The transition from school to work, further education,and community living can be particularly challenging for some exceptional students. The probability of a successful transition is significantly increased when schools work with parents, employers, community agencies, and providers of further education to develop coordinated transition plans for exceptional students. School principals are required to ensure that a transition plan is prepared, as part of the Individual Education Plan, for each exceptional student who is 14 years of age or older, unless the student is identified as exceptional solely on the basis of giftedness. These requirements are set out in Ontario Regulation 181/98 and are elaborated in the Ministry of Education’s policy document Individual Education Plans: Standards for Development, Program Planning, and Implementation, 2000. This guide presents a range of suggestions from which educators may select ideas that would be useful in their particular local context. It is not expected that every suggestion outlined here will be appropriate to or incorporated in every school board’s or school’s transition-planning process. This guide sets out no new policy requirements; rather, it provides detailed examples of steps for implementing the policy, in order to assist all those involved in the transition-planning process.

Issued also in French under title: Guide sur la planification de la transition. External link. Electronic reproduction. Available online at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/transiti/transition.pdf.

Regulatory and policy requirements -- The School Board's role -- The Principal's role -- The transition-planning team -- The Transition-planning process for individual students -- An Integrated planning process -- Appendices -- Selected resources.