job analysis form was removed for de-identification*
Job Analysis Explained:
The job analysis began with understanding what Krista was interested in.
Through several discussions, it was noted that Krista had a high inclination toward
becoming a special education teacher after college. For this reason, Jack Townsmen, a
current special educator, was interviewed. The job analysis form was used as a
guideline for the interview. Kristas desire to be a special educator was also the
rationale for the selecting of Mr. Townsmen as the interviewee for this job analysis.
Mr. Townsmen indicated that, being a special educator in the classroom required
a minimum of 40 hours per week. Going to work Monday through Friday from 7:40am to
3:40pm is mandatory as students, faculty, and other school personnel feel the effects of
one being absent. As pointed out by Mr. Townsmen, every day requires teaching. This
is the main focus of the special education career. He also expressed that the job is not
easy as large amounts of paperwork consumes much of the time outside of school
when teaching is not taking place. Still, Mr. Townsmen pointed out that at the end of the
day, a sense of fulfillment is always reached, and the $40,000 salary is an added bonus.
Based on the Match portion of the Job Analysis Form, Krista was able to
discover just how well she would fit into the mold of being a special education teacher.
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A variety of aspects of a special educator were considered, 15 to be exact. Of the 15

aspects analyzed, Krista matched well with all but five. The preferences of ability to
move around or sit down on the job, time of work in the day (mornings or afternoons),
age in co-workers, speed of work completion, and amount of supervision were the five
categories in which she and the job did not match. Going off of these disagreements, it
is safe to say that Krista matches well with being a special educator. The disagreements
are minor and could easily be coped with once on the job.
Going forward, Krista can continue to pursue the career of a special education
teacher. She matches well with the job and possesses the heart to teach. Unless she
has a change of career preference, Krista can proceed to apply to college and graduate
with a degree in special education. Afterwards, she can apply for a position as a special
educator in any school of her choosing in Texas.

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Student Progress Summary

Over the course of the semester, Krista has not needed to make too much
tangible progress as she is only a junior in high school. At this point in time she is
focused on high school and just keeping the future in her sights by simply being aware
of it. Still throughout the semester, Krista has grown much more aware of the four
specific areas of transition of post-secondary education, employment, recreation and
leisure, and independent living, through conversations, informal assessments, and
discussions about her future goals and desires: thus progress.
In regards to transition in post-secondary education, Krista initially just wanted to
attend college. Since the beginning of the semester, Krista has specified her interest in
college to Texas A&M, The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM), and Blinn College. In
this sense she has shown progress towards making the future more realistic. Going to
college is what Krista is set on, and due to her financial situation she is going to begin
applying to as many scholarships as she can to obtain the most financial aid possible.
She has also expressed her desire to work part time as well. Thus, looking into a work
study program is the next step that Krista is going to take towards her collegiate career.
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As Krista is looking to get into a work study program, she is certainly interested in
employment. Towards the beginning of the semester, Krista was not sure of what kind
of job she would enjoy. After discussing several options, Krista has confirmed that just
about any job that requires her to be very hands on or outdoors would be best suited for
her. As she will be working part time during college, she has said that approximately 20
hours a week, give or take, would be okay for her to manage as a college student.
Some options that were discussed involved the campus library, the service industry
(frozen yogurt, ice cream, convenient shops, etc.), or a ranch hand.
In terms of independent living, Krista is generally very good as being selfsufficient. She already knows how to pay bills, write checks, manage a bank account,
do her laundry, cook, clean, etc. She has plenty of confidence in her ability to survive on
her own. However, if she were to attend Texas A&M or Blinn College, she would have
the luxury of living where she is already living at the moment. Krista would simply live
with her mother and not have to worry about too much in terms of this category of
transition. Should Krista opt to attend ULM, these independent living skills that she
already possesses will come in handy and help her function away from home in a
healthy and appropriate manner.
Lastly, Krista does not have too much of a specific preference in regards to
recreation and leisure. She is very open to trying new things and doing things with
various social groups. She does enjoy the outdoors and being with animals. This would
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be very easy to access at home as she already lives on a large plot of land with various
animals that she cares for. Meeting people on campus and joining different groups will
be much more accessible once she obtains her drivers license as well.
Once again, Krista has not made very many physical progressive steps towards
transitions. This is mostly due to her not having to worry too much about it as a junior in
high school. However, some practical goals have been set and the next steps have
been made clear to propel her forward towards transitioning. Some of these goals
include practicing self-advocacy, getting her drivers license, and applying to college.
Though not tangible, Krista has made significant progress by making her dreams much
more goal-oriented, practical, and realistic.
The next steps going forward for Krista in achieving her goals mostly consist of
college and future employment. She will be taking the SAT by the end of this year,
beginning and completing her resume as well as college applications by the end of the
Fall Semester 2015, and setting up her drivers education courses this summer. Upon
acceptance to college, Krista will need to coordinate meetings with disability services
and an academic advisor.

