Making the transition to postsecondary education and training.

Making the transition to postsecondary education and training. ABSTRACT: A nationally representative sample of youth withdisabilities who recently exited high school was studied to determinethe participation of the youth in postsecondary educational programs.The results show that youth with disabilities participate inpostsecondary programs at only one-quarter the rate attained by theircounterparts without disabilities and at only one-third the rateattained by economically disadbantaged youth. The relationship ofpostsecondary education for youth with disabilities to long-term successin employment is yet to be determined. Although Public Law 94-142 has increased access to elementary andsecondary education for youth with disabilities (Office of SpecialEducation Programs, 1988; Wright, Cooperstein, Grogan-Renneker, &Padilla, 1982), individuals with disabilities continue to lag behindthose without disabilities in virtually every indicator of economicactivity (Czajka, 1984; Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985; Lando, Cutler,& Gamber, 1982; Mithaug, Horiuchi, & Fanning, 1985; Newman,1988). This evidence has raised concern that access to schooling,although crucial, is not sufficient to prepare individuals withdisabilities for postschool social and economic independence. As aconsequence, the transition period between high school and adult lifehas become a major focus of attempts to assist individuals withdisabilities in achieving an independent life (Will, 1984). A major factor in the transition from high school to adulthood isaccess to and success in postsecondary education and training.Participation in and completion of postsecondary collegiate col��le��giate?adj.1. Of, relating to, or held to resemble a college.2. Of, for, or typical of college students.3. Of or relating to a collegiate church. andvocational programs enhances the development of self-esteem (Feldman& Newcomb, 1969) and the likelihood of obtaining employment, forindividuals both with disabilities (Flynn, 198 1) and without (Rumberger& Daymont, 1984). For example, Rumberger and Daymont found thatparticipation in postsecondary vocational training is more stronglyrelated to long-term employability than is completion of secondaryvocational programs. Despite the increased emphasis by federal and state policymakers,educators, and parents on the transition period between high school andadulthood, little is known about the participation of youth withdisabilities in postsecondary education and training programs. Previousresearch typically has focused on a single state (e.g., Hasazi et al.,1985), a single type of disability (e.g., Kirchner & Simon, 1984),and a limited number of traditional collegiate programs (Willingham,1987). This research uses a new national data base, the NationalLongitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (hereafter In the future.The term hereafter is always used to indicate a future time—to the exclusion of both the past and present—in legal documents, statutes, and other similar papers. the National Transition Study), to examine the nationwide level ofparticipation in various postsecondary educational settings by youthwith a variety of disabilities. Comparative data for individuals withoutdisabilities are also examined. POPULATION AND SAMPLING A nationally representative sample of special education students ineach of the I I federal handicapping conditions was selected in twostages. First, a national probability sample of 626 school districtsserving Grade 7 or higher, which included a supplemental sample of 25special schools serving deaf and blind youth, was selected from apopulation of 13,180. This sample was stratified stratified/strat��i��fied/ (strat��i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat��i��fiedadj.Arranged in the form of layers or strata. by geographic region,enrollment, and community wealth (the proportion of students livingbelow the poverty level). Of the 626 local education agencies (LEAs),303 agreed to participate. To test for potential bias, the sample of 303LEAs was compared with the population of school districts on thefollowing measures: metropolitan status (urban, suburban, rural),percent minority enrollment, special education enrollment, types ofdisabilities served, and the extent of school resources for specialeducation students. No systematic bias was evident (Javitz, 1986). Sampled districts provided a roster of special education studentsaged 13 and older who were in Grades 7-12 in the 1985-86 school year.These rosters were stratified by federal handicapping condition and byage 1,3-15, 16-18, over 18). An initial sample of 12,648 specialeducation students representing approximately equal numbers from each ofthe federal handicapping conditions (except for deaf-blind youth) wasrandomly selected. Districts failed to provide addresses for 1,632 youthin the initial sample. An additional 558 youth could not be located; 32were deceased. The effective sample (i.e., the number of availablecontacts) was 10,458. Of this group, 6,877 youth with disabilitiesparticipated in the survey, a 65.8% response rate. A study of nonrespondents showed that individuals from highersocioeconomic levels were overrepresented o��ver��rep��re��sent��ed?adj.Represented in excessive or disproportionately large numbers: "Some groups, and most notably some races, may be overrepresented and others may be underrepresented" in the respondent group.Weights were adjusted in estimation procedures to account for this bias. For this study of postsecondary participation