Karen Rabren

Variables Affecting Students' Decisions to Drop Out of School

This study examined factors predictive of dropping out of high school for students with learning disabilities (LD) and mental retardation (MR). The sample was composed of 228 students with LD or MR who dropped out of school and 228 students with LD or MR who had not dropped out. Two sets of predictor variables (student demographics and interview responses) were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression analysis in terms of their relationship to the outcome variable of dropout. The variables retained in the final model were learning disability, helpful person, helpful class, and general preparation. Specifically, the probability of dropping out for a student with LD who did not feel he or she was being prepared for life after high school and did not identify a helpful class and a helpful person was .86, compared to .16 for a student with MR who did find a particular class and person helpful and felt that school was preparing him or her for desired outcomes. Implications of the results are discussed.

An Examination of Co-Teaching Perspectives and Efficacy Indicators

Co-teaching has been developed as an instructional approach to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The purpose of this study was to identify teachers’ and students’ perspectives of co-teaching and the efficacy of this teaching approach. Forty-five co-teachers and 58 students with disabilities (N = 103), all of whom were new to co-taught classrooms during the 2004 through 2005 school year, participated in this study. Data were collected from surveys, observations, and records review. Significant differences in student academic and behavioral performances were found in comparisons between the year before co-teaching and the year of co-teaching. Students with disabilities and their teachers also reported positive perspectives about co-teaching. Based on these preliminary results, co-teaching appears to be an effective instructional delivery option for meeting the needs of students with disabilities in general education classrooms.

Predictors of Post-High School Employment Among Young Adults with Disabilities

This study examined the employment status of 1,393 former special education students who had exited from 37 of Alabamas 128 school systems between 1996-2000. These 37 school systems served as demonstration sites through the states transition systems change grant. Follow-up telephone interviews revealed that 73% (N=1,013) of these former students were employed one year after exit. Using a hierarchical logistic regression analysis, there was an 87% probability that these students would be employed one year after high school if they held a job at the time they exited school. Other significant findings include the relationship between employment status and gender, disability, and urban or rural setting. The probability of the student having a job one year after high school, for example, was greater if the student was male, had a learning disability, was from an urban school, and had a job at the time of school exit. In contrast, the probability of employment was less likely for females with a disability other than a learning disability, from rural schools, and without a job at the end of high school. These findings suggest that students with disabilities can benefit from participating in paid work experiences during high school and that females in rural settings need better transition planning and programs.

The Differential Effects of Two Systematic Reading Comprehension Approaches with Students with Learning Disabilities

This study compared two highly dissimilar approaches for teaching students to determine character motive when reading three types of narrative text. The three text types used were textually explicit, textually implicit, and scriptually implicit. The two approaches were an explicit rule-based instruction approach and a basal-reader activity-based approach. Forty students with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to either the explicit rule-based or the basal-reader activity-based instructional group. Daily instructional sessions lasted 45 minutes and were conducted for 2 weeks. The groups were evaluated on four comprehension measures: (a) daily retells of stories, (b) unit tests, (c) a transfer measure, and (d) a maintenance measure. The results suggest that rule-based instruction is superior to an activity-based approach when teaching students with learning disabilities to determine character motives irrespective of text type on short-term measures. However, there were no significant differences between the two instructional groups on the maintenance and transfer tests.

Actions Against Poverty: The Impact of Career Technical Education

There is clear and convincing evidence that students with disabilities living in poverty are facing the double jeopardy of dealing with issues associated with their disability, as well as the challenges of living in minimal conditions. Improving outcomes for this population requires the identification and implementation of effective programs. This study analyzed program factors and post-school outcomes of 500 former students with disabilities to determine to what extent predictions regarding employment for these students can be determined. Findings suggest that in high-relative poverty areas, participation in career technical education is associated with higher rates of employment during and after high school.

The Post-School Outcomes Transition Survey: A Tool for Effective Decision Making?.

This study investigated the validity of the Post-School Outcomes Transition Survey (PSOTS). The PSOTS was designed to ascertain whether individuals who received special education services in secondary school have obtained postschool employment or have enrolled in postsecondary education or training within 1 to 2 years of exiting high school. The PSOTS also attempts to obtain continuous scores for transition program services provided to students while they were enrolled in secondary school. Two representative data sets of PSOTS respondents (Year 2004, n = 539, and Year 2005, n = 415) were employed to validate the PSOTS via exploratory factor analysis. A total of 16 salient factors were supported, 8 of which were regarded as postschool outcome dimensions with 8 construed as in-school program dimensions. Because the factors represent robust, continuous measures of transition constructs, they can be used to link transition practices to postschool outcomes through experimental research as suggested by Test, Fowler, et al.

A Consensual Qualitative analysis of parental concerns and strategies for transition

BACKGROUND: Family involvement has been identified as an evidence-based transition practice in both special education and vocational rehabilitation (VR); however, from a VR perspective, less is known about how to engage parents in their children’s transition to adult roles and responsibilities. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine parents of children with disabilities’ perceived issues in transition and obtain their input for improvement. METHODS: A Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) design was used to analyze multiple case studies collected from three focus groups of parents of students with disabilities in one southeastern state. Data analysis explored parental experiences with transition services to help identify family concerns. RESULTS: The data yielded six domains of parental concerns: (a) transition preparation, (b) integration, (c) adult services, (d) parent support, (e) advocacy, and (f) professionals’ roles. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study provides vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors and other helping professionals, who work with families and secondary students with disabilities in transition, information related to how to engage parents as collaborator in transition in order to improve the post-school outcomes of students with disabilities. Recommendations for VR counseling practitioners who work with parents and students with disabilities are included.