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.

Outcome data from the 21st Annual Report to Congress and the National Longitudinal Transition Study related to youths with visual impairments indicate that postsecondary education does not translate into increased employment opportunities for these youths. The literature on the best transition practices for students with visual impairments is reviewed, and specific recommendations are made in each area.

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Research shows that deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students frequently enter college and the workplace relatively unprepared for success in math, science, and reading. Based on data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), the present study focused on DHH students' college and career readiness by investigating their opportunities in secondary school to acquire college and career skills. DHH students earned more credits overall than hearing peers; both groups earned a similar number of credits in academic courses. However, DHH students took more vocational and nonacademic courses and fewer courses in science, social science, and foreign languages. There was evidence that DHH students' academic courses in math lacked the rigor of those taken by hearing peers, as DHH students earned more credits in basic math and fewer credits in midlevel math courses, and even fewer in advanced math courses, than hearing peers.

Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 states have experienced continual change in how they define and implement alternate assessments. A subset of 16 states was randomly selected to determine how each state is implementing alternate assessments and achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Telephone interviews were conducted from January to August 2005, and a 32-item questionnaire was used to collect information on alternate assessment procedures. This article focuses on the ways states are interpreting how students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are held to the same content standards as their peers without disabilities, whether states exert quality control over the administration of the alternate assessments, and the costs of implementing alternate assessments.