rates, the relevantgroup of respondents comprised the 1,242 youth who had been out ofsecondary school for at least 1 year and who were at least 17 years ofage at the time of exit. This group includes youth who had graduated,dropped out, reached an age limit, been expelled, or permanentlywithdrawn from school. A separate examination of high school graduates(i.e., special education students obtaining a high school diploma A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED. ) wasalso completed. INSTRUMENTATION AND DATA COLLECTION For this component of the National Transition Study, a pretest pre��test?n.1. a. A preliminary test administered to determine a student's baseline knowledge or preparedness for an educational experience or course of study.b. A test taken for practice.2. wasconducted, which showed that telephone interviews with parents of youthwith disabilities provided the most consistent responses aboutpostsecondary experiences (Javitz, 1986). Accordingly, survey data werecollected from telephone interviews conducted in the summer and earlyfall of 1987 with the parents or guardians of the 1,242 exiters. Thesurvey included items describing demographic characteristics, such ashandicapping condition, gender, ethnicity, family annual income, highestgrade completed by head of household, and whether the student hadgraduated from high school. Items specifying whether the youth had takenat least one course in a postsecondary setting after exiting high schooland the type of postsecondary institution attended were also collected.The postsecondary settings examined included vocational-technicalinstitutions, community or 2-year colleges, and 4-year colleges. Thesecategories and other survey items were selected to be consistent withthose in the High School and Beyond (HS&B) surveys (Jones, Sebring,Crawford, Spencer, & Butz, 1986a, 1986b) of primarily nondisabledyouth to permit comparisons between youth with disabilities (NationalTransition Study) and nondisabled youth (HS&B). DATA ANALYSIS To make accurate national estimates of secondary-aged youth withdisabilities overall and by handicapping condition, data were weightedby the inverse (mathematics) inverse - Given a function, f : D -> C, a function g : C -> D is called a left inverse for f if for all d in D, g (f d) = d and a right inverse if, for all c in C, f (g c) = c and an inverse if both conditions hold. of the sampling fraction both for LEAs and for studentswithin handicapping conditions; that is, weights were derived from thepopulation prevalence of students with disabilities in thesecondary-school population. For example, given equal sample sizes, theweight applied to the response for a student with learning disabilitieswould be greater than the weight applied to the response of anindividual with a speech impairment Impairment1. A reduction in a company's stated capital.2. The total capital that is less than the par value of the company's capital stock.Notes:1. This is usually reduced because of poorly estimated losses or gains.2. because of the higher prevalence ofstudents with learning disabilities in the secondary-school population.These procedures provide estimates with standard errors that range from+/- 2.76 percentage points to 4.25 percentage points (p <.05),depending on the variable examined. Comparative data from HS&B on the postsecondary educationparticipation of non-handicapped youth were examined, and two-tailedtests for differences between proportions for nondisabled and disabledrespondents were carried out. For all exiters, the relevant HS&Bcomparison group was the 4-year follow-up of high school sophomores(Jones, Sebring, & Campbell, 1986; Jones et al., 1986b). For highschool graduates, the relevant HS&B comparison group is the 2-yearfollow-up of the senior cohort (Jones et al., 1986a). Cross-tabulationanalyses with X 2 statistics were also used to assess differencesbetween groups. Although the HS&B data provide a benchmark for thepostsecondary education participation rates for youth who recently lefthigh school, the sampling and data collection methods for the NationalTransition Study and the HS&B studies were not identical. Data forthe National Transition Study were reported by parents or guardiansduring a telephone interview, whereas HS&B data were self-reportedby youth. In addition, the difference in the postschool period examinedby the HS&B studies 2 years) and the National Transition Study(between I and 11/2 years) should be noted, although the majority ofyouth who participate in postsecondary education typically do so withinthe first year of leaving school (Eagle, Fitzgerald, Gifford, Zuma,& MPR (MultiProtocol Router) Software from Novell that provides router capabilities for its NetWare servers. It supports IPX, IP, AppleTalk and OSI protocols as well as all the major LANs and WANs. Associates, 1988; Joneset al., 1986a, 1986b). RESULTS Demographic Characteristics of Exiters Table 1 compares thecharacteristics of special education students who had exited high schoolfor a minimum of 1 year with data from the 4-year follow-up of highschool sophomores in the HS&B study, collected in 1984 (Jones,Sebring, & Campbell, 1986; Jones et al., 1986b). Of specialimportance to the study of postsecondary participation is thesubstantial difference in socioeconomic status between youth withdisabilities and nondisabled youth. Compared with the population of highschool exiters, youth with disabilities are more likely to come fromlower income families, z = 7.57, p < 0001, and from families withlower educational attainment Educational attainment is a term commonly used by statisticans to refer to the highest degree of education an individual has completed.