Ask a College Expert: Meet Kelley Challen

Kelly Challen is Director of Transition Services at NESCA and has been since 2013. She provides transition assessment, consultation, and coaching aimed at supporting a student’s readiness for transition to college, technical training, adult learning, and/or employment.

Focus Collegiate: Thank you for being part of our interview series. How do you describe your specialty?

Kelley Challen: I am a Transition Specialist who works at neuropsychology practice in Massachusetts. My early background is as a licensed guidance counselor focused on transition to college. I also have designed and developed summer, school year, and transition programs for students on the autism spectrum. I now do a combination of counseling and consultation for students with a wide range of disabilities.

The evaluation and planning work I do with students and their families in terms of life after high school examines how student strengths and interests can inform their vision for adult life, including college, and what areas of need they might have. It’s a very niche specialty in the private sector.

FC: What is a transition assessment? How does it work? What does it look like?

KC: Most families who are part of special education are used to testing processes. But transition assessment is often a new experience that happens when students are in middle or high school. A good transition assessment should involve planning ahead of time and involving the parents’ or caregivers’ input. There should be an intake process where records are reviewed to consider what the assessment will focus on. Testing sessions can be scheduled with the student over several weeks, a full day, or a couple half days of testing.

Observation might also be part of the transition assessment process. We want to see students in settings that are comparable to similarly-aged students. For instance, if the student is getting closer to college age, we might want to visit a college with them.

The assessment informs a thorough report that identifies student goals and provides recommendations to help the student make progress toward those goals. Recommendations might include instruction, adjustments to course of study, activities, and experiences. For example, recommendations for a college-bound student might include overnight experience before living on a college campus or that the school counseling process might need to be modified. There should be some specific suggestions for remediating the student’s needs.

Transition assessments are usually part of the IEP process. There is a lot that we should be measuring to determine the appropriate path: academics, executive functioning, self-awareness, social-emotional functioning, vocational interests, and more. There is a lot we need to look at to make sure students are becoming more ready to move on to the next phase of their lives after high school. (Read more on what is tested here: https://nesca-newton.com/transition-assessment-what-are-you-testing-that-hasnt-already-been-tested/)

Many people hope a transition assessment will determine what the student’s job should be, but careers paths are not linear. I tell families I that I wanted to be an opera singer in high school and a computer programmer early in college; look where I am now. For students with disabilities, we need to remember that their career paths are no more linear than those without. The transition assessment can do a lot to inform the path, but students can’t skip the journey.

I want to emphasize that transition assessments are a required part of the IEP process, but there are many students without IEPs who benefit from career and college counseling that mirrors this assessment process. For so many teenagers, the energy they expend during their school day is dedicated to academics and the more traditional guidance counseling process. Many students have not had time for more structured career counseling where they learn about themselves, how their own interests and skills are related to jobs in the world, and how those jobs are connected to college majors or other training experiences. Students can gain so much motivation from this kind of understanding as well as how their disability might play into that.

FC: How can a transition assessment help? 

KC: Starting in middle school (for many), students are entitled to have a transition assessment that informs their IEP. It helps them identify their strengths, interests, preferences, and skills, and areas where their skills might be lacking.

We look at their postsecondary goals and explore their relevant interests. Doing this in an ongoing way can be life-changing. Talking with students at early ages about what’s motivating them and understanding where their strengths and areas of need are, and what kind of work they need to be willing to engage in to achieve their own goals is so important.

For kids to have data about themselves at earlier ages is really powerful! Sometimes the things they like and the things they are good at are aligned, sometimes not.

The transition assessment is a process that unfolds over time – who I am as a seventh grader is different than who I am as a tenth or twelfth grader. Some tools can be repeated over time which can also be very informative.

A transition assessment can inform college placement. It helps students and parents/caregivers understand where they are in the process. It’s a great lead-up to the college application process.

FC: How should a family and a student use their transition assessment to inform their next steps? 

KC: They should be engaged in thinking about goals for life after high school. For families to use it well, it must be an open dialogue with the student leading the charge.

I might work with a student on a life skills assessment. I’ll look at results with the student and ask them to rate on a scale of one to ten how important each item might be and where they want to focus first. There are many skills needed to be a college student. We look at which ones are most important to the student and help them engage in how they are going to build their skills.

Also, some kids come out of high school with ideas about what they want to do but have had no related instruction or experience. Early career assessments can help determine appropriate high school courses related to the student’s vocational interests.

We work together with students to test out passions and make sure these passions are part of their junior and senior year schedules so the student can get some experience. For example, they might want to be a doctor but might not be interested in chemistry or math. And we figure out what that means to the student and their next steps.

FC: When is a good time to have a transition assessment?

KC: Transition assessment should not be a one-shot deal. It should be an ongoing process, but there are some key times to make sure an assessment has happened: it informs their IEP and education process—at what age this happens depends on the state you live in and the student’s needs. For students on IEPs, it should happen no later than age 12 to 15.

I think it is valuable to start the process in middle school. Career and college readiness are so important, so why wait? Getting a sense of student interests and needs early on is important data related to transition planning.

Also, toward the end of their junior year, if this has not been done, this is a good time to get thinking about making a transition to college or other postsecondary activities. Hopefully we have been collecting information along the way. If not, then a really comprehensive assessment process will be vital.

FC: What do you wish more parents knew about your work?

KC: I wish more parents knew we existed! I have had the privilege of working with probably thousands of families; at the same time there are so many students and caretakers who walk into my office in the spring of twelfth grade and are simultaneously relieved and disappointed to realize that there is someone who can guide them through this process. They often indicate that they wish they had come in sooner.

I always tell parents, the more time and energy you put in early on for your child, the greater the benefits can be. If you suspect there might be a problem, be proactive. I am a parent. I know energy and resources spent earlier always works out better.

FC: I know that you blog for NESCA Notes (NESCA or Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents, is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center) Where can our readers find more of your essays?

KC: I’m glad you mentioned the blog. I’m very proud to be a contributor to the NESCA blog and enjoy reading the work of my colleagues on this blog. The content is for professionals and parents and is both really important and easy to digest. Our blog also aims to help students by covering a wide range of topics and diagnoses. It can be found here: https://nesca-newton.com/nesca-notes/, and you can subscribe to the blog right on that page.  

Here are the NESCA social media URLs:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/nesca-newton/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/NESCApc/
Instagram – @nescaneuropsychology

I have more specialized information on transition assessments on my Kelly Challen pages.
LinkedIn –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelleychallentransitions/ 
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kelleychallentransitions/ 
Instagram – @kelleychallentransitions