Children with disabilities commonly experience more challenges than non-disabled students when it comes to attaining quality education. Owing to their disabilities, disabled children usually require special services so that they can be able to learn as effectively as their non-disabled peers (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). This is why they are categorized as special needs children. The children usually experience further challenges when it comes to deciding on particular career paths that they want to pursue (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). This is why a majority of disabled children do not engage in post high school activities. For instance not many of them enroll in college and or university programs, as well as vocational training. In effort of ensuring that disabled children get to engage in post high school activities so that they can be able to attain adult education as well as gain employment in the future and choose a particular career path, the United States government implemented to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA) (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007).

It is important to note that IDEA was reauthorized in 2004 by the then United States president George W. Bush, and it came into effect on July 1 2012 (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). Since then there has been a considerable increase in the number of students who actively engage in post high school education and professional development. The provisions of IDEA mandate a transition planning process for all students with Individualized Education Program (IEP) in K-12 education (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). The transition plan facilitates the movement of the disabled children from school to post-school activities which encompass post-secondary education and career as well as professional development. In line with IDEA 2004, the definition of transition services refers to ‘child’ with disability as opposed to ‘student’ with disability hence the term children with disability is used and not students with disabilities [34 CFR 300.43] [20 U.S.C. 1401(34)] (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007).

This particular project is focused on exploring the manner in which successful transition can be achieved for special needs students at Seminole County Public School. The project also discusses how the children with disabilities and IEP teams can be guided in determining appropriate services and support that the children with disability require in order for them to successfully transition into college education and career life. The center of this project’s attention is on how the Naviance-Family Connection program will help facilitate the transition planning for disabled children who go to school at Seminole County Public School.

Naviance is a comprehensive K-12 college that provides children with disability with career readiness solution. Naviance achieves its objectives through enables local authorities and schools to align the strengths, needs and interests of the children with disability with post secondary education goals. This paper explores how the Naviance program can be used to improve the outcomes of disabled children and guarantee that they are effectively connected learning and employment, post-school. The paper also discusses how Naviance offers secondary schools with a platform to ensure that provisions of IDEA are met through providing the schools with tools that engage all students and enables them to make effective and appropriate decisions regarding their college education and career paths.

Seminole County faces considerable challenges when it comes to ensuring that children with disabilities are successfully integrated into college life and career paths. For instance, it is notable that middle and high schools within Seminole County do not have the capabilities and tools that facilitate individualized transition planning. This project aims at ensuring that the specific challenges that middle and high schools within the county face, and how they can be overcome. The project looks at how the Naviance Family Connection program can be able to connect IEP teams, students and parents to facilitate effective transition planning that prepares all students within the region for adult life (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007).

Some of the notable challenges at Seminole County, for instance at the Seminole County Public School is that there are no effective applications and tools that can be used to effectively asses all students including children with disability, to ensure that they all successfully transition to post high school education and future employment life (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). According to IDEA 2004, transition services need to be focused on individual child’s needs and this means taking into account the strengths, preferences, and interests of the child (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). The schools at Seminole County have failed to consider this and that is why in this project, the contributions of Naviance are considered with regards to how they can offer solutions to the existing problems. Naviance works with the Exceptional Student Education department to enhance the requirements of IDEA. This project will evaluate how it will be able to ensure that proper guidelines for Individualized Transition Planning (ITP) will be developed and implemented within the Seminole County. It is important to note that the Seminole County Public High School will be used as a case study in this project because the school is currently dedicated to closing the graduation gap between non-disabled students and children with disability, by putting emphasis on Transition Services and quality IEP’s.

The expected outcome of the research conducted in this project is aimed to illuminate on how Naviance will be able to ensure that the transition planning initiatives of Seminole County are in compliance with the stipulations offered by IDEA. This paper will provide information on how schools within the county can be able to align the strengths, preferences, and interests of children with disabilities, to adult life (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). The outcome of the project will provide the district with a consistent platform for offering transition services to children with disability. As a result it will provide information on how the quality of IEP transition services can and will be enhanced through training of the IEP team in Individualized Transition Planning (ITP). The project will also propose a common transition assessment platform for the region (Career Interest Profiler, Cluster Finder, Learning Style Survey, and Strength Explorer) (Office of Special Education Programs, 2007). The project will also explain how the platform will ensure that all students within the region make informed decisions related to training, education, employment, and if appropriate independent living.