Lynn Newman

A National Picture of Parent and Youth Participation in IEP and Transition Planning Meetings

Two prospective longitudinal studies of nationally representative samples of students with disabilities—the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2—are used to provide a broad look at the participation of parents of 11- through 19-year-old students with disabilities in Individualized Education Plan/transition planning meetings and their satisfaction with their involvement in them. Students’ attendance and the roles played in their transition planning meetings are also examined. Logistic regression analyses identify disability characteristics; demographics; aspects of parents’ involvement, expectations, and perceptions; experiences in students’ educational histories; and features of their instructional programs that help explain variations in parent and student participation, parent satisfaction, and student roles.

Longitudinal Transition Outcomes of Youth with Emotional Disturbances

OBJECTIVE Two perspectives are offered on the transition outcomes of youth with emotional disturbances (ED) using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). The first perspective compares two cohorts of youth ages 18-21 who were out of high school up to 4 years in 1990 and 2005 on their rates of high school completion, postsecondary education enrollment, employment, independent living, and criminal justice system involvement. The second perspective provides similar information from the final wave of NLTS2 data collection (2009), when young adults were ages 21-25. METHODS Using nationally representative interview and survey data, descriptive statistics are provided for outcomes at each time point. RESULTS Significant increases over time are apparent in rates of high school completion, postsecondary education, and arrest, and there was a significant decline in employment. Analyses of young adults with ED in 2009 show that 82.5 percent had completed high school, and 53 percent had had some postsecondary education. Although 91.2 percent had been employed at some time since high school, 49.6 percent were employed when interviewed; 63.1 percent had lived independently, 60.5 percent had been arrested, and 44.2 percent had been on probation or parole. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Youth with emotional disturbances trail the general population in positive transition outcomes, and high rates of criminal justice system involvement suggest more effort is needed, including early intervening with response to intervention (RtI) strategies and self-determination training, to help these young adults succeed after high school.

Predicting the Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students From Individual, Household, Communication, and Educational Factors:

Research suggests that the academic achievement of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is the result of a complex interplay of many factors. These factors include characteristics of the students (e.g., hearing thresholds, language fluencies, mode of communication, and communication functioning), characteristics of their family environments (e.g., parent education level, socioeconomic status), and experiences inside and outside school (e.g., school placement, having been retained at grade level). This paper examines the relative importance of such characteristics to U.S. DHH secondary students’ academic achievement as indicated by the Woodcock-Johnson III subtests in passage comprehension, mathematics calculation, science, and social studies. Data were obtained for approximately 500 DHH secondary students who had attended regular secondary schools or state-sponsored special schools designed for DHH students. Across all subject areas, having attended regular secondary schools and having better spoken language were associated with higher test scores. Significant negative predictors of achievement varied by type of subtest but included having an additional diagnosis of a learning disability, having a mild hearing loss, and being African American or Hispanic. The findings have important implications for policy and practice in educating DHH students as well for interpreting previous research.

The Influence of Family Socioeconomic Status on the Post–High School Outcomes of Youth With Disabilities

Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2, this study considers (a) the extent to which the socioeconomic status (SES) of youth with disabilities predicted their likelihood of high school graduation, postsecondary education enrollment, and employment; (b) the extent to which other individual and family factors mediated the SES–outcome relationships; and (c) other factors that significantly explained outcome variations for youth with disabilities. Results show that SES had a statistically significant but relatively small effect on outcomes, to a sizable extent the effect of SES was mediated by other factors, and many of the covariates in the analyses (e.g., disability type and severity, gender, race/ethnicity) had their own significant relationships with outcomes that contribute to our understanding of variations in them.

Disability Identification and Self-Efficacy among College Students on the Autism Spectrum.

The number of youth on the autism spectrum approaching young adulthood and attending college is growing. Very little is known about the subjective experience of these college students. Disability identification and self-efficacy are two subjective factors that are critical for the developmental and logistical tasks associated with emerging adulthood. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 to examine the prevalence and correlates of disability identification and self-efficacy among college students on the autism spectrum. Results indicate nearly one-third of these students do not report seeing themselves as disabled or having a special need. Black race was associated with lower likelihood of both disability identification and self-efficacy.

