Oklahoma IEP Transition Assessment: The TAGG and Zarrow Center Tools

Why Transition Assessments Drive Everything Else

Oklahoma requires IEP transition plans to be grounded in "age-appropriate transition assessments" — not teacher hunches, not parental hopes, not whatever career the student mentioned once in passing. The assessments generate data, and that data becomes the foundation for the measurable postsecondary goals the IEP team writes in training/education, employment, and independent living.

When assessments are weak or missing, the goals are vague. Vague goals produce vague services. And vague services produce a student who exits school without a concrete plan. The assessment is the part of the transition process where rigor either enters or doesn't.

The TAGG: Oklahoma's Homegrown Transition Assessment

The Transition Assessment and Goal Generator (TAGG) was developed at the University of Oklahoma's Zarrow Center for Enriched Learning and Transition. It's one of the few transition assessment tools specifically designed to measure the non-academic behaviors that research has connected to post-school success — meaning employment, enrollment in postsecondary education, and independent living outcomes.

The TAGG measures eight constructs:

1. Strengths and limitations — the student's awareness of their own abilities and challenges.
2. Disability awareness — understanding of their diagnosis and how it affects daily functioning.
3. Persistence — the ability to follow through on tasks despite difficulty or frustration.
4. Interacting with others — social skills, communication, and relationship management.
5. Proactive involvement — initiative in managing personal responsibilities.
6. Goal setting and attainment — the ability to set realistic goals and work toward them.
7. Employment — readiness for workplace expectations and culture.
8. Self-advocacy — the ability to communicate needs and request accommodations.

The tool comes in two versions: a student self-assessment and a family assessment. Having both perspectives matters. The student version captures how the student perceives their own abilities, while the family version captures the parent's observations. Discrepancies between the two often reveal areas where the student either overestimates or underestimates their independence — both of which are useful data points for the IEP team.

How TAGG Scores Become IEP Goals

The TAGG doesn't just produce a score and leave the IEP team to figure out what to do with it. The tool is explicitly designed to generate postsecondary goals. Scores from each construct map to specific goal areas:

• Low scores in employment and proactive involvement suggest the student needs more work-based learning experiences and Pre-ETS services through DRS.
• Low scores in self-advocacy and disability awareness point toward instruction in requesting accommodations — critical for any student heading to college or CareerTech.
• Low scores in goal setting and persistence indicate the student may need more structured support during the transition period and a longer-term approach to building independence.

The IEP team takes these data points and writes measurable postsecondary goals that directly address the areas where the student scored lowest. This creates a traceable link between the assessment data and the goals — which is exactly what OSDE compliance reviewers look for during audits.

Other Transition Assessments Used in Oklahoma

The TAGG isn't the only tool Oklahoma educators use, though it's the most directly connected to the state's transition infrastructure through the Zarrow Center. Other commonly used assessments include:

Interest inventories. Standardized tools like the Career Scope or the Self-Directed Search help students identify career interests and match them to job families. These feed into the ICAP's career pathway selection and the IEP's postsecondary employment goal.

Adaptive behavior assessments. Tools like the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales or the ABAS measure functional living skills — communication, daily living, socialization, and motor skills. These are especially important for students with intellectual disabilities because DDS waiver eligibility requires functional limitations in at least three major life activity areas.

Functional vocational evaluations. These hands-on assessments place students in simulated or real work environments and measure task completion, work speed, attention, and social behavior. DRS counselors often request these before writing an Individualized Plan for Employment.

The ChoiceMaker Self-Determination Assessment. Another Zarrow Center tool that specifically measures self-determination skills across three areas: choosing goals, expressing goals, and taking action. It's designed for students with mild to moderate disabilities and provides a structured framework for teaching self-determination within the IEP.

What Parents Should Know About the Assessment Process

If your child's school hasn't conducted a transition assessment by the beginning of ninth grade — when the transition plan must be active — that's a compliance issue. The plan can't be based on assessment data if no assessments have been done.

Parents can request specific assessments in writing. If you want the TAGG administered, ask for it by name. If the school uses a different tool, that's fine — but whatever they use must be age-appropriate, documented in the IEP, and connected to the postsecondary goals.

The assessment also has a shelf life to consider. For DDS waiver eligibility, intelligence testing done at age 16 or older is considered permanently valid. But testing done between ages 7 and 16 expires — after four years if the Full-Scale IQ is below 40, and after just two years if it's 40 or above. If your child will need DDS services, making sure the IQ evaluation is conducted at age 16 or later avoids having to pay for new testing during the waiver application process.

Connecting Assessment to Action

Assessment without follow-through is just paperwork. The assessment results should directly inform:

• The three postsecondary goals in the IEP
• The DRS Pre-ETS activities the student participates in
• The ICAP career pathway selection
• The graduation pathway decision (standard diploma vs. alternate diploma)
• The decision-making framework the family establishes before the student turns 18

The Oklahoma IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a transition assessment planner that helps parents organize results from the TAGG, adaptive behavior scales, and vocational evaluations — and map them directly to each required component of the IEP transition plan.

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