What the Research Says

Study Shows Some Gains for Youths with Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has issued a report on the results of the second National Longitudinal Transitional Study (NLTS2) entitled Youth with Disabilities: A Changing Population. They looked specifically at changes in the 15-17 year old population of students with disabilities from 1987-2001. The report includes very interesting and some surprising data, such as:

• Youth of color are represented in the "youth with disabilities" population in similar proportion as in the general population.
• The 1-year paid employment rate increased, with significantly more youth holding paid jobs in the previous year in 2001 than 1987. This increase brought the overall 1-year employment rate for youth with disabilities (60%) in line with that of the general population of youth (63%).
• In 2001, two-thirds of youth with disabilities were earning more than the minimum wage, half again as many as had done so in 1987.
• Youth with disabilities experienced increased rates of being suspended or expelled from school, fired from a job, or arrested. By 2001, one in five youth with disabilities had experienced one or more of these consequences of their behavior, up 6 percentage points from 1987.

Native Americans with Disabilities Don't Get Adequate Services

The National Council on Disability (NCD) released a report that documents that American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) with disabilities living in tribal lands are not receiving the services to which they are entitled.  August 2003

Government-Sponsored National Studies Available

The following are among the  national studies funded by the Office of Special Education Programs and available on the Web:

• The National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS)
• NLTS2: National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS-2)
• SPeNSE: Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPeNSE) -- Data tables available
• State and Local Implementation of IDEA (SLIIDEA)
• Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS)
• Special Education Expenditure Project
  

National Center on Educational Outcomes

The National Center on Educational Outcomes offers an online accommodations bibliography that allows viewers to search a collection of empirical research studies on the effects of various testing accommodations for students with disabilities. The Center provides national leadership in the participation of students with disabilities in national and state assessments, standards-setting efforts, and graduation requirements." It was established in 1990 to provide national leadership in designing and building educational assessments and accountability systems that appropriately monitor educational results for all students, including students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency.