Chapter 6: The Idea Transition: Individualizing Educational Opportunities for Students With Disabilities

Historically, the postschool outcomes for students with disabilities reveals significant disparities in terms of employment and postsecondary education (Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Garza, & Levine, 2005). A comparison of the National Longitudinal Transition Study 1 (NLTS1) from the mid-1980s to the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) in 2003, however, shows significant increases in positive post-high school outcomes for students with disabilities. For example, in 1990, only 26% of students with disabilities enrolled in two- or four-year colleges, but in 2005, this increased to 46% enrollment (NCSER, 2010). Conversely, students with disabilities continue to experience higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than their peers without disabilities, with the exception reported for students from highincome families who experienced a significant increase in employment rate (Newman et al., 2011, DOL, BLS, 2011).