Transition

Welcome to the Special Education Transition webpage!

The ESC Region 19 Transition program serves parents, educators, administrators, and community partners, with the training and resources necessary to navigate state and federal guidelines for transition services. Here at ESC 19 we offer technical assistance to help districts and families create clear pathways toward high school graduation and beyond, ensuring every student has the tools to reach their full potential in post-secondary life.

Supporting Student Success: Transition Planning in Texas

For students with disabilities, the move from public school to adulthood is a critical milestone. In Texas, transition planning must be addressed in a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) no later than their 14th birthday. This early start allows families and educators to collaborate on:

Post-Secondary Goals: Establishing measurable goals for employment, education, and independent living.
Coordinated Activities: Creating a "to-do" list of services and courses of study that support the student's vision for the future.
Agency Connections: Facilitating referrals to government agencies for adult services and public benefits.

Project Manager

Lorraine Herrera, M. Ed

915-780-5349

EMAILmailto:lherrera2@esc19.net

Secretary

Monica Rosas

915-780-5087

EMAILmailto:mrosas2@ESC19.NET

Resources

Pathways: The Texas Transition and Employment Guide

The Texas Transition and Employment Guide provides information on statewide services and programs that assist in the transition to life outside the public school system for students enrolled in special education programs and their parents. Use the following links to download your copy of Pathways: The Texas Transition and Employment Guide to a Successful Life After High School for Students with Disabilities.

texas-transition-and-employment-guide-spanish_1 (PDF)

https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/resource-library/texas-transition-and-employment-guide

Information About the Texas Transition and Employment Guide

This document provides an overview of secondary transition planning using excerpts from the Texas Transition and Employment Guide. Local educational agencies (LEAs) may use or adapt this resource to share written information about the guide with students and families, as required by Texas Education Code §29.0112(e)(2).

parent-transition-planning-document (PDF)

https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/resource-library/transition-and-employment-guide/information-about-texas-transition-and-employment

info-about-texas-transition-and-employment-guide-spanish (PDF)

https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/resource-library/transition-and-employment-guide/information-about-texas-transition-and-employment

Transition Employment Designees

This role is required by Texas Education Code §29.011(b) and 19 Texas Administrative Code §89.1075(i). The TED must provide information and resources about effective transition planning and employment services to school staff, students, parents/guardians, and agency providers.

A smiling woman in the foreground is featured in a course listing for %22TED Required Training 25-26%22 with a blurred office background.

https://register.tealearn.com/browse/tea/network/sctn/courses/ted-required-training

https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/resource-library/transition-and-employment-designee-resources/transition-and-employment-designee

https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/learning-library/transition-and-employment-designee-resources/transition-and-employment-designee

Local Agencies

Vocational Rehabilitation Services- Texas Workforce Commission

Texas Workforce Solutions Vocational Rehabilitation Services serves youth and students with disabilities to help prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities.

Emergence Health Network

Emergence Health Network is a community-based mental health/intellectual disabilities center serving persons with IDD and mental health issues. It is the Local Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority for El Paso. EHN will provide information on all services offered through EHN, including Medicaid waivers for long term services & supports, as well as other available resources in El Paso County.

Volar Center for Independent Living

Volar Center for Independent Living: Volar CIL is a private non-profit corporation controlled by people with disabilities as staff, board members, and as consumers. It is one of 20+ CILs in Texas. Volar CIL provides information & referral services, independent living skills trainings, peer counseling, advocacy, children’s advocacy & transition services, Specialized Telecommunications Assistance Program (STAP), transportations services, and more.

Children's Disability Information Coalition

Children’s Disability Information Coalition: CDIC provides a comprehensive Helpline Directory to help those who live and work in the El Paso area to find agencies that assist children and adults with disabilities.

The Arc of El Paso

The Arc of El Paso is committed to serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), their families and caregivers living in the El Paso borderland region.

State Transition Resources

State Performance Plan Indicator 13 (SPPI-13)

SPPI-13

Beginning with the 25-26 school year, SPP 13 will be submitted through TSDS. The submission criteria is now all students ages 16-21 on Sept 1st. Ensure that your IEP software and SIS have the required fields in order for the submission to promote to TSDS.

State Performance Plan (SPP) Indicator 13 measures the percent of youth 16 years old and above with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that includes:

appropriate measurable postsecondary goals that are annually updated and based upon an age appropriate transition assessment;
transition services, including courses of study, that will reasonably enable the student to meet those postsecondary goals;
and annual IEP goals related to the student’s transition service needs.

There also must be evidence that the student was invited to the IEP Team meeting where transition services are to be discussed and evidence that, if appropriate, a representative of any participating agency was invited to the IEP Team meeting with the prior consent of the parent or student who has reached the age of majority.

Data Collection Resources

data-collection-guidance-november2025 (PDF)

https://tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/special-education/data-and-reports/secondary-transition#:~:text=Data%20Collection%20Guidance%20for%20Secondary%20Transition

https://tea.texas.gov/academics/special-student-populations/special-education/data-and-reports/secondary-transition#:~:text=SPEDS%20Summer%20Submission%20Guidance%20New%20Resource

National Transition Resources

Division on Career Development and Transition

The mission of DCDT is to promote national and international efforts to improve the quality of, and access to, career/vocational and transition services, increase the participation of education in career development and transition goals, and to influence policies affecting career development and transition services for persons with disabilities.

National Post-Schools Outcomes Center

The National Post-Schools Outcomes Center (NPSO) helps state education agencies establish practical and rigorous data collection systems that will measure and profile the post-school experiences of youth with disabilities (i.e., Indicator 14). The results of collecting Indicator 14 data will be used for national, state, and local reporting and to guide and improve transition services to this population.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board

The Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) provides leadership and coordination for the Texas higher education system.

Centers for Independent Living

The State Independent Living Council, (SILC), is to ensure that all Texans with disabilities have access to quality Independent Living services by providing a framework for service delivery. The SILC upholds the principles of the Independent Living Movement: peer support, self-help, self-determination, equality, and positive systemic change. Volar Center for Independent Living

National Technical Assistance Center- Collaborative on Transition

NTACT-C is a Technical Assistance and Dissemination project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), Cooperative Agreement Number H326E140004. NTACT is funded from January 1, 2015 until December 31, 2019.

NTACT-C’s purpose is to assist State Education Agencies, Local Education Agencies, State VR agencies, and VR service providers in implementing evidence-based and promising practices ensuring students with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities, graduate prepared for success in postsecondary education and employment.

Zarrow Institute

The Zarrow Institute for Learning Enrichment facilitates successful secondary and postsecondary educational, vocational and personal outcomes for students and adults with disabilities. ZC faculty, staff, and students do this through self-determination oriented evaluation, research, development, transition education instruction, and dissemination of best educational and support practices.

WINTAC: Workforce Innovation Technical Assistance Center

The WINTAC is led by the Interwork Institute at San Diego State University and consists of the following partners:

The National Disability Institute and their LEAD Center
The George Washington University’s Center for Rehabilitation Counseling Research and Education
The University of Arkansas CURRENTS
PolicyWorks
The Career Index
The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation
Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute

The WINTAC will provide training and technical assistance (TA) to State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRAs) and related agencies and rehabilitation professionals and service providers to help them develop the skills and processes needed to meet the requirements of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

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