Co-Principal Investigator: Debra Shaver

Purpose: Identifying promising programs, policies, and interventions that can improve outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing students during and after high school remains a challenge for researchers and practitioners. Practitioners, policymakers, and researchers would benefit from an improved understanding of the kinds of instructional programs and settings, learning supports, supplemental and related services, and accommodations that can improve the high school and post-high school outcomes of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The purpose of this project is to use a national longitudinal dataset of students with disabilities to identify school-based interventions that are associated with academic, social/behavioral, vocational, and functional outcomes experienced by deaf or hard-of-hearing students during and after high school.

Project Activities: The researchers will conduct secondary analyses of the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) dataset to explore relationships between school-based interventions (e.g., inclusion, course taking, modifications and accommodations, tutoring, technology aids) and outcomes (e.g., achievement, graduation, postsecondary enrollment, employment) for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Products: Products from this project include preliminary evidence of relationships between school interventions and high school and post-school outcomes of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, peer-reviewed publications, and presentations.

Structured Abstract

Setting: NLTS2 includes students from across the United States.

Sample: The researchers will use the NLTS2 dataset, which includes a nationally representative sample of secondary students with disabilities. The researchers will focus on students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Intervention: There is no intervention.

Research Design and Methods: The project is examining an extant database for relationships between school-based interventions and a variety of outcome variables while utilizing propensity scoring methods to adjust for baseline differences among students. After adjusting, the researchers will conduct analysis of covariance and regression analyses to explore relationships between interventions and outcomes.

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

Key Measures: For data collection purposes, the NLTS2 study used parent telephone and mail surveys, school staff surveys, student transcripts, and direct and alternate assessment of student abilities in math, vocabulary, science, and social studies. The dataset provides numerous student-level variables related to high school and post-school outcomes including high school completion, postsecondary enrollment, employment, independent living, and community participation.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers will conduct exploratory analyses and use data reduction techniques to decrease the number of variables used in the analyses. Exploratory analyses will be conducted to identify the covariates to be used in the propensity score analysis. After calculating propensity scores, the researchers will conduct analysis of covariance and regression to explore relationships between interventions and outcomes.

Related IES Projects:Factors Associated with the High School Preparation and Post-High School Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities: Secondary Analysis of Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (R324A100025)

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Marschark, M., Shaver, D., Nagle, K., and Newman, L. (2015). Predicting the Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students From Individual, Household, Communication, and Educational Factors. Exceptional Children, 81(3): 350–369.

Nagle, K., Newman, L. A., Shaver, D. M., & Marschark, M. (2016). College and Career Readiness: Course Taking of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Secondary School Students. American Annals of the Deaf, 160(5): 467–82. doi:10.1353/aad.2016.0000

Shaver, D., Marschark, M., Newman, L., and Marder, C. (2014). Who Is Where? Characteristics of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in Regular and Special Schools. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 19(2): 203–219. doi:10.1093/deafed/ent056