Moving Transition Forward Datasets
National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 Dataset
Conventional transition services are explored using the NLTS 2012 dataset. The NLTS 2012 Phase I data were collected by Mathematica Policy Research in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. The NLTS 2012 includes a nationally representative sample of youth in grades 7 to 12 or ages 13 or older as of December 1, 2011. This includes youth over age 18 as IDEA permits youth with IEPs to receive special education services through the year they turn 21.
Data were collected through surveys of parents and youth from February through October 2012 and from January through August 2013. The parent survey included information on the youth’s disabilities and abilities, school enrollment and services received, parent involvement and expectations, and background characteristics and socioeconomic status. The youth survey gathered information on perceptions about school, academic supports received, participation in IEP and transition planning meetings, extracurricular and social activities, employment experiences, expectations for the future, and indicators of self-determination.
The Moving Transition Forward analyses focus on the subsample of youth in the NLTS 2012 sample who have intellectual disability. In the NLTS 2012 data, primary disability is indicated by the school district (d_y_disability). The number of youth in this sample for which the district-reported disability is intellectual disability is N = 2,092. To ensure that all youth with ID are identified for the analysis, youth whose primary disability is autism, but whose parent responded that a professional identifies the youth as having intellectual disability now are also be included in the sample, therefore giving a sample of youth who have either ID or autism plus ID (ID/A). Where sample size allows, comparisons are made to youth with autism but no ID and youth with other disabilities. In Phase 3, to ensure comparability with the TPSID sample, a subsample of only those youth with ID/A who are ages 18 to 22 is selected for analysis.
TPSID 2010-2015 Dataset
The college-based transition services experiences are explored using the Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) 2010-2015 dataset These data were collected from federally funded model demonstration projects between 2010 and 2015 and include 445 students with ID/A who attended 40 dual enrollment programs in 22 states that provided college-based transition services. Data were reported by TPSID program staff (e.g., Principal Investigator, Program Coordinator, Evaluator, Data Entry Assistant) between August 2012 and September 2015. Data collected included youth demographics, enrollment, academic, social and employment engagement, as well as reflect programmatic infrastructure.
To ensure comparability with the NLTS 2012 sample, the present study focuses on a sample of youth with ID/A (372 youth with ID and 73 youth with ID plus autism) ages 18 to 22 for analysis. This sample consists of 445 youth with ID/A reported to be 1) still receiving services from their LEA under IDEA during at least one year of TPSID attendance, and 2) between the ages of 18 and 22 on October 1st of the first year they were enrolled in a TPSID program.