[1]The US Census Bureau Glossary defines educational attainment as "the highest level of education completed in terms of the , X[.sup.]2 72.74, 2 df, p <.0001. Involvement in Postsecondary Education and Training Table 2 presents data on the participation in postsecondaryeducational programs by students with disabilities who were out of highschool for at least 1 year and who were at least 17 years old during theyear of exit. Presented separately are data for youth with disabilitieswho graduated from high school. Comparative data on nondisabled youthfrom the HS&B studies are also presented. Youth with disabilities who exit high school are much less likelyto enroll in postsecondary educational programs than their nondisabledcounterparts: 15. 1 % versus 56.0%, z = 15.73, p < .0001. Thedifference in participation in postsecondary vocational programs betweenyouth with disabilities and nondisabled youth is minimal, = 1.93, p< .057. Less encouraging are the participation rates in communitycolleges and 4-year institutions: nondisabled youth are approximately 3times more likely to take some community college courses, z = 6.5 1, p< .0001, and 10 times more likely to take some 4-year collegecourses, z = 11.50, p <.0001, than are youth with disabilities. Graduation from high school does not reduce the discrepancy DISCREPANCY. A difference between one thing and another, between one writing and another; a variance. (q.v.) 2. Discrepancies are material and immaterial. inparticipation rates between youth with disabilities and nondisabledyouth. As shown in Table 2, youth with disabilities who graduate fromhigh school are less likely to participate in postsecondary educationthan are nondisabled youth, z = 17.96, p < .0001, equally likely toparticipate in postsecondary vocational schools, z = 0.97, p < .368;and much less likely to participate in 2-year colleges, = 5.80, p <.0001, and 4-year colleges z = 12.50, p < .0001. Participation in postsecondary education varies greatly by type ofdisability. As shown in Table 3, postsecondary education participationrates range from a high of 42.6% for students with visual impairments toa low of 4.8% and 5.9% for students with multiple disabilities andmentally retarded Noun 1. mentally retarded - people collectively who are mentally retarded; "he started a school for the retarded"developmentally challenged, retarded youth, respectively. In general, students with sensoryhandicaps (deaf, hard of hearing, and visually impaired) and youth withspeech or other health impairments show the highest rates ofparticipation. Youth with orthopedic orthopedic/or��tho��pe��dic/ (-pe��dik) pertaining to the correction of deformities of the musculoskeletal system; pertaining to orthopedics. , emotional, or learningdisabilities were in between the two extremes in their participation. The type of postsecondary setting also varies by type ofdisability. Youth with mental disabilities who participate inpostsecondary education are mostly served by vocational programs.Community colleges serve youth with speech impairments, youth who aredeaf, and youth with other health impairments at rates similar to thosefor nondisabled youth. Youth with visual impairments have the highestlevel of participation in 4-year colleges (27.8%). This compares with1.8% and 1.3% of youth with learning and emotional disabilities, whosecategories of disability comprise the vast majority of special educationstudents (Fairweather, 1985). Variation in Participation Rates by Demographic Characteristics As shown in Table 4, for the most part the factors related toparticipation in postsecondary education for youth with disabilities arethe same as those for nondisabled individuals. Males and females do notdiffer significantly in their participation rates, z = 0.63, p<.549, which is consistent with trends in the overall population(Eagle et al., 1988). Parental level of education and family income,which are related to enrollment in postsecondary programs for thepopulation at large (Plisko, 1984), also appear related to participationin postsecondary education for youth with disabilities. For example,youth with disabilities, with lower annual family incomes and lesseducated parents, are less likely to enroll in postsecondary programsthan youth with wealthier, better educated parents, z = 3.20, p <.001; X[.sup.]2 = 19.63, 2 df, p < .0001. Finally, as withnondisabled youth, graduation from high school is significantly relatedto postsecondary education for youth with disabilities, z = 3.5 8, p< .0005. One factor ran contrary to the trends for the nondisabledpopulation. Postsecondary education attendance rates between White andminority youth with disabilities are about the same, - 0.40, p <.689. Research on nondisabled youth has shown differences between ethnicgroups in their participation in postsecondary education (Eagle et al.,1988). DISCUSSION On average, youth with disabilities are much less likely to enrollin postsecondary education and training than those without disabilities.Higher postsecondary participation rates are in evidence only for youthwho comprise a small portion of the population of students withdisabilities--youth with speech, visual, hearing, and healthimpairments. The larger groups of youth with disabilities, particularlyyouth with learning disabilities, participate at a considerably lowerrate than do nondisabled youth. Placed in context, youth withdisabilities participate in postsecondary education at one-third of therate of the lowest and second lowest