The National Center for Special Education Research has released a dynamic web-based analysis system that allows the public to generate descriptive and inferential statistics using data from Waves 1 and 2 of the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS). The system includes over 1,000 variables related to child and family characteristics; special education programs and services; and academic, social, and functional performance for preschoolers with disabilities. Users may access the system at http://nces.ed.gov/dasolv2/tables/index.asp#early or http://nces.ed.gov/dasolv2/covariance/index.asp.

This report was released by the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) on January 23, 2008. Orientation refers to one's ability to determine his/her location and relationship with other objects in the environment. Mobility refers to one's ability to move about in the environment. Orientation and mobility training may be provided to students with visual impairments as part of their individual programs of special education and related services. This report presents information on the percentages of students with visual impairments who receive orientation and mobility services, including percentages for different segments of the population (blind vs. partially sighted, regular vs. special school placement, and demographic groups). It also discusses the levels of orientation and mobility skills in this population, and factors associated with their skill levels. Data are from The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), funded by the National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences, U. S. Department of Education. NLTS2 was initiated in 2001 and has a nationally-representative sample of more than 11,000 students with disabilities. For further information please contact David Malouf at 202-219-1309 or david.malouf@ed.gov.

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The National Center for Special Education Research released the first report on the Evaluation of States' Monitoring and Improvement Practices Under IDEA study. Under IDEA, states must monitor special education and early intervention programs. Prior to the reauthorization in 2004, IDEA did not explicitly detail monitoring requirements. Provisions in the 2004 reauthorization now require states to monitor priority areas using quantifiable indicators. The current report discusses states' monitoring practices in the year prior to the enforcement of these new requirements. The two most commonly reported focus areas for monitoring programs for individuals ages 3 through 21 (Part B) were free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (35 states) and access to the general curriculum (30 states). The two most commonly reported focus areas for monitoring programs for infants and toddlers (Part C) were Individualized Family Service Plan requirements and procedures (35 states) and transition to preschool (33 states).

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Perceptions and Expectations of Youth With Disabilities. A Special Topic Report of Findings From the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2): released on September 11, this report from NCSER provides a picture of the self-representations and expectations of youth with disabilities, how they differ across disability categories and demographic groups, and how they compare with youth in the general population. The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), funded by IES, was initiated in 2001 and has a nationally representative sample of more than 11,000 students with disabilities. This report presents findings drawn primarily from telephone interviews or self-administered mail surveys collected from youth when they were ages 15 through 19. The report addresses questions such as how youth with disabilities describe their feelings about themselves and their lives, their secondary school experiences, their personal relationships, and their expectations for the future.

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NCSER has released a CD-ROM that contains documentation, an electronic codebook, and restricted-use data files for the first, second, and third waves of data collection for the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study. Data from all the instruments used in the study, including surveys, questionnaires, and direct assessments, are provided in ASCII format. These CD-ROMS are only available to holders of restricted-used data licenses. For more information, please contact Celia Rosenquist at Celia.Rosenquist@ed.gov; 202-219-2024.

NCSER has released a set of three CD-ROMs that contain documentation, a data dictionary, and restricted-use data files for the first, second, and third waves of data collection for the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. Data from all the instruments used in the study, including surveys, questionnaires, and direct assessments, are provided in both SPSS and SAS formats. These CD-ROMS are only available to holders of restricted-used data licenses. For more information, please contact David Malouf at david.malouf@ed.gov, 202-219-1309.

The National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences has released a new fact sheet on the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) entitled Facts From NLTS2: Secondary School Experiences of Students With Autism. This fact sheet provides a national picture of the secondary school experiences of students with autism using data from the NLTS2. This study has a nationally representative sample of more than 11,000 students with disabilities. Approximately 1,000 youth with autism are included in the sample. The fact sheet provides information on such topics as the courses taken, instructional settings, the nature of the curriculum and instruction, teacher perceptions, and the types of accommodations and supports provided for students with autism. Some of the major facts include the following:

1. Ninety-seven percent of the secondary school students with autism attend public schools. Overall, 84 percent attend regular schools that serve a wide variety of students, and about 12 percent attend special schools that serve only students with disabilities. The other 4 percent attend charter, magnet, alternative, hospital, or home schools.
2. Ninety-two percent of the students with autism take at least one academic subject in a given semester. Most take language arts (89 percent) and mathematics (90 percent); somewhat fewer take social studies (69 percent) or science (67 percent).
3. Overall, 33 percent of secondary school students with autism receive the standard general education grade-level curriculum used for other students in their general education academic classes. However, almost half of students with autism (47 percent) have teachers who report making “some modifications” to the general education curriculum. For another 12 percent, “substantial modifications” are made to the general education curriculum they receive, and 8 percent receive a specialized curriculum.

