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RILEY: HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION PLANS NOT MAKING THE GRADE

June 24, 2000

WASHINGTON - Calling some high schools in the United States "little more than a way station for young people who already know that life is very unfair," U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley last week urged federal and state agencies and the private sector to improve planning for student transition from school to adult life. Students with disabilities, he noted, are among the most in need of such assistance.

"Young people with disabilities still remain behind their peers in completed levels of education, in employment and in full participation in their communities," Riley said at the National Transition Summit on Young People with Disabilities. "Unfortunately, our nation's policy on this transition has lacked the cohesion and coordination that young people with disabilities, as well as their nondisabled peers, need."

"The whole nation has not done its job for education, and that is a tragedy in itself," Riley added. As part of the Department of Education's effort to reverse that situation, Kentucky Governor Paul Patton is heading a national Commission on the High School Senior Year to study the final year of high school and the transition to adulthood. The 24-member group is expected to issue a report on its findings next year, and Riley urged members of the disability community to get involved in the commission's fact-finding process. The Senior Year Commission will specifically examine the transition planning process, including what happens in the years leading up to senior year.

In addition, Riley argued state and local education agencies need to take a close look at whether their curricula are currently designed to promote different kinds of learning and preparation for a variety of post-secondary paths. Schools need to "strike the right balance between academic and functional preparation," he said. "Schools must make certain that students are learning the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic -- it is very important to have that basic fundamental background -- as well as the skills of the workplace. That's our challenge," Riley said.

YOUTH LEADERS VOW TO CONTINUE TRANSITION EFFORT June 24, 2000

For students with special needs, the pressure of standards-based learning and high-stakes testing is far less of a barrier to completing school than the current lack of information about or coordination of services and accommodations, conference attendees said. Thirty-two percent of the meeting's participants, which included students with disabilities, parents, local, state and federal agency personnel, university researchers and members of national advocacy groups, said disconnected or misaligned support systems create the biggest barrier. Thirty percent said a lack of information on services and accommodations stands in the way. In contrast, standards-based assessment and high-stakes testing were the most significant factors to only 3 percent and 10 percent of attendees, respectively.

Conference participants agreed independence and career-related skills are a critical, usually missing, component of student development. Of more than 150 conference participants, 38 percent said infusing School-to-Work, career development and functional skills into the high school curriculum is the best way to increase graduation rates of students with disabilities. Thirteen percent said self-advocacy skills are needed, and another 13 percent said the transition process needs to be more consumer-focused.

DISABILITY CROWD PRESENTS FEDERAL AGENCIES LAUNDRY LIST OF TRANSITION NEEDS June 24, 2000

Riley wants employers to become more active participants in transition planning for students with disabilities as well. The more employers understand about the nature of disabilities and participate in the students' preparation for the workforce, he argued, the better equipped the students will be to reach their full potential. "Creating partnerships with employers will help ensure that students not only learn the technical skills they need but also the character and responsibility that are required in the workplace," he added.8