socioeconomic status quartiles(40.4% and 51.5%, respectively) (Gardner, 1987). Transition to postsecondary vocational education for youth withdisabilities is encouraging. These data are consistent with otherresearch showing stronger linkages between high schools and vocationalinstitutions for youth with disabilities than between high schools and4-year colleges (Katz, Flugman, & Goldman, 1979). In contrast, the transition to 2-year and 4-year college programsby youth with disabilities is much more problematic. The low overallparticipation rate by youth with disabilities in 2-year institutions isparticularly discouraging because of the vocational focus of many ofthese institutions and because of their efforts to recruit and serve awide range of constituencies. Perhaps most important, for many youthwith disabilities the cost of attending a vocational program in acommunity college is substantially less than the cost of attending aproprietary vocational institution. Despite dramatic differences in access, participation inpostsecondary programs is related to similar demographic characteristicsfor both youth with disabilities and those without. These includeparental education, income, and high school graduation status. Of crucial concern is whether postsecondary vocational training anddirect participation in employment programs is more strongly related tolong-term success in employment than is participation in communitycollege and 4-year college programs, even those related to vocationalaspirations aspirationsnpl → aspiraciones fpl(= ambition); ambici��n faspirationsnpl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fpl. Preliminary evidence from Michigan, for example, suggeststhat training received in narrowly configured supported employmentprograms does not transfer to work in different settings (Thompson,1989). In contrast, for individuals without disabilities, participationin 2- and 4-year college programs appears to have long-lasting impact onsuccess in employment (Rumberger & Daymont, 1984). In this context,in subsequent years the National Transition Study will focus ondetermining whether access to work-related programs and to vocationaltraining for youth with disabilities is as strongly related to long-termindependence as is access to 2-and 4-year colleges for the rest of thepopulation. If not, educators should reexamine re��ex��am��inealso re-ex��am��ine ?tr.v. re��ex��am��ined, re��ex��am��in��ing, re��ex��am��ines1. To examine again or anew; review.2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. the roles of secondaryand postsecondary institutions in the transition to adulthood for youthwith disabilities. REFERENCES Czajka, J. (1984). Digest on persons with disabilities. Washington,DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of HandicappedResearch and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative re��ha��bil��i��tate?tr.v. re��ha��bil��i��tat��ed, re��ha��bil��i��tat��ing, re��ha��bil��i��tates1. To restore to good health or useful life, as through therapy and education.2. Services. Eagle, E., Fitzgerald, R., Gifford, A., Zuma, J.. & MPRAssociates. 1998). A descriptive summary of 1980 high schoolsophomores: Six years later. Washington, DC: U.S. Department ofEducation. Fairweather, J. (1985). Lotigitudinal study of a sample ofhandicapped students: Selecting the school district sample. Menlo Park Menlo Park.1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there.2 Uninc. ,CA: SRI International (company) SRI International - One of the world's largest contract research firms. Founded in 1946 in conjuction with Stanford University as the Stanford Research Institute, they later became fully independent and were incorporated as a non-profit organisation under U.S. . Feldman, K., & Newcomb, T. (1969). 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Will, M. (1984). OSERS OSERS Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services programming for the transition of youthwith disabilities: Bridges from school to working life. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education andRehabilitative Services. Willingham, W. (1987). Handicapped applicants to college: Ananalysis of admissions decisions. New York: College EntranceExamination Board. Wright, A., Cooperstein, R., Grogan-Renneker, E., & Padilla, C.(1982). Local implementation of PL 94142: Final report of thelongitudinal study. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International. ABOUT THE AUTHORS JAMES S. FAIRWEATHER (CEC (Central Electronic Complex) The set of hardware that defines a mainframe, which includes the CPU(s), memory, channels, controllers and power supplies included in the box. Some CECs, such as IBM's Multiprise 2000 and 3000, include data storage devices as well. Chapter #255) is an Associate Professorand a Senior Research Associate, at the Center for the Study of HigherEducation at The Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University,main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. , University Park,Pennsylvania. DEBRA DEBRA Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America M. SHAVER is a Research Social Scientist at theCenter for Health, Education, and Social Systems Research at SRIInternational, Menio Park, California. Manuscript received May 1989; revision accepted September 1989. This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education,Contract No. 300-87-0054. The views presented in this article are solelythose of the authors. Exceptional Children, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 264-270 @1990 The Councilfor Exceptional Children.