Secondary Transition

Helping families & students transition into adult life.

Special Olympics Of The Arc Medal Winner

What is the Secondary Transition Project?

The Secondary Transition Project helps families and students prepare for the significant challenges of secondary transition by:

  • Enhancing the resource information available
  • Providing training to families & students
  • Making training internet accessible
  • Creating the Tennessee Secondary Transition Manual for Families
  • Creating & distributing a secondary transition promotional material
  • Developing a group of secondary transition parent mentors
  • Serving as a secondary transition resource to families, students, and educators
  • Building & enhancing secondary transition collaborations

Project Vision

Families, students, and educators become knowledgeable about the secondary transition process, resources, and opportunities in local communities across the state and on the internet, so that young adults transition into adulthood with quality lives they and their families design.

The Challenge

Secondary transition can be a confusing time. Often parents, teachers, and administrators have the same values and concerns - to mold students into productive members of society. The Secondary Transition Project promotes collaboration between families, students, and educators to help meet the student's secondary transition goals.

Project Outcomes

The Secondary Transition Project helps families and students understand the secondary transition process, see the possibilities for adult life, and become aware of resources available to help make their dreams come true. The process of secondary transition includes assessment, gathering information, planning, family and student involvement, interagency collaboration, and inclusive community experiences. All of which, should be addressed.

Secondary Transition Training will be provided in each of Tennessee's nine developmental districts as well as during the Tennessee Spring Special Education Conference and the Tennessee Disability MegaConference. Online Secondary Transition Training is also provided by clicking the following links:

Student-directed IEP Project

The Arc Tennessee’s Student-directed IEP Project aims to improve post-high school outcomes in employment, post-secondary education and independent living for students receiving special education services by teaching them to lead their own IEP meetings. Students, families and education professionals participate jointly in the training so that it becomes a collaborative effort of the IEP team. Funded through a grant from the Walmart Foundation through The Arc US, this project is one of 49 grants awarded nationwide to develop and replicate best practices in the area of transition services.

The Arc Tennessee’s project focuses primarily on rural school systems – one in each grand region of Tennessee:

Benton County – West
Warren County – Middle
Roane County – East

Technical assistance is available to other school systems interested in implementing the Student-directed IEP curriculum in their own area.

For greater detail, please feel free to take a look at the following brochures using Adobe Acrobat Reader:

The following education documents may be helpful.

  • Restraint Isolation Information Sheet
  • Spanish Restraint Isolation Information Sheet

    • Please Note: The preceding documents can be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader. To obtain free a copy of the Acrobat Reader software, click on the icon below.

    Download Adobe Acrobat Reader Icon

    Alternate formats available upon request.

    Secondary Transition Training Schedule

    Secondary Transition Workshop

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    The Secondary Transition Project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee, Department of Education.

    This entity is a recipient of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds. If you have knowledge of any activity which you consider to be illegal, improper, or wasteful, please call the State Comptrollers toll-free hotline: 1-800-232-5454.

    The Student-Directed IEP project is funded by:

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    For additional information, please contact: