Secondary School-based Interventions and Social Engagement of Deaf Young Adults.

Successful social engagement is one of many important outcomes for deaf youth as they transition from high school to adult life. This study examined the effect of self-advocacy and social/life skill trainings in secondary school settings on social engagement after high school using propensity score modeling and data from the large-scale and nationally representative National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. Analyses focused on three types of post-high school social engagement: frequency of seeing friends, involvement in group activities, and participation in community service. A fourth outcome variable was created to indicate whether the individual was at least minimally engaged. Results found that deaf youth who received self-advocacy training in secondary school were significantly more likely to be at least minimally engaged than those who had not. These findings suggest that self-advocacy training in high school can help protect deaf youth against social isolation in young adulthood.

Life After College: Employment, Social, and Community Outcomes for Young Deaf Adults.

While most research on transition outcomes focuses on education and employment, the transition to adulthood also includes social outcomes, such as group involvement and community service. The present study examined a broader set of outcomes for young deaf adults after postsecondary education. A secondary analysis of a large-scale data set, the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2), was conducted to compare the employment, income assistance, and social/community outcomes of three postsecondary education cohorts: graduates, noncompleters, and nonattendees. The findings indicate that young deaf adults with more postsecondary education have more positive outcomes, e.g., higher employment rates, higher wages, and greater civic and social participation. These findings further demonstrate the importance of postsecondary education for young deaf adults and can be used to inform transition planning for deaf students, supporting the need to consider exploration of various career pathways available through college or postsecondary career/technical education.

College and Career Readiness: Course Taking Of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Secondary School Students.

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.

The Benefits of High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Youth With Learning Disabilities.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), this study examines the career and technical education (CTE) course taking of high school students with learning disabilities (LD) in the context of the national movement toward higher standards for determining whether students leave high school "college and career ready." Descriptive analyses document the extent of general education CTE course taking overall by students with LD and their engagement in a concentrated program of occupationally specific general education CTE, a level of course taking early research has linked to improved post-high school employment outcomes. Propensity score modeling was used to determine whether either type of CTE course taking is related to higher odds of full-time employment after high school and whether results differ with the length of time youth were out of high school. Results show no benefits of CTE course taking overall, but demonstrate a significant positive effect for participating in a concentration of occupationally specific CTE in the first 2 post-high school years; effects are nonsignificant for later years. The implications for high school programming and transition planning for students with LD are discussed.

Predicting the Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students From Individual, Household, Communication, and Educational Factors.

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.

Postsecondary pathways and persistence for STEM versus non-STEM majors: among college students with an autism spectrum disorder.

Little is known about postsecondary pathways and persistence among college students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2001-2009, a nationally representative sample of students in special education with an ASD who progressed from high school to postsecondary education. Findings suggest that most college students with an ASD enrolled in a 2-year community college at some point in the postsecondary careers (81%). Those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields were more likely to persist in a 2-year community college and were twice as likely to transfer from a 2-year community college to a 4-year university than their peers in the non-STEM fields. College persistence rates varied by gender, race, parent education level, and college pathway and major. Educational policy implications are discussed.