Wise Practices for Quality Lives

By Caren L. Sax, Ed.D., & Colleen A. Thoma, Ph.D.

This groundbreaking new book from top researchers in the field places assessment at the heart of transition planning, showing readers just how important it is to understand the needs and goals of young people with disabilities before planning supports to guide them into adult life.

Educators, administrators, counselors, service providers, and families will examine diverse assessment methods like student self-evaluation, performance tasks, teacher-generated profiles, curriculum-based assessment, and structured interviews with students and families. They’ll discover ways to help individuals direct their transition plans, choose their own goals, and communicate them effectively. And they’ll learn how personalized, step-by-step action plans can empower young people with disabilities to pursue their chosen path, whether it’s going to college, traveling, getting married, and/or enjoying a successful career.

Sensitive and practical, this guidebook shatters stereotypes about the limitations of people with disabilities, offering innovative ways to ensure that all opportunities are open to all people.

About the Authors
About the Contributors
Foreword
Jeffrey Strully
To Our Readers
Acknowledgments

1. For Whom the Test Is Scored: Assessments, the School Experience, and More
   Douglas Fisher and Caren L. Sax
   
   
2. Person-Centered Planning: More than a Strategy
   Caren L. Sax
   
   
3. Self-Determined Assessment: Critical Components for Transition Planning
   Michael L. Wehmeyer
   
   
4. The Three C’s of Family Involvement: Things I Wish I Had Known
   Barbara Buswell and Caren L. Sax
   
   
5. Informal Assessment Procedures
   Carolyn Hughes and Erik W. Carter
   
   
6. Measuring What's Important: Using Alternative Assessments
   Colleen A. Thoma and Mary Held
   
   
7. Assessing Individual Needs for Assistive Technology
   Gerald Craddock and Marcia J. Scherer
   
   
8. Vocational and Career Assessment
   Patricia Rogan, Teresa A. Grossi, and Roberta Gajewski
   
   
9. Transition Service Integration Model: Ensuring that the Last Day of School is No Different from the Day After
   Nicholas J. Certo, Caren L. Sax, Ian Pumpian, Denise Mautz, Kimberly A. Smalley, Holly A. Wade, and David A. Noyes
   
   
10. Putting Transition Plans into Action: "I Don't Want to Count Money at Home Anymore!"
    Caren L. Sax and Colleen A. Thoma

Coda: The Watergivers: A History of a Helping Profession
Scot Danforth

Index