| Citation: |
Grigal, M., Migliore, A., & Hart, D. (2014). A state comparison of vocational rehabilitation support of youth with intellectual disabilities’ participation in postsecondary education.
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 40
(3),
185-194.
|
| Title: |
A state comparison of vocational rehabilitation support of youth with intellectual disabilities’ participation in postsecondary education |
| Authors: |
Grigal, M., Migliore, A., & Hart, D. |
| Year: |
2014 |
|
Journal/Publication:
|
Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation |
| Publisher: |
IOS Press |
| DOI: |
https://doi.org/10.3233/JVR-140683
|
| Full text: |
http://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-vocational-rehabili...
|
| Peer-reviewed? |
Yes
|
| NIDILRR-funded? |
Yes
|
|
Research design:
|
Database mining
|
| Background: |
Many of the nation’s youths are enrolled in post-secondary education (PSE) after high school, with numbers around 60% of youths with disabilities. That number drops in youths with disabilities as only 39% of youths with disabilities and 28% with intellectual disabilities (ID) are enrolled in post-secondary education. PSE for youth with ID can be a path to employment and higher wages. Vocational rehabilitation (VR) services exist to engage people with disabilities in paid employment. VR supports PSE as one of their means to achieve that goal. |
|
Purpose:
|
The purpose of this study is an examination of participation rates and educational outcomes of youth with ID who have come out of state VR programs. |
|
Study sample: |
Data for this study came from the Rehabilitation Services Administration dataset (RSA-911) maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. The dataset for this study met the following criteria: (1) a youth with ID without post-secondary education at time of application for VR, (2) were 16-26 years old at time of application, (3) received VR services and exited the VR program between fiscal years 2006-2010. The final study sample included 108,188 youth, of whom 17,478 (16%) had ID and 90,720 (84%) had other disabilities and were used as a comparison group. |
|
Data collection and analysis:
|
Data was extracted from the RSA-911 database. Particular attention was paid to the targeted variable of postsecondary participation rates. A Pearson coefficient of correlation was computed to assess the correlation between the post-secondary education participation of youth with ID and youth with other disabilities. |
|
Findings:
|
Youth with ID were very less likely to participate in PSE than youth with other disabilities. PSE participation did not show much variation between 2006-2010. |
|
Conclusions:
|
Particular attention in VR programs should be paid to how to engage youths with ID in post-secondary education. |