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This report is an executive summary of two previously-released reports presenting findings from Wave 2: The Academic Achievement and Functional Performance of Youth With Disabilities and After High School: A First Look at the Postschool Experiences of Youth with Disabilities. All reports are available at http://www.nlts2.org. Some key findings presented in the Overview include the following:

1. A direct assessment of students’ language arts, mathematics abilities, and content knowledge in science and social studies suggests that from 77 to 86 % of youth with disabilities have standard scores below the mean for the general population.
2. While about 2 % of youth in the general population have standard scores that are more than two standard deviations below the mean (i.e., below 70), among youth with disabilities who participated in the NLTS2 direct assessment, from 14 to 27 % had scores that were more than two standard deviations below the mean across subtests.
3. Up to 2 years after leaving high school, almost 8 in 10 out-of-school youth with disabilities have been engaged in postsecondary education, paid employment, or training to prepare them for employment.
4. About 3 in 10 out-of-school youth with disabilities have been enrolled in some kind of postsecondary school since leaving high school, with one in five attending a postsecondary school at the time of the Wave 2 interview. This rate of current enrollment is less than half that of their peers in the general population (41 percent).

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The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has released the first major report from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) entitled, Preschoolers with Disabilities: Characteristics, Services, and Results. PEELS includes a nationally representative sample of more than 2900 children who were ages 3 through 5 and receiving preschool special education services in 2003-2004. This report describes characteristics of the participating children and their families, children's school-related readiness and behavior, and characteristics of educational services and providers. Some of the major findings of this report suggest that:

1. Nearly half (46%) of preschoolers with disabilities were identified as having a speech or language impairment as their primary disability, and 28 percent were identified as having a developmental delay as their primary disability.
2. On average, preschoolers with disabilities were nearly 3 years old when they started receiving special education or therapy services from a professional.
3. Of the children with disabilities who had an individualized family service plan (IFSP) before age 3, nearly one-third (31%) had on average a 4.6 month gap between the end of services received through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C and the beginning of preschool services.
4. In the areas of emerging literacy, early math proficiency, social behavior, and motor performance, preschoolers with disabilities typically performed within one standard deviation of the population mean. Some variations in performance were evident based on age cohort, disability classification, race/ethnicity, and household income.

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The National Center for Special Education at the Institute of Education Sciences has released the twelfth report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). NLTS2 includes a nationally representative sample of more than 11,000 youth who were ages 13 through 16 and receiving special education services in seventh grade or above in the 2000-2001 school year. This report discusses results from the direct assessment of NLTS2 sample members when they were in the 16-18-year-old age range. Some of the major findings of this report suggest that:

1. By the time students reach secondary school, serious academic deficits are evident, with 30% of youth with disabilities scoring two standard deviations below the mean for the general population;
2. Low academic achievement is pervasive across disability categories;
3. From 22% to 38% of youth with disabilities have rating scores on functional skills (motor skills, social interaction and communication, personal living skills, community living skills) that are more than six standard deviations below the mean for youth in the general population, suggesting that functional skills are extremely difficult or impossible to complete for many youth with disabilities.

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The National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences has released a brief report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. This report focuses on youth, ages 14-18 and classified as having learning disabilities, who were receiving special education services during the 2000-01 school year. Some of the major facts include the following:

1. Most secondary students with learning disabilities (94%) take at least one class in a general education setting in a given semester, with 80% taking one or more academic course in a general education setting.
2. Overall, about one-third (35%) of secondary students with learning disabilities receive the standard general education curriculum used for other students in their academic classes. However, more than half of students with disabilities (52%) have teachers who report making “some modifications” to the general education curriculum.
3. Teachers report that 94% of students with learning disabilities receive some type of accommodation or support to enhance their school performance.
4. Youth with learning disabilities experience the greatest difficulty with passage comprehension.

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On Wednesday, June 14th, SRI International project staff gave a briefing on the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. The focus was on data collected in 2003 from youth, ages 15-19, during Wave 2 of the study. The presentation addressed the question, "What is life like for youth with disabilities, as seen through their own eyes?" These data reveal youths' perceptions of themselves; their school experience; the services and supports they receive; personal relationships; and their expectations for the future. Data from Wave 3, collected 2 years later in 2005, provides a backdrop for interpreting the results.

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The National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences has released a brief report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 entitled Facts From NLTS2: School Behavior and Disciplinary Experiences of Youth With Disabilities. Although most secondary-school-age youth with disabilities are reported to behave appropriately, approximately 20 percent to 40 percent are reported to exhibit problem behaviors at school, including not controlling behavior and arguing with others in class. One-third of students with disabilities have experienced disciplinary actions at school, such as suspensions, expulsions, referrals to the principal’s office, or detentions, and they are more likely than their peers in the general population to have faced these types of disciplinary actions.

Students with emotional disturbances are significantly more likely to have been suspended or expelled in one school year or over their school careers than youth in all other disability categories.

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The National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences has released a brief report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 entitled Facts From NLTS2: High School Completion by Youth with Disabilities. There has been an increase over time in the percentage of youth with disabilities who complete high school. However, this mark of success is much more common for some youth than others. Those with sensory or orthopedic impairments finish school at much higher rates, for example, than youth with multiple disabilities or emotional disturbances.

Whether youth with disabilities finish or drop out of high school is associated with marked differences in their experiences in the early postschool years. A high school diploma gives graduates with disabilities access to a college education that is unavailable to most dropouts. Although the two groups are equally likely to be working for pay after school, dropouts work longer hours, on average, thereby generating greater income.

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