Comparisons Across Time of the Outcomes of Youth With Disabilities up to 4 Years After High School

In an effort to document the secondary school experiences and postsecondary outcomes of
students with disabilities over the last two decades, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
sponsored two longitudinal research studies 15 years apart. The first study, the National
Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) 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, ED commissioned the National
Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to generate nationally representative information
about secondary-school-age youth who were receiving special education services in 2000.
NLTS2 addresses many of the same issues as NLTS, but extends its scope.
The tremendous range and scale of changes in American society and its economy that
occurred in the years between NLTS and NLTS2 are reflected in many aspects of our lives.
Increasing diversity in our population and family structures, innovations in communication and
information technologies, and the globalization of the economy are only a few of the many
trends that have had far-reaching impacts on all of us. Other changes particularly affect students,
such as the growing emphasis on the use of “high stakes” tests in holding schools accountable for
the academic performance of their students and the growing number of “school choice” options
available to parents.
Dramatic changes in special education policy and practice also have been noted in the 25
years after the passage of Public Law 94-142, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), including increased access to public education, inclusion in general
education classrooms, participation in standardized testing, and high school graduation rates
(American Youth Policy Forum and the Center on Education Policy 2002). Other factors
particularly relevant to transition-age youth with disabilities include amendments to IDEA and to
vocational education and employment legislation that have shaped state-level transition policies,
increased funding for vocational services for students with disabilities, removed obstacles to
employment, and required states to monitor and report on the status of youth with disabilities
after exiting high school (Lehman et al. 2002; National Council on Disability 2000). It is timely
to consider the changes in the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of transition-age youth
with disabilities that have been contemporaneous with the demographic, social, economic, and
education policy changes in our country in the years between NLTS and NLTS2.