The TPI is a great assessment to use in transition planning. One of the unique features that I like is the fact that the assessment gathers information from several different sources/perspectives. Several different forms are used to collect data from various perspectives including the student, home and school. These forms are then transferred to a protocol where they are compared to see if they align with each other. This allows you to compare how a student rates themself on an item and how their parent or teacher rate them on the same item. The TPI also makes it easy to identify what areas of transition the student needs additional instruction in. The TPI is also available in several different languages.

Although I have not used this assessment yet it looks like a great one to use. I really like how the student, teacher and parents fill out forms based on the students abilities and experiences. This gathers great information to discuss and use in the transition planning process. I like how each form is specifically for each targeted group. I think the information gathered really addresses the students needs, interests and strengths.

Transition Planning Inventory

This assessment seems to be more comprehensive in sub-areas than others. It looks at nine different areas (Employment, Further Education/Training , Daily Living, Leisure Activities, Community Participation, Health, Communication , Self-Determination, Interpersonal Relationships). The assessment can be given in three different ways (oral, self-administration, or guided administration) and input is gained from the student, parent, and school by use of three different forms and offers a modified format for students with significant disabilities. There is also a computer version available. With the administration instructions, they provide planning forms and completed examples.

I think this assessment has a lot of use to all students, whether having a disability or not. The authors have made a variety of formats available. They also seem to listen to professionals using this assessment and try to improve upon the assessment.

While I think I would be in favor of the district using this tool, and I like the planning forms and how the authors seem to walk users through using it, I don't see the whole assessment being fully utilized, due to the length of the planning forms.

The Transition Planning Inventory is a great tool to use for transition planning and goal setting. The school, student and parent each have a form to fill out. The authors have provided forms in several languages and one for lower functioning students. It is nice to be able to compare how everyone sees the student's skills. From there you can narrow down areas for goal development based on what everyone agrees are areas of need. I like the open ended questions on the student form. I am able to get lots of insight into the student's goals from these questions. Part of the manual includes suggestions for transition goals for each area of the assessment. I do wish I had more training on moving from scoring to development of goals. I don't feel like I use this assessment to it's full advantage. I think there is probably a lot more I could be doing with it. But it is a great start and provides good information for transition.

Upon reviewing the Transition Planning Inventory, it definitely appeared to be a comprehensive assessment. I was amazed at the number of areas within the transition process that it addressed. The information gathered from this one assessment, can be used to create a number of goals for an effective student centered transitional plan. What impressed me most about the assessment is the clarity of the guidelines in which to score the tool. The instructions left no apparent room for subjective scoring. A positive and negative aspect of this assessment is that it seems best to be administered by someone who has an increased knowledge of the student. I feel that this tool would be less accurate if given by someone who has little to no knowledge of the student. In the same respect, I can see an individual that is too emotionally invested in the student having difficulty scoring items objectively. (My opinion is based on a review of information and not from administering the actual assessment.)

The Transition Planning Inventory is a good general assessment that covers several areas of adult life, and is useful for a wide variety of individuals. Having three different perspectives (parent, teacher and student) is definitey helpful, as I discovered. One student with Asperger Syndrome had a completely different perspective on his abilities as compared to his mother and case manager. This led to a long and fruitful discussion with the Team and resulted in not only goals to drive the transition process, but the student having a more realistic perspective on himself.

The TPI gathers information on the student's needs, preferences, interests and strengths. On top of asking the student the TPI gathers the same information from other sources; parents, teachers, friends, etc…on three different forms that are combined together looking for similarities and differences. The TPI also has four parts to it; administration and resource guide, forms, informal assessments and finally sample case studies to assist in planning and implementing.

The administrative guide and resource book provides an overview of the assessment, how to administer and score it. It also helps in interpretion and offers guidelines for how to use to the results.

The forms section contains the three forms; student, home and school. The student version appears to be written at a lower Lexile level than the other two forms. There are even open ended questions that could be used to assist in writing goals for the student.

The informal assessments section contains statements and informal assessments that can be used to further clarify the individual items within the TPI. These assessments are meant to increase the knowledge gained from the TPI.

Finally the case studies portion of the assessment. Here the tool gives you actual case studies along with present levels of performance, corresponding goals which then can lead to transition goals that are concrete and workable.

We have this assessment at school and I do like it. It is comprehensive, yet easy to use and does not feel intrusive in its questions or the way that it is laid out.

I've used this assessment several times to help assist in creating transition plans. For the most part, I like using it. It is user friendly for both parents and students and it provides great planning and data gathering tools. It also has many informal assessments that have been very useful and provides clear examples of how to use the info gathered and write goals. Overall, I do recommend this assessment.

I have just started using this assessment with my students. I love the fact that there is a student form and a home form to be completed. This is a way to get the family involved with the student's transition. There are scales for the students to determine how well they do something, know something and like something. It also has a section where the students write in answers to questions. This is more of an informal assessment. I would use this after using an assessment or career inventory because it doesn't give career ideas just how well they like something. It is still very informative to get to know the student's likes as well as their family's point of view.

For the past several years I have used the TPI to begin transition planning with my sophomore students. It is quite detailed and gives a broad perspective of the students strengths, weaknesses and preferences. More than other instruments I have used I feel as though I have a higher success rate of having the parent version returned to me, so my assumption is that parents find it usefull and accessible.

One con of the program is that I find it cumbersome to summarize and compile. That said, I still feel that the information obtained is of value and has proven to be a great starting point for transition plannning with my students. I will continue to use it in the years to come.

I think that the TPI is a useful tool in transition. I like that the inventory provides questionnaires (forms) that may be used across environments (school, home, and for the student). I find that the "less wordy" versions of the questionnaire for home and school (that are available in multiple languages) are helpful. I also like that the inventory provides an extensive list of transition goals which IEP teams may consider.