Access to effective and comprehensive transition programming is pivotal to transition of youth with disabilities to work and independent living. Successful programs often blend key ingredients, including individualized educational planning, career development, work experiences in secondary school, and interagency partnerships/collaborations. Through a comparative analysis of the New York State transition program data, and the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) data, this study empirically demonstrated the simultaneous contributions of various transition program elements to student postsecondary outcomes using mediation models. In addition, the technique of using propensity score analysis for balancing the two comparison cohorts, applied in this study, contributes to the arsenal of analytical techniques for evaluating the impact of transition to adulthood programs.
This paper explores theories of student power and self-determination that evolved over the last century, and their relationships to general and special education practices. Historical events, such as the industrial revolution, changes to the workforce, and responses from the educational community are explored through the eyes of educational sociologists and theorists. Lines are drawn, connecting students of lower economic classes, students with disabilities, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and "self-determination" as described by the 1998 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. To improve student graduation, postsecondary participation and income rates, policy makers and community members must provide both the capacity, instruction and opportunity for all students to learn skills of self-determination, and design their educational programs. Indicators to increase student self-determination are organized into a table for planning. "The difficult thing to explain about how middle class kids get middle class jobs is why others let them. The difficult thing to explain about how working class kids get working class jobs is why they let themselves." Paul E. Willis, Learning to Labour (p.1) Poor student outcomes have resulted in tougher graduation requirements across many U.S. states. As more and more students fail to meet these new challenges, the educational community responds with new/old initiatives -a homeostasis of change/no change. The Brewer D. Exceeding Expectations
Pursuing postsecondary education is one of the most important human capital investments signaling higher worker productivity leading to improved employment, especially in the contemporary knowledge-based U.S. economy (Dunn, 2013). Despite the devastating impact of the Great Recession of 2007 on the overall job market, individuals with a college degree were less likely to lose their current jobs and were more likely to find new jobs, highlighting the mitigating role of postsecondary education during adverse labor market conditions (Carnevale, Jayasundera, & Cheah, 2013). Postsecondary education offers similar advantages, as well as protections from economic shocks for youth with disabilities as they transition from school to work (Kaye, 2010). In the midst of the Great Recession, Fogg, Harrington, and McMahon (2010) reported that nearly 60% of individuals with disabilities who had a postsecondary education degree were employed, compared with a 34% employment rate for their peers with just a high school degree. Utilizing a prospective cohort of young vocational rehabilitation consumers, Flannery, Yovanoff, Benz, and Kato (2008) demonstrated that participating in short-term college training improved their likelihood of employment and higher wages, compared with their peers who did not participate in college training. Furthermore, Madaus (2006) demonstrated in a follow-up post-college study that youth with disabilities were employed at the rate of their peers without disabilities and earned salaries, including benefits, that are equivalent to any non-disabled worker in the United States. These young adults also had higher levels of satisfaction with their employment compared with their peers with disabilities nationally (Madaus, Zhao, & Ruban, 2008). Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) confirmed that a higher proportion of youth with disabilities were pursuing postsecondary education in 2005 compared with findings from its last iteration conducted in the 1990s (Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Garza, & Levine, 2005). Despite these encouraging trends and policy/program supports from initiatives such as the reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HOEA), youth with disabilities are 7% less likely to pursue postsecondary education, compared with their peers without disabilities, 8 years after exiting secondary school (Newman et al., 2011). Several individual-and program-level factors have been described as predictors for successful enrollment in postsecondary education for youth with disabilities. At the individual-level, the type and severity of disability is correlated with the likelihood of enrollment in postsecondary 522093C DEXXX10.
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