SEO Ed Digest
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Vol. 3, Issue 3
March 2006
Bringing urban P-16 education resources to policymakers, parents, advocates, and district and school staff in the District of Columbia
Research on DC Schools
National Lessons Learned
New Ideas
The State Education Office does not endorse the views expressed in the resources and reports contained in the SEO Ed Digest.
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This issue of the SEO Ed Digest covers recent and background research on the topic of transitions for youth, with a focus on youth in special education. The transition to adulthood is a tumultuous time for all youth, but it is especially complex for students with disabilities. The research in this digest focuses on the experiences that students with disabilities face as they transition to adulthood, the challenges they face, recommendations on how to implement a more effective system to help students with disabilities transition to adulthood, and successful programs that help students with disabilities transition to life after high school.
Fall 2005
July 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
August 2004
April 2004
February 2004
October 2003
September 2003
July 2003
December 2002
November 2005
June 2005
April 2005
November 2004
Fall 2005
On Your Own Without a Net: The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations
This book documents the special challenges facing seven vulnerable populations during the transition to adulthood: former foster care youth, youth formerly involved in the juvenile justice system, youth in the criminal justice system, runaway and homeless youth, former special education students, young people in the mental health system, and youth with physical disabilities. During adolescence, government programs have been a major part of their lives, yet eligibility for most programs typically ends between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. This critical volume shows the unfortunate repercussions of this termination of support and points out the issues that must be addressed to improve these young people's chances of becoming successful adults.
This brief summarizes two chapters in the book On Your Own without a Net: The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations. It outlines how youth in special education are supported while in school and after. The brief discusses the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the requirements of transition planning for special education students. It also discusses current policy problems with the transition planning process and offers recommendations on how to smooth the transition to adulthood for youth with special needs.
March 2005
Special Populations and the Transition to Adulthood: Challenges to Policies and Research
This chapter examines the transition to adulthood among adolescents leaving three child-serving systems in the United States -- Foster Care, Juvenile Justice and Special Education. The authors begin by describing the ways in which children enter those systems and the ways in which they exit them prior to late adolescence. They then describe the ways in which the transition to adulthood affects their involvement with those systems, review the literature on how these youth fare over time, and consider the special challenges they face. They also examine their transition out of these programs, describe services designed to facilitate it, and review the little that is known about the effectiveness of those services. They conclude with an evaluation of these programs from a life-course perspective and offer some reflections on why available evidence is so limited and on directions for future research.
This two-day conference was held in Chicago in November 2004 and assembled a diverse set of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to mark the centennial of psychologist G. Stanley Hall’s landmark study on the needs of adolescents. The 2-day conference discussed current research and practice and what it suggests about how our major social institutions have adapted to support young people as they make the transition to adulthood in the twenty-first century. This report is a summary of the conference. Topics that were discussed include: health and mental health issues, vulnerable populations, youth development and civic engagement, workforce development, education, and juvenile justice and adult corrections.
This paper uses the newly released National Survey of Children and Families (NSCF) to study the transition experiences of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients just prior to and after age 18. Since reforms passed in 1996, child SSI recipients must now have their eligibility for benefits redetermined at age 18 using the adult disability standard. The authors study the work preparation activities and family circumstances of a pre-transition cohort of young people ages 14 to 17 in 2000. They also examine a post-transition cohort of young people ages 19 to 23 in 2000, comparing income, work, personal and family circumstances of those on SSI benefits after age 18 to those who no longer receive these benefits. The authors found that pre-transition SSI recipients come from economically disadvantaged families in which many parents are not working, have low levels of education, or do not speak English. Only a minority of these recipients had ever participated in vocational training or vocational rehabilitation (VR) and many had never heard of SSI work incentive provisions. In addition, more than one in six reported serious behavior problems in school or trouble with the juvenile justice system. Their findings for the post-transition cohort show that those who no longer receive SSI at age 18 ("off SSI") are in better health and more likely to be working than those who continue on benefits ("on SSI"). These findings should be relevant to ongoing efforts to improve the transition process for child SSI recipients and to understand some of the circumstances of young people after the age 18 redetermination.
This brief identifies and describes five research-based practices proven effective in increasing rates of school completion. The practices utilized random samples or comparison groups and had statistically significant results for the treatment group on the variable of enrollment status.
This brief outlines results of a research project designed to create a model facilitating greater access for students with disabilities to postsecondary education and careers in science and technology, and investigate issues related to the transition from high school to college for students with disabilities. The researchers sought to gather information to promote a seamless transition for high school students with disabilities to math, science, engineering, and technology education at community colleges.
