A collaborative follow-up study on transition service utilization and post-school outcomes | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	Baer, R. M., Flexer, R. M., Beck, S., Amstutz, N., Hoffman, L., Brothers, J., Stelzer, D., & Zechman, C.
Year Published	2003
Publication	Career Development for Exceptional Individuals
Volume	26
Number	1
Pages	7-25
Publisher	Sage
Background	In spite of nearly 20 years of research on postschool outcomes, local schools rarely use these data to drive their improvement efforts. A number of school-based activities have been shown to improve post-school employment, such as employment experiences and community-based learning; however, in many schools these activities have not been adopted.
Purpose	The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics related to transition service utilization and postsecondary outcomes, and identify program- and student-related variables that best predicted full-time employment.
Setting	Settings were multiple school systems in Ohio.
Sample	The study sample consisted of 140 randomly selected former special education students who had exited school in either 1997 or 2000. Dropouts were excluded because they could not be tracked. The sample was 59% male, with the majority having educational diagnosis of either learning disability (49%) or intellectual disability (28%); however, most disability diagnoses were in the sample.
Data Collection	Data for the study were collected through two main sources: School records and a postschool survey. The survey collected information regarding employment, postsecondary education, independence, and other areas of adult life. Bivariate correlations were run between student-related variables, program-related variables, and postschool outcomes. A logistic regression model was developed to predict work and postsecondary education outcomes from student characteristics and secondary participation.
Control	The comparison condition in the study was not having received the interventions.
Findings	Related to employment, the logistic regression analysis showed that vocational education, work study participation, attending a rural school, and having a learning disability were the best predictors of full-time employment after school exit. Participation in work/study and vocational education each increased the likelihood of employment two-fold. However, other school-based vocational services, such as job shadowing, career fairs, in-school jobs, etc. were not predictive of post-school employment.
Conclusions	Work/study and vocational education may be significantly correlated with postschool outcomes because they screen out students with more severe disabilities, but also may have been due to work/ study and vocational programs being more comprehensive and better integrated into the general curriculum than other school-based services. The finding that other work-related school programs were not correlated with positive postschool outcomes may have been because they were uncoordinated with the student area of study.
URL	http://cde.sagepub.com/content/26/1/7.refs?patientinform-links=yes&legid=spcde;26/1/7
Disabilities	Intellectual disabilities \| Specific learning disabilities
Populations	Male \| Female \| Transition-age youth (14 - 24)
Outcomes	Employment acquisition \| Full-time employment
NIDILRR Funded	No
Research Design	Observational
Peer Reviewed	Yes

Year Published

2003

Publication

Career Development for Exceptional Individuals

Volume

26

Number

1

Pages

7-25

Publisher

Sage

Background

In spite of nearly 20 years of research on postschool outcomes, local schools rarely use these data to drive their improvement efforts. A number of school-based activities have been shown to improve post-school employment, such as employment experiences and community-based learning; however, in many schools these activities have not been adopted.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics related to transition service utilization and postsecondary outcomes, and identify program- and student-related variables that best predicted full-time employment.

Setting

Settings were multiple school systems in Ohio.

Sample

The study sample consisted of 140 randomly selected former special education students who had exited school in either 1997 or 2000. Dropouts were excluded because they could not be tracked. The sample was 59% male, with the majority having educational diagnosis of either learning disability (49%) or intellectual disability (28%); however, most disability diagnoses were in the sample.

Data Collection

Data for the study were collected through two main sources: School records and a postschool survey. The survey collected information regarding employment, postsecondary education, independence, and other areas of adult life. Bivariate correlations were run between student-related variables, program-related variables, and postschool outcomes. A logistic regression model was developed to predict work and postsecondary education outcomes from student characteristics and secondary participation.

Control

The comparison condition in the study was not having received the interventions.

Findings

Related to employment, the logistic regression analysis showed that vocational education, work study participation, attending a rural school, and having a learning disability were the best predictors of full-time employment after school exit. Participation in work/study and vocational education each increased the likelihood of employment two-fold. However, other school-based vocational services, such as job shadowing, career fairs, in-school jobs, etc. were not predictive of post-school employment.

Conclusions

Work/study and vocational education may be significantly correlated with postschool outcomes because they screen out students with more severe disabilities, but also may have been due to work/ study and vocational programs being more comprehensive and better integrated into the general curriculum than other school-based services. The finding that other work-related school programs were not correlated with positive postschool outcomes may have been because they were uncoordinated with the student area of study.

URL

http://cde.sagepub.com/content/26/1/7.refs?patientinform-links=yes&legid=spcde;26/1/7

Disabilities

Intellectual disabilities | Specific learning disabilities

Populations

Male | Female | Transition-age youth (14 - 24)

Outcomes

Employment acquisition | Full-time employment

NIDILRR Funded

No

Research Design

Observational

Peer Reviewed

Yes