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In this study, we sought to understand the contexts, experiences, and needs among a sample of U.S. secondary education stakeholders to inform both a theoretical framework and policy contexts underpinning college and career readiness (CCR). Results confirmed a theoretically constructed framework of academic and non-academic CCR skills, with participants offering descriptions that validated and extended the framework. In addition, participants provided critical understandings of educational contexts in which CCR occurs, with both policy constraints and facilitative influences described. Participants identified strategies, policies, and practices to support student readiness for college and career outcomes. Finally, we provide study limitations and implications for research, policy, and practice.

This article provides practical steps for career and technical education (CTE) professionals to explore partnerships with secondary special educators and transition resource personnel, based on recommendations from a position paper [...]

Youth with disabilities must be college and career ready to be prepared for adult life. U.S. federal policy efforts confirm this prioritization (Every Student Succeeds Act [ESSA], 2015; Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], 2004). Parallel to the emergence of college and career readiness (CCR), transition planning and service requirements have promoted successful transitions to postschool education, employment, and community living (IDEIA, 2004). However, not all high schools provide a range of CCR supports for these students. We conducted a systematic mixed studies review to investigate the prevalence of five domains of CCR identified in the literature. Findings revealed the five domains had a range of coverage across the literature with academic engagement and process-oriented skills comprising more citations and transition competencies least likely to be included. In addition, across the CCR literature, data for students with disabilities were rarely disaggregated, which confirms that we know even less about the effectiveness of the five domains for these students. Clear gaps were identified and suggests research often does not inform CCR policy and/or practice decisions.

In this preregistered study, we confirmed a transition-planning construct and determined its relationship with an established economic-hardship construct using parent- and youth-reported data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 and following established quality indicators of preregistered secondary data analyses studies. Transition planning was made up of seven items relevant to individualized education program (IEP) meeting participation. We examined measurement invariance on the basis of disability category and race/ethnicity as well as the intersection of these student characteristics in order to make unbiased group comparisons on key latent parameters. Contrary to our hypotheses, there was no meaningful correlation between transition planning and economic hardship. Moreover, we were unable to establish measurement invariance of transition planning because the item “youth's role in IEP meeting” functioned differently on the basis of disability category. Implications for practice are discussed regarding how decisions about IEP meeting participation are made, by whom and why, and whether evidence-based practices are effectively disseminated. Future research should ensure adequate sampling plans for national survey attempts in order to conduct an in-depth examination based on intersectional student characteristics.

The purpose of the current study was to conceptually replicate a multi-indicator construct of economic hardship in a national sample of adolescents with and without disabilities (N= 9,230). Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS2012), the latent construct economic hardship was confirmed from six theoretically relevant indicators: household income, parent education level, parent employment status, one- or two-parent household, household internet access, and participation in government-assisted social programs (e.g., Supplemental Security Income benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). In addition, we examined group differences on the latent mean of economic hardship based on disability category, race and ethnicity, and school and family factors. Mean differences showed significantly lower economic hardship for youth on 504 plans, youth with autism, and for White non-Hispanic youth; whereas there was significantly greater hardship for youth with intellectual disability and youth with emotional disturbance and among youth of color. The implications of the replicated and expanded findings for adolescents with and without disabilities are discussed.

Secondary data analyses occur when new analyses are proposed for existing data. Although they are prevalent in special education research, there is little guidance on how to prepare secondary data analyses studies. Preregistration of secondary data analyses studies provides a nice opportunity and structure for fellow researchers to share innovative questions and analytic approaches to existing data sets as well as increase transparency. In this manuscript, we (a) describe quality indicators of secondary data analyses consistent with open science practices and (b) provide applied examples of these indicators from a sampling of published studies based on two iterations of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2 and NLTS2012) with the overall goals to provide guidance to authors and peer reviewers and promote collaboration among fellow researchers engaged in secondary analyses for a range of purposes.

The PATHS (Postschool Achievement Through Higher Skills) curriculum is designed to address the career development needs of young women with disabilities and other barriers. Participants (N = 110) in a [...]

In this study, we examined college and career readiness (CCR) support for students with and without disabilities using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012. We selected variables relevant to CCR and focused on the interaction of disability, race and ethnicity, and household income across a range of disability categories, including those on individualized education programs and 504 plans, as well as for those without disabilities. Overall, we analyzed 19 groups of students representing these intersectional characteristics. Our findings show significant differences among the groups with regard to receiving the CCR supports: help with college applications, course-taking advice, interpretation of college admissions exam scores, and arranging college visits. Results show students of color without disabilities from low-income households were 2 times more likely to receive certain CCR supports. In contrast, across all study outcomes, students with disabilities showed different patterns than their counterparts without disabilities and were at a clear disadvantage with regard to access to CCR supports. Findings suggest disparities in schoolwide CCR supports for those with disabilities, which are more pronounced for students of color with disabilities. Implications for secondary transition educators and school counselors are discussed.

The current study explores the structural and functional features of social support among college students with disabilities. Findings indicated that parents and friends were critical sources of support among all students. Analyses of specific subgroup differences by disability indicated that students in certain disability groups (e.g., psychological disabilities) had significantly fewer sources of support than did students in other categories. The implications of these findings for families, peers, student services personnel, and faculty are discussed.

