Most students spend their last years of high school imagining what comes next. For students who receive special education services, getting an early start on transition planning can better prepare them for the long-term.
Federal law only calls for planning transition services to be underway once a student reaches the age of 16. However, the state of Utah decided to start the process two years earlier in 2016, drawing on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)’s transition services guidance on a student’s strengths, interests, preferences, and requirements.
Even so, Lavinia Gripentrog, a secondary transition specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, said the earlier timeline was only one step forward. Students still needed more time to prepare for life after high school. “They might have the diploma in their hand,” she explained, “but do they really have the skills, experience, knowledge, and self-advocacy skills to function well as young adults?” (Stanborough, 2026). The know-how adulthood demands range from managing a calendar to speaking up for yourself.
Such skills can take years to develop, particularly for students with more complex support needs, as well as utilizing those skills in different environments. That realization led Utah’s transition team to ask a simple question: Which skills are students lacking when they leave high school?
Identifying the Skills That Matter Most
To pinpoint which abilities are most essential, Utah’s transition team reverse-engineered the skill-building process by consulting higher education programs that served students with intellectual disabilities. Their feedback, along with other parties including campus disability services offices, feedback revealed a cluster of necessary skills newcomers often lacked.
The research points the same way, linking abilities like self-advocacy, self-determination, and social competence to some of the strongest outcomes after high school (Mazzotti et al., 2020).
The Core Skills Students Need
Utah’s outreach produced a short list of skills educators can develop in their pupils long before graduation:
- self-advocacy;
- social interaction;
- time management and organization;
- everyday problem resolution;
- emotional self-management;
- community navigation;
- adult daily living skills;
- safety and wellness;
- career development; and
- technology skills.
Utah’s method is to trace each of these skills backward. In order to do so, the team will ask what emotional self-management or self-advocacy might look like for a preschooler, a fifth grader, or a middle schooler, allowing each skill to be taught in small, age-appropriate doses.
While the tool was designed with educators in mind, it can benefit families as well. For example, a parent who helps their child weigh choices or ask for help is already cultivating self-advocacy. It can also be advantageous for students with more complex support needs, as practicing across many settings can help solidify it and allow the student to use it with confidence.
The team hopes Individualized Education Program (IEP) groups will use the list as a planning tool. It can help teams write goals, plan instruction, and arrange services. It also encourages opportunities for students to practice those skills in the classroom, at home, and in the community.
Where Assessment Fits
Sound planning also rests on sound information. A structured measure helps a team see a student in which areas they excel at and which areas they need support. One such area is social connection, which the (SRS®-3) Social Responsiveness Scale, Third Edition helps measure in students from childhood to adulthood. This assessment tool gauges social responsiveness and autism-related characteristics by gathering data from parents, teachers, and the individual themselves. With this whole student assessment, social strengths and needs can flow straight into IEP goals and a transition plan.
When early skill-building and clear assessment pull in the same direction, a high school diploma can signal real readiness instead of a stack of completed credits.
Research and Resources
Stanborough, R. (2026). Transition Elevated: Utah’s Ambitious Aims for Students With Disabilities. WPS. https://www.wpspublish.com/blog/transition-elevated-utah-transition-planning-students-with-disabilities
Mazzotti, V. L., Rowe, D. A., Kwiatek, S., Voggt, A., Chang, W. H., Fowler, C. H., Poppen, M., Sinclair, J., & Test, D. W. (2021). Secondary Transition Predictors of Postschool Success: An Update to the Research Base. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 44(1), 47–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143420959793
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