Transition plans for
students with special needs provide support for
social and academic success while giving students an
accurate picture of what to expect in high school.
W 22 Leadership
ell-planned transitions from middle school to high school are essential for success of incoming
regular education high school students. Smooth transitions to high school for spe- cial education students are even more criti- cal to their success (Williamston, 2010). Failure and drop-out rates can be high at
the ninth grade level, achievement declines during the transition from middle to high school (Allensworth & Easton, 2005), and behavior problems as indicated by suspen- sions and expulsions increase significantly early-on in the ninth grade (Jerald, 2006). Therefore, school principals must plan for a seamless transition to high school for stu- dents with special needs. The Texas Comprehensive Center rec-
ommends that schools develop a compre- hensive transition plan district-wide (2011). This district plan must include the coop- eration of staff from the middle school and the high school to be successful, and should focus on the four components of effective
transition: accurate and useful informa- tion, supporting social success, supporting academic success, and collaboration (Wil- liamston, 2010).
1.
Accurate and useful information. Providing students and families
with accurate and useful information about high school can allay anxiety. While it’s important to give middle school students an accurate picture of life in high school, staff should not make anxiety-provoking state- ments to students or parents. I have found that in some cases parents
are more anxious about their children mak- ing this transition than the child is, so any activities that assist to allay the anxiety of the parents will be beneficial. Other parents, due to work or other factors, will not be in- volved in the transition process at all, but teams should still actively encourage their participation. Regardless of the parental in-
By Benton Dorman
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