Amber Gilbert

Sped 856: Transition Education and Services

Running Assignment Part One

Amber Gilbert Running Project 1

The school district that I did my analysis on is the North Kansas City Public School

District, located in Kansas City, MO. Although I do not work for this district, I was able to speak

with Sally, who is a Special Education Coordinator for the district. I was excited to speak with

Sally because as I found out, this is a very busy time of year for administrators and school staff.

After calling four different Kansas City area schools, hoping to speak with someone that would

be willing to let me interview them and go over the Transition Coalition QI Survey, Sally

thankfully, called me back. Not only is Sally familiar with the website and survey, she

mentioned that she also use to teach a class for the Department of Special Education, at the

University of Kansas. Sally said she works with all high school students and 8th graders as they

plan for their transition to high school; all secondary special education staff including teachers

and paraprofessionals. She is a Central Office administrator for special education; works with

high school programs, high school special education staff; oversees all career education

programs for students with disabilities; collaborates with high school administrators regarding

discipline for students with disabilities; collaborates with alternative programs for kids with

disabilities; and provides training in the area of transition and community resources. Needless

to say, she stays busy and I was thankful that she could speak with me.

The North Kansas City Public Schools system is a suburban school district that is

currently the fourth largest district in the state of Missouri. The district roughly has 19,000

students and currently 49% of students receive free or reduced lunches. Roughly 61% of the

student population is White and another 34% is listed as Black, Hispanic, or Multi-racial
Amber Gilbert
Sped 856: Transition Education and Services
Running Assignment Part One

according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website:

(https://mcds.dese.mo.gov/guidedinquiry/District%20and%20Building%20Student%20Indicator

s/District%20Demographic%20Data.aspx).

Across all seven domains ranging from least amount of improvement needed, to most

amount of improvement needed, there are both strengths and weaknesses as with any district.

Starting with transition-focused curriculum and instruction (3.57), as the strongest domain

ranking high on most of the indicators including, School-based programs are in place to teach

career development and Work-based programs are in place for community employment and

career experiences The lowest ranking in this domain is, Effective instructional methods are in

place to teach academic content (e.g., universal design for learning, cooperative groups).

Transition planning (3.38), the next domain with the highest indicators annual IEP goals

addressing both academics and transition needs are identified and transition planning begins

early in a student's educational experience (but no later than 16 years old). The lowest

indicators in this domain are, postsecondary goals are based upon student strengths, interests,

and preferences and approaches are used during transition planning to identify outcomes

supporting student and family cultures.

Systems level infrastructure (3.25), is the next highest domain with the highest

indicators being, "the school district has at least one professional responsible for coordinating

transition services and working with outside agencies and transition policies and procedures

are communicated to all school personnel involved in transition planning. The lowest

indicators within this domain include, dropout prevention programs are in place to support
Amber Gilbert
Sped 856: Transition Education and Services
Running Assignment Part One

students to engage in schooltransition planning and professional development related to

transition is regularly provided to school personnel involved in transition planning.

Interagency collaboration and community service (3.20) is the next domain with the

highest indicator in this domain being, accurate information about the range of community

services is provided to students and families. The rest of the indicators in this section scored

equal amounts including, school-business partnerships exist to support career development

activities and a process is in place for schools and agencies to determine the anticipated

service needs of students who are moving from school to community services.

Transition assessment (2.67), the next domain in need of some work had the strongest

indicator of, accurate information about the range of community services is provided to

students and families scoring a 4. The lowest indicators within this domain at 2 points are,

assessments for each student evaluate specific transition needs, strengths, preferences, and

interests and transition assessment results are shared with students, families and staff in a

meaningful way.

Student involvement (2.57) is second to last for domain most in need of work with the

highest indicators being, opportunities to make real-life, meaningful choices are provided to

students and opportunities for students to learn about specific post-school options (e.g.,

postsecondary education and training, employment, independent living) are provided. The

lowest indicators within this domain are, students have the opportunity to lead their IEP and

transition planning process and parents are provided with information and training to

support student self-determination and self-advocacy.

Amber Gilbert
Sped 856: Transition Education and Services
Running Assignment Part One

Family involvement (2.50) is the domain in need of the most work with the highest

indicators being, the family's needs and supports are taken into consideration during transition

planning and information and training are provided to families about transition. While the

lowest indicators in this domain being, family members are actively involved throughout the

transition planning process and supports are in place to involve family members in transition

planning meetings (e.g., flexible time and location, language interpreter).

Overall, the results of the survey are pretty good with an average 3.02, according to the

Quality Indicators of Exemplary Transition Programs (QI-2) questionnaire. According to Sally,

she said she has some teachers that would score fours across all domains and other teachers

that tend to do the bare minimum for compliance purposes. When looking at the results to the

survey it would appear to me that the priority domain area that needs the most work is family

involvement. This is not surprising to me since this seems to be a weak point for the few

districts that I am familiar with. Unfortunately, many parents that do want to be involved are at

times, unable to participate in services that are provided due to their work schedules. Family

involvement would appear to be the most critical domain in need of improvement and the

focus of the second half of this project. Since family involvement can be crucial to the success of

many student in need of services, it makes sense to me that this would be an area that districts

need to emphasis improvement in.

Reference:

file:///C:/Users/22376/Downloads/5551756%20(1).pdf
Amber Gilbert
Sped 856: Transition Education and Services
Running Assignment Part One

https://mcds.dese.mo.gov/guidedinquiry/District%20and%20Building%20Student%20Indicators

/District%20Demographic%20Data.aspx