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A Needs Assessment for Students Age 17-21 with
Significant Disabilities

This project is supported by the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs,
Grant Number H324B99058.

REGISTRATION

OCO is funded through a federal grant from the Office of Special Education Programs and therefore we need to report on the usage of this module. Please complete this simple registration information. You will NOT be contacted by OCO unless you request such contact. This information will be used solely for reporting purposes to our funding agency.

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PURPOSE

The purpose of this needs assessment is provide you with a tool that can be used to evaluate the educational services received by students 17-21 with significant disabilities to determine if changes are needed. This assessment will address students' educational setting, instructional support, inclusive opportunities, employment, recreation, adult agency eligibility, and ability to travel independently. Once completed, the data from this assessment can be reviewed to determine the areas in which changes would improve the services currently provided to students with significant disabilities.

RATIONALE

Many students with significant disabilities remain in high school until they are 21 or 22 years old. This means that they are often receiving services in classrooms with much younger students. While some schools offer different educational services to students over 18, many school systems continue to educate these students in the same classes with the same curricula that they have had since age 14. This assessment can help personnel determine if there is a need to provide students with significant disabilities who are 17 or older with different educational services and supports. Additionally, it may identify the need to provide students with greater access to community environments, inclusive experiences, and additional employment options. In some cases, this assessment may determine that students would benefit from receiving their final years of public schooling in a postsecondary setting such as a college or community environment.

GETTING STARTED

Assemble Committee
To conduct the needs assessment you first to need to enlist the assistance of all interested parties by assembling a committee. Members of this committee should include teachers, community agency and advocacy representatives, vocational rehabilitation counselors and adult agency personnel, administrators, transition personnel and support staff. Consider the following variables when assembling your committee:

familiarity with students
availability to attend meetings
potential to provide services or supports
willingness to create change

Use the Committee Contact Sheet to create a list of committee members including names and contact information. Then, schedule an initial meeting with the committee.

GETTING STARTED

Develop Purpose Statement
During the first committee meetings, members must agree on the purpose of the needs assessment. Your purpose may be to

conduct a review of transition services
determine areas of program expansion
identify priorities for needed changes
review the need for alternative programming outside of high school.

Developing a written purpose or mission statement describing what the committee plans to achieve will help keep things on track. This can be developed during the first meeting. A Sample Purpose Statement is provided.

GETTING STARTED

Identify Population of Students to be Assessed
Identifying the population of students limits the scope of the committee's assessment activities. There may be various groups of students who could benefit from changes in services. However, the changes identified by this assessment will not necessarily meet the needs of all students. A separate process will need to be conducted if more than one group of students (i.e. student with significant behavior challenges who are receiving a standard diploma) require programmatic changes. This assessment tool has been specifically designed to assess the needs of students 17 or older with significant disabilities who typically will not exit school with a standard diploma. Your committee will need to determine how you plan to define this population in your school system. Your school system may conduct the needs assessment based on:

the age of students
the school systems' disability classification or coding designation
the types of classes students attend or the curricular track in which the students participate
the number of years students have participated in high school
the type of alternative diploma (certificate) the student with receive upon exiting school.

Once identified, a member of the committee should record the population of students upon whom the needs assessment will be conducted. This will assist in identifying the participating schools and students.

GETTING STARTED

Determine Participating Schools and Students
Once the student population is defined you should determine the number of participating schools, and ultimately, the number of students whose current services will be assessed through the needs assessment activities. The Participating Schools and Students Form provides space to list the schools in your school system serving students with significant disabilities as defined by your planning committee. These may include comprehensive high schools, alternative or special schools, and vocational-technical high schools. Then, for each school, list the number of students with significant disabilities that are between 17-21 years old.

GETTING STARTED

Review Needs Assessment Form
Review the Student Services Needs Assessment Form with the committee so everyone involved understands what each column represents and how data should be recorded. The Instructions for Use is numbered and describe what kind of information should be recorded in each column of the form.

