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Perceptions and Expectations of Youth With Disabilities  (NLTS2)
NCSER 2007-3006
September 2007

Challenges at School

Several aspects of schooling present challenges to some youth with disabilities, including those associated with meeting academic expectations and getting along with others.

Academic Challenges

Eligibility for special education requires that a student's disability present a challenge to his or her ability to learn without specially designed instruction, modifications, accommodations, or other supports.29 These learning challenges were documented by NLTS2 in a direct assessment of students' achievement, which found substantially lower academic achievement among youth with disabilities relative to general education peers. For example, the average standard score of 16- through 18-year-old youth with disabilities on a standardized measure of reading comprehension30 is 79, and the average for math calculation skills is 84; both scores are more than one standard deviation below the average score of 100 among same-age youth in the general population (Wagner et al. 2006). Despite their learning challenges, 14 percent of youth with disabilities report on a 4-point scale that secondary school is academically "not hard at all" (figure 9), and 45 percent report it to be "not very hard." In contrast, 36 percent report finding school "pretty hard," and 5 percent say it is "very hard."

Figure 9: Youth with disabilities' reported perceptions of school being "hard"

NLTS2 youth were asked to report on a 4-point scale how frequently they face challenges presented by two specific aspects of their academic experience during the current school year—paying attention in class and finishing their homework (figure 10). About one-fourth of youth with disabilities report "never" having trouble with these academic expectations (24 percent and 28 percent, respectively), and 40 percent report having trouble with each of them "a few times." More frequent difficulties are reported by about one-third of youth with disabilities, including 8 percent who report daily difficulties with paying attention and 11 percent who report daily challenges to completing homework. These percentages of youth with disabilities having daily difficulties with paying attention and completing homework are significantly higher than rates among youth in the general population (3 percent for both challenges, p < .01 and p < .001, respectively).31

Figure 10: Youth with disabilities' reported academic challenges

Correlations of scale scores of the frequency of having difficulty paying attention and completing homework show they are related to each other in that youth who face one of these challenges tend also to face the other (r = .48, p < .001). Further, both of these academic challenges have statistically significant correlations with youth's perceptions of school being hard for them (r = .15 and .18 for difficulty paying attention and completing homework, respectively; p < .001 for both correlations).

Although both of these academic challenges have a statistically significant correlation with youth's perceptions of school being hard for them, the correlations of .15 and .18 are modest.

Interpersonal Challenges

Students' school experiences can be shaped by the relationships they form with peers and adults at school. Forming positive relationships may be particularly challenging for youth with disabilities because, on average, their social skills are not as strong as those of youth in the general population (Cameto et al. 2003). Nonetheless, the large majority of youth with disabilities report they have little trouble getting along with teachers or other students (figure 11). Forty-three percent and 39 percent of youth with disabilities say they "never" have trouble getting along with teachers and students, respectively, and 36 percent say they do only "a few times" in the school year. In addition, half of youth with disabilities report they agree "a lot" with the statement "There is an adult at school who you feel close to and who cares about you," and 35 percent indicate "a little" agreement with the statement.

In contrast, 6 percent of students with disabilities report daily problems getting along with teachers, and 11 percent report daily problems getting along with other students. These rates of daily problems getting along with other teachers and students are more than four times the rates of such frequent problems reported by students in the general population (1 percent and 3 percent, respectively, p < .001).32 Further, 15 percent of students with disabilities report "a little" or "a lot" of disagreement with the statement that they feel close to an adult at school who cares about them.

Correlational analyses of youth's scale scores regarding the frequency of having interpersonal challenges with teachers and peers show they are related among youth with disabilities (r = .36, p < .001). In contrast, correlations between these two scales and the extent to which youth perceive there to be a caring adult at school are not statistically significant.

Figure 11: Youth with disabilities' reported interpersonal challenges at school

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29 See appendix A for the definitions of disabilities that make students eligible for special education service in each of the 12 federal special education disability categories.

30 The NLTS2 direct assessment of academic achievement used research versions of subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson III related to passage comprehension, synonyms and antonyms, mathematics calculation, applied mathematics problem-solving, and content knowledge in science and social studies (Woodcock, McGrew, and Mather 2001). See Wagner et al. (2006) for additional details of the assessment methods and instruments and of the findings.

31 Calculated for 15- through 19-year-olds using data from Wave II youth interviews of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), 1996 (Udry 1998); item wording is identical to that of NLTS2.

32 Calculated for 15- through 19-year-olds using data from Wave II youth interviews of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), 1996 (Udry 1998); item wording is identical to that of NLTS2.