5456 contextual factors

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Transition Support Plan

Professional Work Sample

Sample High School is located in Large Town, Mississippi. Large Town is located

slightly north of the center of Mississippi. Large Town population as of 2017 was 9,765.

Sample High School servers the grades 6-12. Sample High School has an enrollment of

approximately 500 students. The students that attend Sample High School reside in the

towns of East, West, or North. These are all small towns with a combined population of

around 2,100 people. Large Town is a very rural area. The average household income in

Large Town is $35,634. The average house value is $77,400. The logging industry is the

leading industry in this area. The local citizens are very involved and willing to help in any

way. This community is a big part of the success of the school.

Sample High School is comprised 87% white student and 13% black students. Girls

make up 51% of the population to 49% of boys. Services for the gifted are offered up the 5th

grade. SHS has 5 special education teachers that serve approximately 45 students. One of

the five teachers has a self-contained class. Since SHS has no Asian or Hispanic students,

there are no ELL students. Thirty-seven percent of students receive free or reduced lunch.

Sample High School is ranked within the top 50% of all 840 schools in Mississippi

based on the number of students that score proficient on the Math and Reading state tests.

The percentage of students achieving proficiency in Math is 36% (higher than the Mississippi

average of 31%) for the 2015-16 school year. The percentage of students

achieving proficiency in Reading/Language Arts is 38% (higher than the Mississippi average

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of 33%) for the 2015-16 school year. Sample High School placed in the top 50% of all schools

in Mississippi for test scores for the 2015-16 school year. The average ACT score for a

student at Sample High School is 18. SHS has an ACT participation rate of 93%. SHS students

do not take the SAT. Many students from Sample High School Go on to college and pursue

the career of their choice. SHS has an 88% graduation rate. The dropout rate is

approximately 5%.

Sample High School has 32 teachers, and the school's student to teacher ratio is 17:1.

Fourteen of the thirty teachers at SHS are male. Eighteen teachers are female. Of the 32

teachers at Sample High School, 1 of the 32 teachers is black. The teacher’s ages range from

23-58 years old. The average class sized is 17 kids. Every year SHS gets about 6-9 student

teachers from Mississippi State University.

Each classroom at East Wester High School has a smart board. Many classes have

chrome books or iPads. For those that don’t, there are a set in the library to be checked out.

Each classroom has its own Wi-Fi connection to ensure the best speeds possible. Students

have 3-4 minutes between classes to transition to their next period. The new, state of the

art basketball gym is also the community’s tornado safe place. In 2011, a tornado ripped

through Large Town doing extensive damage to the high school. During the rebuilding

process, they decided to make the gym and place where anyone in the area/community can

come if there’s severe weather and threats of a tornado. Sample High School still does the

Pledge of Allegiance every morning. A student will also pray. SHS stills practices corporal

punishment as a means for discipline. Students at SHS can take classes at the Vo-tech, which

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is located in Whoville, MS. They ride the bus there and back. Students have the option to

take classes in the fields of education, forestry, auto mechanics, welding, or nursing. Sample

High School has a very completive athletic program. Since SHS is a small school, many

athletes participate in all sports. SHS have won many state championships over the years in

basketball, baseball, football, tennis, and softball.

Learning Goals and Assessment Plan

It is very important for schools and teachers to prepare students to successfully

transition to adult life. Therefore teachers must know what the students want and are

interested in. Students that want to get a job and live independently after high school must

know how to correctly fill out a job application. The students must know lots of information

in order to be able to fill out the application. This information needs to be filled out neatly

and accurately. I went around to 7 local businesses and ask them if they would hire

someone if their job application was filled out incorrectly. All 7 of them said no.

Students also need to be able to maintain a budget, especially if they’re planning on

living independently. The ability to maintain a budget is an essential part of independent

living. The following learning goals will be implemented during the next 3 weeks to a small

group of students that range from the age of 16-17 years old. All of the students in the

group voiced interest in working after high school and living independently.

Goal #1

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By the end of 3 weeks, the student will be able to fill out a job application neatly and

accurately with 90% accuracy on 2 of 5 trials.

Short-term Objective #1

By the end of week 1, the student will know the meaning of all the words on a job

application and all of their personal information such as address, social security number,

birthday, etc.… with 60% accuracy on 1 of 2 trials.

Short-term Objective #2

By the end of week 2, the student will be able to fill out an application with correct

spelling with 70% accuracy on 1 of 2 attempts.

Goal #2

By the end of 3 weeks, the student will be able to maintain a 1-month budget when

given a monthly income and a list of bills/transactions for the month with 90 % accuracy on 2

of 4 attempts with the use of a calculator.

Short-term Objective #1

By the end of week 1, the student will know all the vocabulary words associated with

a budget such as, debit, credit, transaction, deposit, fee withdrawal, etc. with 80% accuracy

on 1 of 3 attempts.

Short-term Objective #2

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By the end of week 2, when given a list of bills/other transactions, the student will be

able to maintain a 1-month budget by paying all bills on time and on the right date with 75%

accuracy on 2 of 4 attempts with the use of a calculator.