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Reflection
This transition project has been a major portion of this semester's work. Much of
the time spent outside of class has been invested in composing and editing the project.
The project consists of six main parts: a student summary, informal transition
assessments, self-advocacy statement(s), transition outcomes and IEP goals, job
analysis, and a summary of the students progress. Combined, the components were
used to aid in transition planning for a specific target student with a learning disability
and special needs. The project was also meant to hone and sharpen skills regarding
social/global competence, critical thinking, assessment, instructional planning
(specifically transition planning), and collaboration. Several of these skills were certainly
used and developed through this transition project while some were not.
Entering the realm of transition this semester required direct interaction with
families of diverse backgrounds; in this case, a family from the rural parts of a small
town. Prior to this project, I had never worked closely with Caucasian families living on
the outskirts of a small town. There were instances when I had come in close contact for
a short period of time, but never in an academic setting or elongated time frame.
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Through this, I have learned that despite the different backgrounds of each student and
each family, I remain constant and unprejudiced. No matter what background students
and their families come from, I can choose to maintain an unbiased approach and offer
help as an impartial party in any given situation, thus constant and objective. I have also
discovered that, I am not easily shocked or discomforted by lifestyles that are different
from the way I was raised. Taking things in stride has been something I found to be
natural. Therefore, adapting to a new family background was met with little difficulty all
throughout the semester. In learning these few things about myself, I have gained much
more confidence in my social/global competence levels, and have developed the urge
to engage with many more cultures, backgrounds, and situations that I have not
experienced or am not already used to.
A large portion of the transition project involved assessing the student for
strengths and weaknesses, future goals and desires, as well as aptitude and knowledge
base. Administering informal assessments certainly became something I grew
comfortable with throughout this semester. Not only did I learn how to informally assess
someone, but I also developed my skills in analyzing assessment results, which led to a
sharpening of my critical thinking abilities. Having to actively analyze the data,
synthesize results, and evaluate what the results indicated greatly contributed to
growing me as a critical thinker. Not only did I have to analyze, synthesize, and
evaluate, I was required to communicate each piece of the project with clarity, accuracy,
and relevance. The information in the transition project needed to be useful for the
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student, yet easy enough to be understood by a number of school personnel and

university supervisors. Therefore, through much assessment and reflection, my critical
thinking was accessed often.
Communicating with school personnel brings me to the topic of collaboration.
Interacting with a family of a different background, as discussed above, was one facet in
which collaboration was seen. However, another area for strengthening my
collaboration skills came from the partnership developed with various school faculty.
One major collaborative growth came from interacting with the students special
education teacher. Among all the emails, text messages, and discussions, a large
amount of communication took place. In order to compose this project, I needed all the
information possible on the student, as the more information I possessed, the more
detailed and descriptively developed my transition plan could become. Thus, finding out
everything on the student required a large amount of interaction with the special
educator. Therefore, engaging the family for information as well as her special
education teacher was extremely important, inadvertently improving and bolstering my
collaboration skills.
There is always room to grow and improve in any given area, especially
regarding each of the skills targeted through this transition project: social/global
competence, critical thinking, assessment, instructional planning, and collaboration. A
great way for me to continue developing and honing these abilities would be to practice
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instructional planning, specifically transition planning. Due to all the components and
requirements of transition planning, simply doing these more often and investing in
more collaborative relationships would grow me in every aspect previously discussed.
Also, continuing to explore ways to improve my ability to transition plan would
exponentially enhance my aptitude in regards to each skill set addressed.

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*Note: pseudo names have been used for identity protection*