Mary Wagner

Longitudinal Postschool Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities: Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study:

This article describes findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students regarding trends in the employment, wages, postsecondary education, and residential independence of youth with disabilities in their first 5 years after high school. Data from the NLTS indicated strong gains in all four outcome areas over time. In all areas, however, youth with disabilities continued to lag behind their peers in the general population. Several differences between youth in certain disability categories were found regarding employment, postsecondary education, and movement toward independence over time. Longitudinal outcomes also differed widely by gender, ethnicity, and high school completion status.

The Children and Youth We Serve: A National Picture of the Characteristics of Students With Emotional Disturbances Receiving Special Education

This article provides a national perspective of children and youth with emotional disturbances (ED) served in special education using data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National LongitudinalTransition Study—2. Data sources comprise teachers,school records, the students, and their parents. Results indicate that children and youth with ED live in households in which multiple risk factors exist for poor life outcomes. As a group, these children and youth have serious and multiple impairments that include an array of emotional disabilities, poor communication skills, and low academic achievement. There is a considerable gap between initial identification of problems and the onset of service delivery, a high rate of suspension and expulsion, and an unstable school environment. Parents of children and youth with ED work harder to secure services for their children and are less satisfied with services than parents of children in other disability groups. Implications of the findings point to a need to emphasize programs that address both the academic and the behavioral needs of these children and youth.

Postsecondary Education and Employment Among Youth With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

OBJECTIVES: We examined the prevalence and correlates of postsecondary education and employment among youth with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS: Data were from a nationally representative survey of parents, guardians, and young adults with an ASD. Participation in postsecondary employment, college, or vocational education and lack of participation in any of these activities were examined. Rates were compared with those of youth in 3 other eligibility categories: speech/language impairment, learning disability, and mental retardation. Logistic regression was used to examine correlates of each outcome. RESULTS: For youth with an ASD, 34.7% had attended college and 55.1% had held paid employment during the first 6 years after high school. More than 50% of youth who had left high school in the past 2 years had no participation in employment or education. Youth with an ASD had the lowest rates of participation in employment and the highest rates of no participation compared with youth in other disability categories. Higher income and higher functional ability were associated with higher adjusted odds of participation in postsecondary employment and education. CONCLUSIONS: Youth with an ASD have poor postsecondary employment and education outcomes, especially in the first 2 years after high school. Those from lower-income families and those with greater functional impairments are at heightened risk for poor outcomes. Further research is needed to understand how transition planning before high school exit can facilitate a better connection to productive postsecondary activities.

Family Outcomes in Early Intervention: A Framework for Program Evaluation and Efficacy Research

Much of the focus on the relationship between parents and professionals in early intervention has been on the rationale for working with families and the processes by which that rationale should be implemented. Although some discussion has occurred regarding desired outcomes, approaches and strategies by which the attainment of family outcomes could be documented have not been widely discussed or agreed upon by the field. In this article we suggest eight questions that could serve as a framework for determining the extent to which early intervention has accomplished the goals inherent in a family-centered approach. Conceptual issues and methodological considerations associated with documenting these outcomes are presented, and recommendations regarding implementation and future directions are made.

The Parents as Teachers program: results from two demonstrations.

The Parents as Teachers (PAT) program is a parent-education program that includes home visiting and is designed to begin prenatally or at birth. Through home visits, visitors called parent educators help parents to strengthen their parenting skills and knowledge of child development and to prepare young children for school. This article describes the PAT program and reports the results of evaluations of two randomized trials of PAT: (1) the Northern California (Salinas Valley) Parents as Teachers Demonstration, which served primarily Latino parents in the Salinas Valley of Californias Monterey County; and (2) the Teen Parents as Teachers Demonstration, which served adolescent parents in four counties in Southern California. The two evaluations revealed small and inconsistent positive effects on parent knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, and no gains in child development or health, when analyses compared the experimental and control groups overall. However, subgroup analyses in the Salinas Valley program indicated that children in primarily Spanish-speaking Latino families benefitted more than either non-Latino or English-speaking Latino families, with significant gains in cognitive, communication, social, and self-help development. Subgroup analyses in the Teen PAT Demonstration indicated that families that received both PAT services and comprehensive case management services designed to help mothers improve their life course benefitted most. Subgroup analyses in the Salinas Valley study suggested that children in families that received more intensive services benefitted more than children whose families received less intensive services. Results from that study suggested that home visits produced about a one-month developmental advantage per 10 visits for participating children.

The Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study Study Designs and Implications for Children and Youth With Emotional Disturbance

The purposes of this article are to (a) describe the design features of two longitudinal studies,the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study—2 (NLTS2) and (b) outline their potential implications for policy, practice, research, advocacy, and system development for children and youth with emotional disturbances (ED). We begin by reviewing the role of longitudinal research and its importance in building the knowledge base regarding these children and youth. A review of illustrative longitudinal studies conducted on children and youth with ED points to the potential of a longitudinal design for providing much needed information but also reveals the limitations and inconsistencies in both the samples and methods of existing studies that hamper development of policy and practice. SEELS and NLTS2 are offered as exemplars of the type of studies needed to supply critical information to the field. We describe key features of these studies and how they will extend the research knowledge base.We conclude by outlining the implications of the two studies for key issues in improving outcomes for children and youth with ED.

How Are We Preparing Students With Emotional Disturbances for the Transition to Young Adulthood? Findings From the National Longitudinal Transition Study—2

The authors describe five principles they identified from the literature on exemplary practices to help students with emotional disturbances (ED) have positive secondary school experiences and successful trajectories into early adulthood.The five are relationships, rigor, relevance, attention to the whole child, and involving students and families in goal-driven transition planning.The authors evaluated implementation of these practices for middle and secondary school students with ED by using data from a nationally representative longitudinal study of students receiving special education services. The results suggest that exposure to best practices has improved since the 1980s and is similar to that for students with other disabilities, but significant opportunity for improvement remains. The authors also identify implications for school programming.

Transition from High School to Work or College: How Special Education Students Fare

Results are reported from the National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students. Dropout rates were high: 30% of students with disabilities dropped out of high school, and another 8% dropped out before entering high school. The average dropout with disabilities was 18 years old at the time of leaving but had earned less than half the credits needed to graduate. Employment successes were strongly related to taking a concentration (four courses) in vocational education. Youths with learning disabilities or speech impairments were most likely to approach the rate of employment found in the general population. Postsecondary education was low: 37% of high school graduates with disabilities had attended a postsecondary school, compared with 78% of high school graduates generally. Students with hearing or visual impairments were most likely to attend college. Students with disabilities were significantly more likely to be poor than were youths in the general population, and poverty tended to exacerbate the impact of having a disability. Impoverished students with disabilities were less likely than wealthier students with disabilities to be enrolled in those postsecondary education and training programs that could enable them to break out of poverty. When employed, the poorer students with disabilities earned significantly less per year than did those from wealthier families. Placement in regular education (rather than special education) was associated both with better and worse postschool outcomes. Students with sensory or motor disabilities appeared to benefit from regular education placement. However, for many students, more time in regular education was associated with a higher likelihood of course failure, which was a strong predictor of dropping out of school.

ADHD among Students Receiving Special Education Services: A National Survey:

Relatively little is known about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among students receiving special education in terms of their demographic characteristics, instructional settings, and programming, nor about how these factors differ from students with disabilities who do not have ADHD. Data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS), a nationally representative study of students receiving special education, show that students with ADHD now constitute the majority of students in the categories of emotional disturbance and other health impairment. Hispanic students were underrepresented. Students with ADHD were more likely to receive accommodations and services.

Prevalence and Correlates of Screen-Based Media Use Among Youths with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Anecdotal reports indicate that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often preoccupied with television, computers, and video games (screen-based media). However, few studies have examined this issue. The current study examined screen-based media use among a large, nationally representative sample of youths participating in the National Longitudinal Transition Study—2 (NLTS2). The majority of youths with ASD (64.2%) spent most of their free time using non-social media (television, video games), while only 13.2% spent time on social media (email, internet chatting). Compared with other disability groups (speech/language impairments, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities), rates of non-social media use were higher among the ASD group, and rates of social media use were lower. Demographic and symptom-specific correlates were also examined.