Letters will be sent home to parents the week before implementation begins.

Parents will also meet 2 times during the 3 week period. I will use a blank/generic job

application. I will not be able to teach every aspects of a job application in a 3 week period.

Design for Implementation and Evaluation

The Transitional Support plan will be implanted on a small group that consist of 3

boys. These boys are similar in age and function on a similar academic level. All 3 boys are

SCD (significant cognitive disability) with a ruling of ID (intellectual disability). The goals

were written based on their importance in helping these students reach their post-

secondary goals of getting a job and living independently. The parents of these students

have been informed and agree with these goals and their importance.

This transitional support plan will be implemented daily over a 3 week period. We

will spend 50 minutes a day on these goals and their objectives. Progress for each student

will be monitored and documented bi-weekly to identify the effectiveness of instruction.

Each student should make progress each week in an effort to reach the goal. The goals will

benefit the students tremendously in the future and give them the opportunity to do what

they want to do.

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The objectives for the goal pertaining to filling out a job application are as follows. By

the end of the first week, the student needs to know what the words on a job application

mean and the information that should be put in a particular blank. This will be measured by

a test that will be read to them. By the end of the second week, the students should be

grasping how to fill out an application neatly and correctly. This will be measured by the

students completing one on their own. Instruction will be geared towards any mistakes the

students may be making. Information will be retaught if progress monitoring shows that’s

what is needed.

The short-term objective for the goal associated with “maintaining a budget” are as

follows. Week 1 will be spent learning all the terminology the students need to know to

maintain a budget. The terminology that will be taught are words such as deposit,

withdrawal, transaction, fee, debit, credit, etc. It is essential that the students know the

meaning of these words if they’re going to have a chance of meeting this goal and actually

maintaining a budget later in life. Week 2, the students will apply what they’ve learn and fill

out a budget chart when given a list of transactions and a starting balance. The percent of

accuracy is not as high as expected at the end of week 3. Progress will be monitored bi-

weekly. The student will have the use of a calculator at any time during this 3 week timeline.

The teacher will use assessments and observations to monitor progress.

Implementation of Plan

Week 1

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Monday- Teacher and students talked about the importance of a job. They also discussed

what type of information goes on a job application. The teacher and students will discuss

what a budget is and what a budget is important. After discussion the teacher will inform

the students of the goals they will be working towards mastering in the next 3 weeks. Sent a

letter home to parents.

Tuesday- The teacher will call out random words that appear on an application such as

address, zip code, position, social security number, citizen, convicted, salary, felony, etc.

Teacher will make a list on the board of the words that the students don’t know or have

never even heard off. Next, the teacher will call out random words associated with

money/banking/budget such as transactions, debit, deposit, withdrawal, balance, deduction,

etc. Teacher will write words on board that the students don’t know. For the remainder of

the class, the students will write the terms on the board and their definitions in their

notebooks. The students will have access to a dictionary or an IPAD to complete

assignment. Homework: Students will write their full name, address, DOB, SSN, Race, Sex,

Phone number, email address, and their parent’s name.Wednesday- Students will finish any

definitions not finished Tuesday and will make index cards with all the words and definitions

from Tuesday. Students will have access to IPads and dictionaries. Teacher will assist in any

way needed.

Thursday- Teacher and student will take the first part of class and review words on their

index cards. Next, the students will put their notes and cards away. The teacher will give

the students a worksheets with all the definitions and a word bank. Teacher will read

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definitions and word bank out loud. When finished, the teacher will go over correct

answers, and the students will grade their own paper. Students will write the word and

definition of each one they missed on the back of the quiz.

Friday- Students will play “Definition Bingo” as part of a review. After the review game, the

students will take a multiple-choice assessment. The teacher will read each definition and

the 4 answer choices. Once completed, students will write the same information they wrote

on Tuesday night on the back of their paper (full name, address, social security number,

birthday, etc.

Week 2

Monday- Teacher will take the first part of class to touch on the definitions from the

previous week. Teacher will pass out blank job application. The teacher and the students

will complete it together block by block. Students will pay attention to what information

goes in which spot and on writing neatly. Sent a letter home to parents showing progress.

Tuesday- Teacher will spend 5 minutes reviews terms associated with a budget. Teacher will

pass out a list of bills (amount and due date) and deposits. Students will identify which

transactions they would need to (--subtract--) and which ones they would need to (+add+).

Wednesday-Teacher will pass out a job application (already filled out with made up

information) to the class. Teacher will ask questions to see whether or not the students can

recognize the terms on the application. Next, teacher will pass out a blank budget chart.

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The student and teacher will use the bill/transaction list from the day before to fill of budget

chart correctly.

Thursday- Students will be given a blank job application that requires the same information

be written. However, this job application has a different layout. Next, the teacher and the

students will use calculators to balance the transaction list on the chart done together

previously in the week.