GETTING STARTED

Determine School Teams & Timelines
Each participating school should have a team complete a Student Services Needs Assessment Form. Teams should consist of administrators, teachers, transition specialists, agency personnel, job coaches, instructional assistants, and others who are very familiar with the services and activities of the student population. Each school team should also have a designated Team Leader. Once teams are established, the committee should determine a timeline for completing the assessment and set a meeting date to review the data.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

School Teams Meet
Each school team will meet and complete the Student Services Needs Assessment Form for the students in their school. The team leader should provide each member with a copy of the Sample Student Services Needs Assessment Form, which can serve as a model. Time should be taken to answer questions and clarify the student population whose needs will be assessed.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Compile the Needs Assessment Data
While it may be possible to complete the Student Services Needs Assessment during one meeting, it is likely that some of the information that is requested on the form will not be known. When this occurs, one person should be designated to find out the needed information and bring it to the next meeting. Once each category on the form is completed, the team will need to meet again to discuss if any needed changes have been identified by the Needs Assessment.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Identify Areas of Changes
After documenting the status of current student services, the school team should convene to review the data to determine if changes in services are needed. To make this determination, the committee should review each column and consider the following questions:

Review Questions for Student Services

Are changes needed for a particular age group (17-18 year olds) or are changes needed for all students?
What kinds of changes are needed?
Does the issue of student application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), or Developmental Disabilities (DD) services or supports need to be addressed by current school personnel?
Does the amount of self-contained instruction for students need to be changed?
Does the frequency or variety of inclusive experiences need to be increased?
Should more students have paid jobs?
Do students need increased opportunities to participate in recreational or extracurricular activities with same age peers?
How could the frequency and level of independence for students be improved by increasing their travel training?
Could the changes identified in Questions 1-8 be addressed in the current high school setting?
Do the changes identified in Questions 1-8 require the development of new services in a postsecondary setting such as a college campus or business site?
How will services provided in the postsecondary setting be different from what is currently available?
What setting is best equipped to meet students' needs?
Which of the changes identified should be given the highest priority?

Examples of Changes

It may be helpful to provide the teams with examples of service changes that could be determined from data on the Student Services Needs Assessment. Some changes may be identified that could be addressed within the high school, and other changes might be identified that could be addressed by the development of different services in a postsecondary setting. If current services in the high school are not meeting students' needs and there is a great deal of parental interest in developing a new setting outside of the high school, the committee may want to seriously consider this possibility.
Click on the category below to see an example of changes identified using the Sample Needs Assessment Form completed on Wilson High School.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Examples of Changes

Employment
As indicated on the Sample Needs Assessment Form for Wilson High School, only one of the 17 or 18-year-old students with significant disabilities at this school has had paid work experiences and two students have not had any unpaid work experience. Students need to have increased career-training activities at age 17 and 18. These changes could be addressed in the current setting by offering students opportunities to receive unpaid experiences in community employment setting that are already used by the school system.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Examples of Changes

Inclusive Experiences
As indicated on the Sample Needs Assessment Form for Wilson High School, none of the students ages 19-21 are participating in any general education courses. As these students have no opportunity to interact with their same age peers (as most high school students graduate at 18), it would be difficult to address this area of need within the context of the high school. This change could be addressed by accessing educational opportunities for students at a local community college or continuing adult education program in an area of interest. Courses could be audited or taken for credit in such areas as physical fitness, computer literacy, basic math or reading, or any other area of student interest.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Examples of Changes

Extracurricular Activities
As indicated on th Sample Needs Assessment Form for Wilson High School, student participation in extracurricular activities has occurred for only 1 of the 12 students assessed on this form. Supporting students in developing recreational and social activities is also an area in which changes are needed. These changes could be addressed within the current high school program by involving students in during and after school clubs, organizations, or athletics. In addition, student participation in local recreational activities outside of school could be facilitated through a partnership with the local YMCA, Park and Recreation Department, or other youth organizations.

CONDUCTING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Examples of Changes

Travel Training
The Sample Needs Assessment Form for Wilson High School reveals that only 3 of the 12 students have received any form of travel training. As lack of transportation limits access to many aspects of adult life (accessing employment, recreation, community resources), this is an area in which changes are needed. These changes could be met within the current high school setting by providing students with access to the county bus system, or by helping students to learn how to call for and pay for a cab ride to their desired destination. These changes could also be addressed by establishing services in a community or college setting that is close to the available public transportation options.

REVIEWING DATA

Reconvene Committee
The committee members including each school team leader should reconvene to review all of the data that were collected. In addition to the completed needs assessment forms for each participating school, team leaders should also bring a list of needed changes identified by the school teams to the meeting.

