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SDLA Compliance Resource

Give the Student a Useful Summary of Performance at Graduation or Age Exit

An exit document that translates assessment and IEP history into current academic achievement, functional performance, accommodations, technology, and practical recommendations for adult goals.

  • Special Education
  • Exit
  • Secondary Transition
Date(s)When IDEA eligibility ends because the student graduates with a regular high school diploma or exceeds the age of eligibility
Applies toStudents exiting IDEA through regular-diploma graduation or aging out; other exits may require evaluation rather than only a summary

In Plain Language: Provide the student a summary of academic achievement and functional performance, with recommendations to help meet postsecondary goals. The document should be current and usable for college disability services, vocational rehabilitation, training, employment, independent living, and other adult supports.

Why this matters

Adult systems do not automatically receive or implement an IEP. A generic transcript or disability label does not explain effective accommodations, assistive technology, communication, mobility, executive-function, behavior, or self-advocacy needs.

Joint ownership

Owner: case manager/transition specialist. Contributors: student, parent as appropriate, teachers, assessors, related-service and AT providers, counselor, and adult-agency partners.

From exit eligibility to a student-ready summary of performance: the SDLA ITO workflow

The summary should be current and usable by college disability services, vocational rehabilitation, and employers. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the exit basis, current data, and the student's own input become the individualized summary, the student review, and the adult-agency handoff.

SDLA ITO: ten steps from the exit basis, current data, and the student's own input, through student-centered drafting, current performance summaries, and concrete recommendations, to the individualized summary, the student review, and the adult-agency handoff.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers student-centered drafting, current performance summaries, and concrete recommendations; Output covers the individualized summary, the student review, and the adult-agency handoff. Provide it at graduation with a regular diploma or when the student exceeds the age of eligibility.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Start before exit and involve the student in selecting current strengths, needs, goals, effective supports, AT, and relevant evidence.
  2. Summarize academic achievement and functional performance using current data, not a copied historical eligibility narrative.
  3. Make concrete recommendations tied to education/training, employment, independent living, communication, mobility, health, and technology as applicable.
  4. Review the summary with the student, provide an accessible copy, explain adult documentation differences, and connect agencies with consent.

Exit bridge

Current achievement and functional profile
What supports and technology work
Measurable adult goals
Concrete recommendations
Student understanding and agency handoff

Evidence to retain

  • Exit basis/date and transition plan
  • Current data and contributor input
  • Completed individualized summary
  • Student review and accessible copy delivery
  • Consent-based adult-agency/document handoff

Official guidance and help

Source review completed August 30, 2026. Verify current federal and California law, court or OAH instructions, local SELPA procedures, individual circumstances, and the exact service and records state before acting.