Friday- Teacher will go over any mistakes made on the job application the students filled out

on their own. The students will complete another one by themselves. After completing

that, the teacher will hand out a mini budget assignment (beginning balance and

transactions), blank budget chart, and a calculator for students to completely independently.

Week 3

Monday- Happy Easter! He is risen!!

Tuesday- Teacher will pass out graded job applications completed independently on Friday.

Students will have a few minutes to look over them. Teacher will call each student over one

at a time to discuss any mistakes. Students should be able to tell teacher what they did

wrong instead of the teacher telling the student what should have been there or whatever

mistake was. Teacher gives back mini budget assignment from Friday. Teacher goes over it

with students as they make any needed corrections. Students need to understand why any

mistakes were wrong instead of just making it right. Sent a letter home to parents showing

progress.

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Wednesday- Teacher will pass out an incorrectly completed job application to each student

along with a highlighter. The student will highlight any mistakes they find. The students and

teachers will discuss all mistakes made. The students will also complete a one month budget

chart with the use of a calculator.

Thursday- Teacher will reinforce the importance of a job application. The students will

watch a 10 minute video on the importance of a job application. Next, the teacher will give

back the graded one month budget completed the day before. The students will discuss and

fix any mistakes they made.

Friday- The students will be given a blank, generic job application to fill out correctly with no

assistance. When completed, the students will pick up at the front desk a calculator, blank

budget chart, and a month long list of transactions to budget and get the correct ending

account balance.

Impact Analysis

The students did extremely well and worked very hard during this 3 week plan. It

was awesome to see the progress they made over that time. It makes me feel good knowing

that I was able to teach them something that would help them do want they want to do. I

started off introducing terms for both goals because I believe that’s the foundation. It

doesn’t matter if you know your name and address if you don’t know where to write it. I

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need to have another 2-3 week lesson on references, salary desired, and position desired. In

the 3 week period, there wasn’t enough time to teach every single part of a job application.

Therefore, when they had an application to complete for me, it was one that I put together

that asked for certain information. It’s going to be great when these hometown kids are

able to work here in our community.

Impact Analysis Chart

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Evaluation and Data Analysis

Evaluation is a very important part of a transitional support plan. Date collected from

evaluations can help teachers identify strengths and weaknesses. This can help improve the

design and implementation of the instruction. Changing instruction, when data shows it’s

needed, this can help students reach their goals more efficiently. A week after the 3 week

implementation period, I gave my same 3 students as assessment just like the one I gave

them at the end of the 3rd week. I was extremely pleased to see they made approximately

the same score. It showed me that they retained the information. Of course, I know it was

only a week later, but I was still pleased. During the 3 week implementation period, I

noticed a few thing I would do different. First of all, I need much more than 3 weeks to

teach students how to correctly fill out an entire job application. I wasn’t able to get to

things like references, education, previous job history, and position/salary desired. I decided

to concentrate on the first part of the application and try to help them master that part. My

struggled really encouraged me by doing so well on this skill. They seemed to work harder

than normal. They told me they were working extra hard because they knew how important

this skill was to their future goals.

I’m going to spend the last few weeks of school teaching the other parts of the job

application that I didn’t get to. After that, anytime we have left in school this year I’m going

to start introducing some interview skills to help them obtain a job. The parents of these 3

boys have been nothing short of awesome. They participated in this transitional support

plan with us by helping their children study the term they wrote down on index cards. One

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of my students told me that he was showing his mom how to maintain a budget. Next time I

teach about filling out job applications, I’m going to spread the timeframe out over a 9 week

period or maybe even a semester. I felt like I was rushing my students more than I wanted

to. I’m not saying I want to move at a turtle’s pace but slowing down a little would have

helped all of us. The data showed the students only knew about half the words that appear

on a job application when asked the week before the plan was implemented. The number of

words know by the students increased over 50% from the pretest to the post test.

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Data showed similar results with the terms associated with a budget. The ability to

match or answer with multiple-choice doesn’t mean the student can apply/recognize the

terms on a bank statement. Speaking of bank statements, I will definitely incorporate some

instructional time to teach my students how to read a bank statement. The fact that I have 3

young men feeling confident about getting a job in the near future makes me so happy. Not

one of my 3 students can fill out a complete job application right now, however, they are

gradually getting better and their confidence is fueling their effort. They’re already talking

about what they’re going to buy when they get a job and start making money. One of my

students thanked me for helping him learn the skill of completing a job application. He said

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Student 1 Student 2 Student 3

Job Application Terms Post Test (Number of words known out of 20)

Column2 Series 2 Column1

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he wanted to get a job and help his mama pay some bills so she didn’t have to work so

much. He made me happy and kind of sad at the same time. My students also have shown

lots of interest in getting a driver’s license. Next year, I’m going to get some copies of the

Mississippi DMV Driver’s Handbook. We are going to spend some time reading and studying

it to try to get them prepared for their future. I believe that obtaining a driver’s license and

a job will give my students the confidence to do and learn more. They are starting to believe

in themselves, and it’s contagious.