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| Task Force Works On Transition At Age 3
New KSDE Email Addresses The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has established procedures for transition with the goal of having a seamless service system for families. To work on achieving this goal, a task force meets regularly to discuss the Age 3 Transition. The group includes representatives from the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Coordinating Council on Early Childhood Developmental Services (CCECDS), and the Kansas Inservice Training System (KITS). This task force was formed late in 1996 to clarify policies and procedures to implement transition activities. Written material, "Age 3 Transition Information," was distributed in April 1997. This document includes citations from IDEA and other references, as well as 20 frequently asked questions. Roundtable discussions were presented on interactive television to provide additional guidance to the field in the spring of 1997. The group met again in August to consider future initiatives. Jane Amundsen, with Early Childhood Initiatives in Colorado, facilitated this all-day meeting. Numerous ideas for further training and technical assistance were identified and discussed Activities implemented since then include the panel of KDHE, KSDE, and CCECDS representatives discussing transition at the annual CCECDS Community Fair in Wichita in October. Technical assistance has also been provided to several infant-toddler networks and their local education agencies. Another series of roundtable discussions over interactive television was provided in November and December Also last fall, KSDE held regional meetings with local districts to discuss changes in IDEA, including changes in requirements for staff during the transition to Part B Early Childhood Special Education services. At Infant-Toddler regional meetings, KDHE representatives also encouraged local early intervention networks to contact their respective school districts to promote collaboration and development of local interagency agreements. Infant-Toddler Services has prepared two Technical Assistance Bulletins related to transition, and KITS has distributed a revised information packet on the Age 3 Transition. At the Kansas Division for Early Childhood conference March 5-7, transition issues, requirements, and recommendations were facilitated by Doug Bowman with the assistance of other identified personnel from across the state. In addition, on April 14 and 15 a statewide meeting was held with representatives from community networks, special education cooperatives and local education agencies across the state. Discussion centered around issues and "best practices" related to the Part C to Part B transition. This "mini-conference" was held at the Crosswinds Convention Center in Hesston, Kansas, with teams representing 6 different regions of the state. Participants received national, statewide and local resources related to the Part C to Part B transition to assist them in easing this process to continue to create our "seamless system" of services in Kansas. We received good feedback from the teams and plans are underway to continue these team meetings for other community, special education cooperatives and local education agencies across the state. The task force continues to identify additional opportunities for continuous training activities. In addition, we have developed a side-by-side comparison of required and optional (best practice) transition activities. We are working on further written documentation for infant-toddler and early childhood special education service providers. For further information, please call any of the representative groups at 1-800-332-6262. Submitted by Marnie Campbell | ||