A systematic review was conducted to understand the extent of empirical support for College and Career Readiness (CCR) frameworks and whether or not students with disabilities (SWD) are included in these frameworks. We identified 26 articles that showed a complex set of domains with both academic and nonacademic skills. Findings showed few studies reported empirical research concerning CCR frameworks for SWD and there was a strong emphasis on college and academic outcomes. Suggestions for future research include studies that further support or identify areas of weakness in proposed CCR frameworks, better clarification of CCR nonacademic skills, and the development of accompanying measures to broaden the understanding of CCR and ultimately inform policy and practice.

In recent policy initiatives focused on college and career readiness, Grit is often lumped with other noncognitive skills deemed as important. Yet, very little is known about the relationship between Grit and disability among adolescents. In this study, we examine measurement invariance of the Grit scale in a sample of adolescents with and without disabilities (n= 5,039). Findings show the scale functions similarly for students with and without disabilities, and the Perseverance factor of Grit significantly predicted grade point average for both groups. Implications for practice suggest use of the scale in school-wide data collection efforts that might be driven by college and career readiness policy initiatives that emphasize measuring noncognitive skills in allstudents, and an age-appropriate transition assessment in secondary special education.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) offers the potential for disadvantaged student subpopulations to utilize high school toward preparation for the workforce by encouraging specific career pathways. Yet, to date, very little is known about the intersection of CTE programs and disability. In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review of the vocational education and career readiness literatures, with a particular focus on students with disabilities and, specifically, intellectual disabilities, to identify best practices. Results show that few studies differentiate programs on the basis of disability type, and of those that do, intellectual disability was one of multiple disability types represented in studies. Moreover, the majority of studies focused on preparation of students with disabilities for low wage work, and very few focused on a more sophisticated career pathway and/or postsecondary education and training. Given the current policy climate that focuses on college and career readiness, the paucity of CTE and disability-focused studies in the literature is troublesome, and calls for more targeted research studies to be conducted to inform policy and practice.

Nonacademic skills related to college and career readiness (CCR) have become more prevalent in the literature as proposed conceptual models and frameworks, yet little empirical research exists in their support. We employed latent variable modeling to empirically test a previously proposed six-domain framework of CCR for adolescents with and without disabilities. Results support four specific factors of CCR: Academic Engagement, Critical Learning Processes, Mind-Set, and Transition Knowledge. Using a bifactor model, we confirmed one general factor (CCR) and one specific factor (Transition Knowledge), established measurement invariance on the basis of disability, and found latent mean differences between these groups; students without disabilities had greater overall CCR and transition knowledge. Findings support the use of a CCR measurement model with two potential factor scores in future research and practice and may inform efforts to measure CCR nonacademic skills.

In current special education law, the individualized education program (IEP) addresses the transition to adult life by mandating goal statements be written in employment, postsecondary education, and sometimes independent living. Although these broad areas encompass quality of life for adults with disabilities, they are not necessarily aligned with broader general education policies in college and career readiness (CCR). The current study addresses this disconnect by examining extant data consisting of IEP annual and postsecondary goals in the context of an organizing framework of CCR. IEP goals were coded for the presence of six domains of CCR: (a) academic engagement, (b) mindsets, (c) learning processes, (d) critical thinking, (e) interpersonal engagement, and (f) transition competencies. Findings illustrate the promise of a potential strategy to incorporate CCR into IEP goals. Implications for educators are discussed.

Little is known of the relationship between the least restrictive environment (LRE) provision of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and postsecondary participation for secondary students with disabilities despite the current policy emphasis on college and career readiness for all students. In this study, we examined the instructional setting in English/language arts and mathematics among secondary students with disabilities using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2. Logistic regression analyses revealed that students with disabilities were 2 times more likely to participate in 2- and 4-year programs if they received general education instruction in math. Follow-up moderator analyses showed the likelihood of 4-year postsecondary participation among students with hearing, speech, visual, orthopedic, and other health impairments was significantly amplified if they received language arts instruction in general education classrooms. These findings serve as useful baseline data to compare with student outcomes during and after the No Child Left Behind Act and will ultimately inform transition planning for secondary students with disabilities.

In this study, the authors developed, administered, and evaluated a measure of individual actions of college students with disabilities and their perceptions of postsecondary and social supports. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in nine reliable factors in these three areas. Follow-up regression analyses revealed that self-advocacy explained significant unique variance in predicting grade point average, indicating that self-advocacy is most crucial for college success. Implications for use in postsecondary environments are discussed.

This investigation examined the relationship between prior disability-focused training and university faculty members' attitudes towards students with learning disabilities (LD). A survey containing items designed to measure faculty attitudes was sent to all full-time faculty at one university. Analyses of 198 responses indicated that faculty who had received some form of disability-focused training scored higher on factors pertaining to Willingness to Provide Exam Accommodations, Fairness and Sensitivity, General Knowledge About LD, Willingness to Personally Invest in Students with LD, and personal actions, such as Inviting Disclosure and Providing Accommodations, and lower scores on negatively valenced factors than did faculty who had not received prior training. Faculty who had previously attended disability-related workshops and courses reported the most positive attitudes, followed by faculty who had participated in “other” forms of training (i.e., reading books and articles or visiting websites) and faculty who had received no prior training. The total number of types of training experienced and time spent engaged in training was predictive of faculty attitudes as well as faculty-reported satisfaction with prior training. Implications of the findings are discussed.