Planning: Goals, Objectives, Activities

If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? Setting a goal defines your destination and gives you a direction. In addition, it identifies outcomes, clarifies the purpose of a task, minimizes misunderstanding and gives meaning to a process. It is the mark against which each step can be measured.

In planning for transition from an elementary program to a middle school setting, it is important for parents and staff to identify the desired outcomes of a successful transition. Goals should be developed for the student, parents and staff. Sample goals might include the following:

• Student is successfully placed without a disruption in services.
• Receiving staff are prepared for the student with ASD and have received appropriate training.
• Student is an active participant in the transition process.
• Parents are active participants in the transition process.

Goals are important because they answer the question: What is the end result of a successful transition?

The second important component of successful planning involves objectives. Objectives constitute the framework for the transition process. They provide the benchmarks or tasks participants must accomplish in order to reach their goals. Objectives are based on the needs of the participants, the educational environment and the system. Objectives may include:

• Preparing the student and parent for change
• Preparing and training receiving staff
• Collecting and sharing critical information between sending and receiving schools/programs
• Designing a new IEP (individualized education plan)

Objectives are important because they answer the question: What has to happen in order to meet each goal?

Finally, activities refer to the steps designed to accomplish each objective. They are the things you have to do in order to collect, evaluate, and share information between environments and among participants. Activities might include:

• Current team meets with the parent to identify goals and design a transition plan
• Staff collects student information
• Receiving team is identified

Activities become the heart of the transition process and answer the questions: What do we need to do to meet our objectives? Who is responsible for each step? What is the timeline for each activity?

It is important for the team to develop a timeline and assign responsibilities for implementation and completion of each activity.

One example of a district transition process is included in Appendix A. As you will note, this district’s Transition Packet outlines four stages of transition and activities.