Who is where? Characteristics of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in regular and special schools.

To address the needs and abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in different educational settings, it is important to understand who is in which setting. A secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 database was conducted to examine differences in the characteristics of students who attended special schools, such as schools for the deaf, and those who attended regular schools serving a wide variety of students, such as neighborhood, alternative, and charter schools. The study included a nationally (U.S.) representative sample of about 870 DHH secondary school students. Findings from parent interviews and surveys revealed that students who attended only special secondary schools had greater levels of hearing loss, were more likely to use sign language, had more trouble speaking and conversing with others, and were more likely to have low functional mental scores than students who had attended only regular secondary schools. There were no differences in the presence of additional disabilities or cochlear implants between students in the different settings. In many ways, student characteristics did not vary by school type, suggesting that both types of secondary schools serve students with a wide range of needs and abilities.

Reported Accommodations and Supports Provided to Secondary and Postsecondary Students with Disabilities: National Perspective.

There is a dearth of information on specific accommodations used by students with disabilities at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2, researchers examined a nationally representative cohort of 3,190 students with disabilities who reported that they had ever enrolled in a postsecondary program since leaving high school. Analysis of differences in rates of self-disclosure indicated that only 35% of youth with disabilities informed their college of their disability. Whereas 95% received disability-based accommodations at the secondary level, only 23% did so at the postsecondary level. Likewise, 59% received at least one modification at the secondary level but only 4% did in college. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The Benefits of High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Youth With Learning Disabilities

Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS2), this study examines the career and technical education (CTE) course taking of high school students with learning disabilities (LD) in the context of the national movement toward higher standards for determining whether students leave high school “college and career ready.” Descriptive analyses document the extent of general education CTE course taking overall by students with LD and their engagement in a concentrated program of occupationally specific general education CTE, a level of course taking early research has linked to improved post–high school employment outcomes. Propensity score modeling was used to determine whether either type of CTE course taking is related to higher odds of full-time employment after high school and whether results differ with the length of time youth were out of high school. Results show no benefits of CTE course taking overall, but demonstrate a significant positive effect for participating in a concentration of occupationally specific CTE in the first 2 post–high school years; effects are nonsignificant for later years. The implications for high school programming and transition planning for students with LD are discussed.

An Analysis of Factors Related to Receipt of Accommodations and Services by Postsecondary Students With Disabilities

A secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 examined the relationship between demographic, disability-related, secondary school preparation, and transition planning variables and receipt of accommodations and other disability-specific services at the postsecondary level for 2,470 postsecondary students with disabilities. The results indicated that secondary students who received transition planning education were more likely to receive accommodations and other disability-specific services in 2-year colleges and that those who had a transition plan that specified postsecondary accommodations and supports as a needed post–high school service were more likely to receive those types of services in 2-year colleges and in career and technical education schools. These findings suggest that secondary schools can influence the likelihood that students will seek out and receive postsecondary accommodations and other disability-specific services.

Longitudinal Post-High School Outcomes of Young Adults with Learning Disabilities or Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

Abstract Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), this study compared the post-high school outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in 1990 and 2005. These cohort comparisons reveal how the results of special education have changed over that time period as evidenced in the post-high school outcomes of nationally representative samples of youth. The extended data collection time period of NLTS2 (2001–2009) also enabled an assessment of the evolution in the post-high school outcomes of young adults with LD or EBD who had been out of high school up to 8 years. The post-high school outcomes considered included high school completion, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, employment status and wages, and community integration as illustrated by living arrangements and criminal justice system involvement. Findings for both the NLTS/NLTS2 cohort comparisons and the longitudinal analyses from NLTS2 indicate progress in efforts to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with LD or EBD but also underscore the work ahead in setting these groups on a path to successful adulthood. Implications for practice and research are discussed.