Illinois State Board of Education 2010 Special Education Directors Conference July 28 30, 2010 Presented by: Susan Walter Transition Consultant Illinois State Board of Education Indicator 13 Issues: Developing DIP Goals and Strategies that are Built Upon TPSA Data How was the TPSA developed? Partnership Illinois State Board of Education/IS TAC and Loyola University Chicago Center for School Evaluation, Intervention & Training Developing, refining and validating the TPSA Using the Kohler Transition Taxonomy and a four question evaluation framework If you train, do people implement? If they implement, do they do so with fidelity? If they implement with fidelity, do the interventions sustain? If the interventions sustain, what is the impact on your clients? Alignment process data sources, level (e.g., system, practice, data), and the Kohler Taxonomy State Performance Plan Validity checks internal and external Purpose of the TPSA Self assessment and reporting tool to be used for schools to: reflect on status of implementation conduct action planning Develop activities for the school improvement plan (SIP) Based on the work of Dr. Paula Kohler in Taxonomy for Transition Programming (Kohler, P. 1996. Taxonomy for Transition Programming. http://unix.cc.wmich.edu/ kohlerp Challenges How will the TPSA support schools? (Evaluation Purposes) Assessment of merit and worth Assist school districts in determining current practices and setting priorities Internal decision making Building awareness of staff Program and organizational improvement Action planning to “scale up” transition practices, service delivery and collaborative planning Assessment of change over time Team validation Oversight and Compliance Support for Indicator 13 improvement Accessing transition specific technical assistance and training through ISBE and the Statewide Technical Assistance Center (IS TAC) Why engage in the TPSA process? Promotes communication Essential for school transformation Future oriented and results based If you fail to plan, you plan to fail Strategic Planning Critical questions should be answered with respect to the implementation of evidenced based transition services. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats revealed through the self assessment (TPSA). eaknesses pportunities hreats trengths SWOT In order for change to occur, the driving forces ( strengths ) must exceed the opposing forces ( weaknesses thus shifting the balance of power or equilibrium ( Lewin , 1948) Program Structure Program Philosophy Program Policy Strategic Planning Program Evaluation Resource Allocation Human Resource Development Family Involvement Family Training Family Involvement Family Empowerment The Taxonomy for Transition Programming Student Focused Planning IEP Development Student Participation Planning Strategies Student Development Life skills Instruction Career & Vocational Curricula Structured Work Experience Assessment Support Services Interagency Collaboration Collaborative Framework Collaborative Service Delivery Kohler, P.D. (1996). Taxonomy for transition planning. Champaign: University of Illinois 10 12 13 14 Using the TPSA to conduct a SWOT analysis Current TPSA has 35 statements Program Structure (PS), 6 Collaboration (COLAB), 5 Student Focused Planning (SFP), 11 Student Development (SD), 8 Family Involvement (FI), 5 Please review the TPSA reports for each section Using the TPSA to conduct a SWOT analysis PHASE 1 Analyze the TPSA as whole and compare to this table: Implementation Level Range “Maintaining” 4.0 3.5 “Achieved” 3.5 2.5 “In Progress” 2.5 1.5 “Not Started” 1.5 1.0 Using the TPSA to conduct a SWOT analysis Analyze the subsections Use the “Tally” report that states the number of in place items for each sub section Practice Area (e.g., Program Structure, Collaboration, Student Focused Planning, Student Development, Family Involvement) Range “Maintaining” 4.0 3.5 “Achieved” 3.5 2.5 “In Progress” 2.5 1.5 “Not Started” 1.5 1.0 Using the TPSA for Action Planning Analyze subsections to determine Areas of celebration (top three items in place per subsection) Areas of need (top priority items ranked as highest need) Using the TPSA to conduct a SWOT analysis Understand facilitators and barriers that impact sustainable change SWOT the various subsections SWOT Strengths What does your school do well? Weaknesses What does the school not do well? What resources are missing that can improve the operation? Opportunities What internal and external opportunities are open to the school that can minimize or eliminate the identified weaknesses and or threats? What did your team rank as the highest priority? Threats What are the barriers (internal or external to the school) that impact your ability to address your weaknesses? What are the threats if the weaknesses are not addressed? Example Strengths Student data and input are used to develop future plans Weaknesses Current student experiences are not community based