WHAT FOLLOW-UP-STUDIES SAY ABOUT POSTSCHOOL LIFE FOR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WITH LEARNING-DISABILITIES - A CRITICAL-LOOK AT THE LITERATURE

Follow-up studies examining the outcomes for children and youth with l earning disabilities who attended special education have appeared in t he literature for decades. As American society becomes more technologi cally advanced and competitive, postsecondary school opportunities and subsequent employment choices that are meaningful and provide a livab le wage teeter out of the reach of young people with learning disabili ties. Follow-up study investigators seek to understand how to better p repare youth to meet these challenges by studying their long-term outc omes. The authors review data from 13 frequently referenced follow-up studies regarding postschool outcomes, postsecondary education, and em ployment, with attention to gender differences, for youth with learnin g disabilities who were served by and graduated from special education programs nationwide. They take a critical look at contradictions in t he findings and discuss five methodological issues that seem to influe nce the conduct and interpretation of followup studies: aggregating da ta across disability categories; combining data on graduates who have been out of school for unequal periods of time; ignoring the issues of missing data, participant attrition, and incomplete data sets; combin ing data from different informants; and using nonequivalent databases to make comparisons to a population with no disabilities. The authors provide recommendations for conducting follow-up research on the long- term quality of life of children and youth with disabilities and their families.