REVIEWING DATA

Compile data from all schools
The data from each participating school should be compiled onto one needs assessment form, which will represent the current services provided to students ages 17 or older for the entire school system.

REVIEWING DATA

Review Changes
Once the data is compiled, the entire committee should use the Review Questions Form and record the input from each team leader regarding needed changes that were identified at each participating school.

REVIEWING DATA

Determine location for needed changes
As the committee reviews the data provided from each school, it may become evident that some changes are needed throughout the school system, while others may only be needed in a specific school. Once each area of change has been discussed, the planning committee will have to prioritize each change, determine the new services that are required, and identify how and where new services will be provided. Some service changes will occur in the high school, while others may require the creation of a new educational options in postsecondary environments which will allow students to access college classes, recreational, and employment opportunities.

WRITING ACTION PLAN

Create plan for changes in high school
The committee should write an action plan that addresses the changes that can be met in the high school setting using the Action Plan for High School Services Form. We suggest that an Action Plan be completed for each school. However, if most of the changes will impact each school in the system, then it may be possible to create one action plan that will be followed by all schools. Once the action plan (s) are written, it is likely that further meetings will be needed to follow up on the progress that has been made on each goal. Committee members can review the Sample Action Plan for High School Services to see a model of a completed action plan.

WRITING ACTION PLAN

Create plan for changes outside of high school
Once the High School action plan has been written, the committee should then determine its next course of action. If no further changes are needed, it is possible that the committee has achieved its goals. However, if the needs assessment demonstrated that further changes require the development of a new options in postsecondary settings, the planning committee will need to continue its work by planning the new services that will be provided outside of the high school.

WRITING ACTION PLAN

Create Services in Postsecondary Settings
To create a new services for students ages 17-21 outside of the high school in a the committee will have to do the following activities: (a) identify focus and goals of new services; (b) identify potential partners; (c) determine the location of services; (d) set a preliminary budget; and (e) investigate possible funding sources. This process is one that will take up to a year of planning and is beyond the scope of this training. However, if your local school system is interested in creating services outside of the high school, our website provides a number of resources that can be helpful including:

Fact Sheets

Articles

Grigal, M., Neubert, D. A., & Moon, M. S. (2001). Public School Programs for Students with Significant Disabilities in Post-secondary Settings. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 36 (3), 244-245. Reprinted with permission.

Moon, M. S., Grigal, M., & Neubert, D. (2001). High School and Beyond: Students with Significant Disabilities Complete High School Through Alternative Programs in Post-Secondary Settings, Exceptional Parent, July, 52-57. Reprinted with permission.

Here are some additional OCO resources that are not available online:

Grigal. M., Neubert, D. A., & Moon, M. S. (2002). Postsecondary Options for Students with Significant Disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 35, 68-73. (. pdf not available)

Neubert, D. A., Moon, M. S., & Grigal, M. (2002). Post-secondary education and transition services for students ages 18-21 with significant disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 34, 1-11. (.pdf not available)

Neubert, D. A., Moon, M. S., & Grigal, M., & Redd. V. (2001). Post-secondary educational practices for individuals with mental retardation and other significant disabilities: A review of the literature. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 16, 155-168. (.pdf not available)

NEEDS ASSESSMENT OUTCOMES

The purpose of this training module was to provide you with the means to review the current services provided to students ages 17 and older with significant disabilities by your school system. The outcomes of using this needs assessment should include:

An established school committee
A defined population of students
A list of participating schools and students
An assessment of students' educational setting, instructional support, inclusive opportunities, employment, recreation, adult agency eligibility, and travel training.
A list of needed changes in students' educational setting, instructional support, inclusive opportunities, employment, recreation, adult agency eligibility, and travel training.
An action plan for changes in the current high school setting
A determination if services need to be developed outside of the high school.

TRAINING OTHERS

Prior to conducting your needs assessment it may be helpful to conduct a short presentation for others in your school system to familiarize them with the goals, process, and outcomes of the assessment process. We have created a brief PowerPoint presentation that can be used in conjunction with this module. The Needs Assessment PowerPoint Presentation can be downloaded and used for training or printed out to be used as overheads and handouts.

EVALUATION & COMMENTS

Please let us know what you think of this training module by completing this short survey.

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