College students with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders who participate in the Virginia Commonwealth University Supported Education Model tend to stay in school and progress in their educational programs, according to a study conducted by the Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports. This brief describes the VCU Supported Education Model and results of the study.
The transition process for a child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient nearing the age of 18 can be complicated. From a programmatic standpoint, all child SSI recipients have their eligibility redetermined under the adult SSI disability requirements at age 18. Potentially more important, many child SSI recipients are also at the age when they must prepare for life beyond secondary school. The choices made during this important transition could have long-term implications for a child's future employment prospects, particularly given the typically long durations of participation and strong work disincentives associated with SSI participation.
This report examines concerns related to this transition process and suggests policy options for consideration by the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Ticket Advisory Panel.
This brief summarizes research on outcomes for students with disabilities in postsecondary school and describes one program, DO-IT Scholars, that successfully applies research findings in a cohesive set of interventions for students who have disabilities. The brief also shares lessons that can be applied to other college and career preparation programs for youth with disabilities.
This brief outlines the major findings of a research study conducted by the Research Institute on Secondary Education Reform (RISER) on authentic and inclusive learning practices at four high schools. Authentic learning practices involve students with disabilities in using disciplined inquiry to construct in-depth knowledge for themselves and others, and inclusive learning refers to the use of developmentally and individually appropriate accommodations and supports. The brief also discusses the implications and challenges presented by the study's findings.
This brief discusses strategies for including work-based learning and youth development opportunities sponsored by the Workforce Investment Act in students’ IEPs. The brief also addresses youth development, youth employment, and how One Stop career centers can be accessed to support students with disabilities in their career development.
This brief focuses on coordination and integration of various services (e.g. education, vocational rehabilitation, developmental disabilities) so that youth with disabilities receive continued support to maintain and expand their employment and independent living outcomes throughout adulthood, in addition to accessing other community activities. This brief describes a “blended” service model that addresses this concern. It features a case study example, and discusses implications for implementing similar models in individual schools and developmental disabilities service systems.
Reports from NLTS2
NLTS2 is a 10-year study of the experiences of young people who were 13 to 16 years old and receiving special education in the 2000-2001 school year. The sample of approximately 12,000 youth is nationally representative of youth with disabilities in that age group as a whole and those in each federal special education disability category. NLTS2 describes the characteristics of secondary school students receiving special education and their households; describing their secondary school experiences, including their schools, school programs, related services, and extracurricular activities; identifying the adult services they use after high school; measuring their achievements in and after high school in the education, employment, social, and residential domains; and identifying factors in their secondary school and postschool experiences that contribute to more positive results. The following reports use this data to explore important findings in the transition of special education students from school to adulthood.
This report uses data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to provide information on the numbers of students with disabilities completing high school. It contains data on the number of students graduating by federal statutory disability category and by demographic characteristics. It also has data on the postsecondary education enrollment of youth with disabilities by high school completion status, employment experiences of youth with disabilities by high school completion status, and independence and family formation of youth with disabilities by high school completion status.
Prior to the NLTS2 study, there was the original NLTS study. The first study generated nationally representative information about secondary school-age youth who were receiving special education services in 1985. To assess the status of youth with disabilities in the early 21st century, the Department of Education commissioned the NLTS-2 study. To identify changes among youth with disabilities in their early post-high-school years, this report focuses on the subset of youth represented in NLTS and NLTS2 who had been out of high school up to two years. This report documents the extent and direction of change for out-of-school youth with disabilities as a whole and for youth in the nine disability categories that were in use in both 1987 and 2001. The report also describes changes for youth with disabilities who differed in their school-exit status, age, gender, household income, and race/ethnicity, when significant.
Transitioning from high school to young adulthood is particularly challenging for youth with disabilities, who may encounter additional challenges to negotiating the transition. This report focuses on the 28% of youth with disabilities who were out of secondary school and describes: the characteristics of out-of-school youth with disabilities, their experiences in the postsecondary education, employment, independence, and social domains in their first 2 years out of high school, and the individual and household characteristics and youth experiences that are associated with variations in the achievement of youth with disabilities in their early years after high school.
This report examines efforts to prepare youth with disabilities who are transitioning from high school to young adulthood. It highlights the transition planning process undertaken during high school with and for youth with disabilities as they prepare for life after school. It considers the following questions: what are the characteristics of the transition planning process; what are the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the suitability and usefulness of the transition planning process; and how do these factors differ for students with different primary disability classifications and selected demographic characteristics.
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