Opportunities We have community partners that are willing to support students, staff ranked this as a high priority on the TPSA Threats We do not have time to develop formal partnership Discussion Questions Are there weaknesses that are beyond your control? Do the opportunities available to the school outweigh the threats/barriers? How can you build the capacity to address your weaknesses? Action Planning Transition Practice Task Person Responsible When Assessment TPSA SD7 Multiple, varied community work experiences are provided for students prior to school exit Administration reviews current roles of school counselor to determine if additional FTE can be reallocated to support developing partnerships Check school improvement plan for next steps for School Team Admin Spring 2009 Spring 2009 Change in role/FTE School Improvement Plan Action Planning for Change Process repeats until you have developed a systematic plan to address the various subsections on the TPSA Transferring the Action Plan to the District Improvement Plan (DIP) DIP Section II Action Plan: Action Plan Objectives Use the transition practice statements as objectives Method 1: Individual priorities (e.g., TPSA PS5, Transition related planning and services are integrated with educational restructuring) Method 2: Overall practice area (e.g., Student focused planning practices in District XYZ will focus on using assessment information and facilitating students’ self determination to develop individual education programs based on students’ post school goals.) Transferring the Action Plan to the District Improvement Plan (DIP) DIP Section II B Action Plan: Strategies and Activities Method 1: Articulate tasks and cross reference the TPSA priority areas that are to be addressed through the task e.g., District personnel will in service all special education staff on the IND 13 checklist and responsibility chart for transition planning including the data collection schedule (TPSA PS3, SD2) e.g., Transition team members will receive staff development that includes multiple examples of high quality transition plans that include: present level of performance, transition assessments, post school outcomes, course of study, transition services and annual goals. (TPSA SFP1, SFP2, SFP4 and SFP 9) Transferring the Action Plan to the District Improvement Plan (DIP) DIP Section II B Action Plan: Strategies and Activities Method 2: Re state the TPSA priority practices (as determined from your TPSA reports and SWOT analysis) e.g., SFP2: Post secondary goals for students in District XYZ are based on person centered planning meetings and conversations, and age appropriate assessment information including but not limited to student and family interviews, observation, intelligence tests, career or employability tests, aptitude tests, interest inventories, social skills inventories, life skills inventories, college entrance exams, environmental analysis, etc. in accordance with the needs of the student. TPSA original statement: Post secondary goals are based on person centered planning meetings and conversations, and age appropriate assessment information (e.g., formal and/or informal, student and family interviews, observation, intelligence tests, career or employability tests, aptitude tests, interest inventories, social skills inventories, life skills inventories, college entrance exams, environmental analysis, etc.). Use your data! TPSA implementation must lead to the generation of actionable steps Simply filling out the TPSA is a waste of time Use your District Improvement Plan (DIP) to include goals, activities and strategies that are known to all in the district and are considered “district” goals. School districts who have been issued a “finding of non compliance” for IND 13 are required to implement the TPSA and use the data to develop goals, strategies and activities for their DIP. NEW! Transition Practices Alignment Evidence Based Practices, Tools and Resources, and Lesson Plans Transition Practices Alignment: Evidenced Based Practices, Tools and Resources, and Lesson Plans Assists in the development of goals, strategies and activities for district and/or school improvement plans Provides a go to resource for teachers or any transition stakeholder to find evidenced based practices, peruse a variety of tools and resources, and/or research lesson plans Uses the TPSA categories of program structure, interagency collaboration, student focused planning, student development and family involvement for easy correlation with TPSA data. http://www.loyolacseit.com/PDFs/TPSAandTransition%20Practices.Alignment%20Tool.5232010.pdf Questions/Answers For information about transition see http://www.isbe.net/spec ed/html/total.htm For information about completing the TPSA or other transition questions contact Sue Walter Phone: 618 651 9028 mail: swalter@isbe.net Thank you to David Bell from St. Xavier University for allowing us to use his SWOT strategic planning process.