Transition Plan-to-Action Teams (TPAT)Secondary Dual Educator Program

Ann Fullerton & Sue Bert, Portland State UniversityContact: fullertona@pdx.edu, berts@pdx.edu

Transition Plan-to-Action Teams (TPAT)Secondary Dual Educator Program

Secondary Dual Educator Program• Merged Secondary & Special Education• Two year full time graduate program• Began in 2004• Placement in content area & SPED• Critical content: Differentiation, UDL,

collaboration, learning strategies, literacy• Employed in versatile teaching roles • Two articles on development and evaluation

of program (Fullerton et. al.2011)

Adding Transition to SDEP• Partnered with Counseling faculty to teach

and include school & rehab counselor students

• Transition coursework (student- directed transition, interagency collaboration, career development, post-secondary education)

• Developed innovative long-term clinical experience – Transition Plan-to-Action teams (TPAT)

Create TPAT teams• Participants:

• SDEP & Counseling faculty • Transition teachers from local schools• Youth with disabilities & family• SDEP, rehab, school counseling students

• Over time, others joined in:• Natural supports (friends and allies)• Formal services (post-secondary supports)

Transition Plan-to-Action Teams (TPAT)(as part of a 5-year OSEP-funded Teacher Preparation grant)

Ultimate goal: Youth-led planning teams resulting in

desired transition outcomes

Youth• Identifies and shares

capacities, interests and needs

• Sets goals• Makes informed decisions• Takes action toward goals• Refines and achieves

goals (gradually across time)

• Self directed actions and leadership

Participation

Self determination & Leadership

moving over tim

e toward

TPAT Teams• Develop teaming skills &

routines• Coach & support youth

between planning meetings• Plan & implementation action

steps• Make connections &

collaborate with formal services and natural supports

• Seek needed resources and attain desired outcomes

Participation

FacilitateYouth-centered action planning

process

moving over tim

e toward

Process

• Extended person-centered planning experience - 18-month process with 4 high-need youth in transition from school to adult life

• Faculty-led seminars to learn person-centered planning facilitation and transition planning/support skills

• In-context coaching to facilitate person-centered teams• Individual mentoring and skill building with youth• Linking youth to formal and informal supports

January 2012

June 2013

Debra McLean, 5/06

Youth-Led Person-Centered Planning

Brandon

Brandon

Brandon – pre-planning & the start of the PCP process

•Brandon and his family met with planning facilitators •Facilitators visited Brandon at school•Pertinent information collected•Brandon prepares for his meeting with his teacher using a social narrative

January 2012

March2012 Sample information collected

• “I will be 18 in a month. I’m excited to be 21.”

• “I’m going to CTC (Community Transition Center). I want to go there.”

• Needs practice and repetition to become comfortable with new routines

• Good at using his watch to stay on time

• Doesn’t like big crowds and being center of attention

• “I know how to do stuff by myself. I can do things without my parents.”

Teams identified Brandon’s Strengths & Gifts

Teams clarified What Works/Doesn’t Work

Teams envisioned Possible Futures

Teams developed Action Plans

Action-review-action cycle – 9 times over

the 18 months

Brandon – Planning & action steps

Brandon and small teams used the time between meetings to and take action on targeted tasks.

One of the highlights…Brandon is learning how to use the library’s online catalog as a routine prior to going to the library.

Library social narrative

January 2012

March2012

May2012

June2012

October2012

June 2013

Brandon – the new school year

Action plan: Laying the groundwork for securing formal and natural supports

January 2012

March2012

May2012

June2012

October2012

June 2013

Youth OutcomesK: Moved from not being able to keep a job to developing self

regulation skills that led to being successfully employedA: Practiced disclosing her disability and needs in order to

receive formal services. Learned to ride bus, use email and a cell phone and then developed social connections with peers.

J: Learned to initiate social relationships/activities. Went from being passive in foster care system to advocating for and attaining desired independent living placement. Developed capacity to ask for what he needed and express gratitude to allies.

Evaluation of TPAT• Three surveys with students, teachers and

project faculty to examine learning and gather feedback

• Seven Post-seminar reflections• Analysis of four youth and team timeline

culminating with team focus groups to describe outcomes

• Interviews with youth and families• In process of triangulating these data sets

Rehabilitation counseling student:

“I saw how important this person-centered framework is for bringing groups together in supporting a youth. In our youth-centered meetings, it was important to always think about our youth’s life after the TPAT process. when we, as the graduate students, would not be the supports for the youth. With that in mind, we always have people at our meetings representing those long-term connections and supports. By having family members, friends and service providers there, we were all able to be on the same page and hear directly from the youth about their goals and dreams. I have learned that in order for there to be real change for the youth, all parts of their supports systems have to be working together. And the person-centered planning framework brings those supports together.”

SDEP student:

“This is important stuff. Without such an experience, new teachers wouldn’t know where to begin in supporting students in transition. Learning to work as a team, lead a team and adapt a team as necessary to better support students are absolutely essential skills for teachers.”

SDEP student:“Through reaching out to foster care and Voc Rehab I have

become familiar with what these agencies do and how they can support youth. When we started seeking the support of these agencies things started to happen that were previously at a standstill. I was able to conduct an independent living skill survey with the student that supported his application for a supported living program. He was put on the waiting list for both group home and independent living facilities. These things simply weren’t happening yet and our team, being in contact with the agency and advocating for the student, made things happen.” (youth now lives in independent living program)

SDEP student:

“I have learned that when teams come together …in support of someone, it is truly remarkable to watch the growth that can happen when you believe in someone’s abilities and provide opportunities to demonstrate those abilities. I have also seen that there can be friction between these parties and I have been actively involved in defusing fires that really stem from caring about the individual.”

References & Grant Support Person-Centered Planning:Holburn & Vietze (2002). Person-Centered Planning: Research, Practice,

& Future Directions, Baltimore MD: Paul H. Brooks.

Secondary Dual Educator Program:Fullerton, A., Ruben, B., McBride, S., & Bert, S. (2011). Development

and design of a merged secondary and special education teacher preparation program.. Teacher Education Quarterly. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(2), 27-44.

Fullerton, A., Ruben, B., McBride, S., & Bert, S. (2011). Evaluation of a merged secondary and special education teacher preparation program. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(2), 45-60.

This project was supported by: OSEP Grant #H325K110503

Thank you for your interest

Questions? Contact:berts@pdx.edu fullertona@pdx.edu