Description:

Previous Award Number: R324A110040
Previous Awardee: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Purpose: Historically, students with disabilities have had poor transitions to post-school life. Promoting the development of self-determination skills in students with disabilities is considered an area of best practice in this field. However, little empirical research has explored the relationship between individual and ecological factors and self-determination. The research team will use extant data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) to identify individual and ecological factors that predict self-determination and examine the relationship between self-determination and long-term outcomes of students with disabilities.

Project Activities: The research project will be conducted in four phases. First, the research team will analyze a nationally representative sample of students with disabilities to describe the self-determination of students within and across disability categories. Second, they will examine the relationships between self-determination and individual and ecological factors hypothesized to be predictors of self-determination based on previous research and theory. Third, they will examine the degree to which self-determination predicts long-term outcomes in the domains of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. Finally, using multi-level structural equation modeling, the findings from the other analyses will be integrated to develop a comprehensive model of predictors and outcomes of self-determination.

Products: The products of this project include published reports and presentations on the results of all analyses, including the development of a model of predictors and outcomes of self-determination.

Structured Abstract

Setting: NLTS2 includes data on students from across the United States.

Population: The researchers will use the NLTS2 dataset, which includes a nationally representative sample of secondary students with disabilities. For this project, the researchers will focus on NLTS2 data (2001–2010) for the sample of over 3,000 students receiving special education services in the United States in each federally recognized disability category (i.e., autism, deaf blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, learning disability, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, speech and language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment).

Intervention: Not applicable.

Research Design and Methods: The research team will conduct secondary data analyses using the NLTS2 dataset, which includes a nationally representative sample of secondary students with disabilities followed for 10 years. The data were collected through direct assessments, parental and student telephone interviews, teacher surveys, school program surveys, and the school characteristic survey. A two-stage sampling plan was used to select students with disabilities ranging from 13 to 16 years of age. Districts were randomly selected and then students with disabilities were randomly selected from the chosen districts.

Key Measures: Key predictors will include ethnicity, gender, functional skills, social skills, academic skills, parent involvement, student involvement in transition planning, curriculum, and vocational experiences. Key outcome variables will include a latent self-determination construct as well as post-school outcomes, such as independent living and economic self-sufficiency.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers are conducting descriptive, correlational, and preliminary regression analyses of key variables in the surveys. Multi-level structural equation modeling will be used to explore the relationships in the latent space, controlling for error in measurement at the measurement model level.

Control Condition: Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Shogren, K.A. (2013). A Social-Ecological Analysis of the Self-Determination Literature. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 51(6): 496–511. doi:10.1352/1934–9556–51.6.496 Full text

Shogren, K.A. and Shaw, L.A. (2016). The Role of Autonomy, Self-Realization, and Psychological Empowerment in Predicting Outcomes for Youth With Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 37(1): 55–62. doi:10.1177/0741932515585003

Shogren, K.A., and Garnier-Villarreal, M. (2013). Developing Student, Family, and School Constructs from NTLS2 Data. Journal of Special Education. doi:10.1177/0022466913513336

Shogren, K.A., Garnier-Villarreal, M., Dowsett, C., and Little, T.D. (2014). Exploring Student, Family, and School Predictors of Self-Determination Using NLTS2 Data. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals. doi:10.1177/2165143414546685 Full text

Shogren, K.A., Kennedy, W., Dowsett, C., and Little, T.D. (2014). Autonomy, Psychological Empowerment, and Self-Realization: Exploring Data on Self-Determination From NLTS2. Exceptional Children, 80(2): 231–235. doi:10.1177/001440291408000206 Full text

Shogren, K.A., Kennedy, W., Dowsett, C., Garnier-Villarreal, M., and Little, T.D. (2014). Exploring Essential Characteristics of Self-Determination for Diverse Students Using Data From NLTS2. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 37(3): 168–176. doi:10.1177/2165143413486927 Full text

Shogren, K.A., Shaw, L.A., and Little, T.D. (2016). Measuring the Early Adulthood Outcomes of Young Adults with Disabilities: Developing Constructs Using NLTS2 Data. Exceptionality, 24(1): 45–61. doi:10.1080/09362835.2015.1064416