Post-school Experiences Research Articles

Developing culturally relevant and collaborative research approaches: A case study of working with remote and regional Aboriginal students to prepare them for life beyond school

For millennia, stories and oral histories have been a fundamental way of sharing knowledge in many Aboriginal cultures. Honouring the role of stories can address a continuing lack of Aboriginal voices in Australian educational research literature. In this paper, we describe the philosophical underpinnings and methodology of our research, which aimed to learn from Aboriginal people about their post-school experiences, particularly in remote communities. The uniqueness of the project included training currently enrolled students as researchers to interview past students through yarning and storying. The collected stories were then interpreted and represented in audio recordings later developed into podcasts, writing, and through art. The aim of these research outcomes is to inform relevant policies and the development of teaching and learning resources for Aboriginal students. The way the methodology of our study evolved in response to the participants’ input is another key focus of this paper as well as having implications for future research.

Postschool Services and Postschool Outcomes for Individuals With Mild Intellectual Disability

Understanding the relationship between services and outcomes is important for students with disabilities. While research exists regarding relationships between services and supports provided in school and adult life outcomes for students with disabilities, less attention is paid to the supports and services provided after students exit high school. This study was a secondary data analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study−2 (NLTS2) to explore the postschool experiences and services received by individuals with mild intellectual disability and to understand the relationship between receipt of postschool services and postschool outcomes. The main findings for this secondary analysis were the lack of postschool services and supports provided to individuals with mild intellectual disability, and a lack of benefit in terms of postschool outcomes if postschool services were received.

Parent Involvement in Meaningful Post-School Experiences for Young Adults With IDD and Pervasive Support Needs.

Despite initiatives supporting young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to engage in post-secondary education and integrated employment, those with more intensive support needs are not as easily involved in these post-school experiences. In an effort to learn from positive examples, we examined parent involvement in meaningful post-school experiences by eight young adults with IDD and pervasive support needs. Secondary analysis of data from a prior interview study yielded this smaller sample of eight young adults with meaningful post-school experiences. Their parents were actively involved as fierce advocates and creative problem solvers. The active involvement of parents included: a) attitudinal facilitators, b) advocacy efforts and perceptions, and c) strategic actions. Implications for future research and practice are described.

Educational outcomes of young people in Scotland who are deaf or hard of hearing: intersections of deafness and social class

This article focuses on the intersection between deafness and social class in the context of the unstable economic circumstances in Scotland following the 2007 recession. More specifically, this research investigated the following in the case of young people who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH): (1) the interaction between educational attainment and post-school outcomes, and social class; (2) post-school educational experiences in relation to social class. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 young people (aged 18–24) who are DHH. Interview data were analysed alongside administrative and survey data on school and post-school outcomes, and policy documentation. It was found that, in line with the mainstream population, social class is strongly associated with educational outcomes and post-school destinations. The interviews revealed that middle-class young people who are DHH were able to use social networks and the advocacy of parents to mitigate the negative consequences of deafness; this contrasted with the more troubled post-school experiences of young people from less advantaged social backgrounds. This research suggests that if the life chances of deaf young people are to be improved, both social class and deafness need to be taken into consideration by policy-makers and practitioners.

Restrictions into opportunities: how boundaries in the life course can shape educational pathways

This study explores relationships between experiences in initial education, subsequent life experiences/opportunities and the decision to return to education later in life. Semi-structured interviews with seven female returners to education, focused initially upon the women’s perceptions of their aspirations and motivations at various ages, how these related to the choices they felt they had available to them at different points in time, and their sense of agency. Subsequently, the interviewees considered the relationship between early educational experiences, post-school experiences, and their current choices. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts led to the identification of four main themes: restrictions, opportunities, personal development, and an underlying theme of planning. Consideration of the relationships between these themes led to the conclusion that it was life experiences rather than initial education that both motivated and empowered the interviewees to take advantage of opportunities for higher education.

What determines adult cognitive skills? Influences of pre-school, school, and post-school experiences in Guatemala.

Most empirical investigations of the effects of cognitive skills assume that they are produced by schooling. Drawing on longitudinal data to estimate production functions for adult verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills, we find that: (1) School attainment has a significant and substantial effect on adult verbal cognitive skills but not on adult nonverbal cognitive skills; and (2) Pre-school and post-school experiences also have substantial positive significant effects on adult cognitive skills. Pre-school experiences captured by height for age at 6 years substantially and significantly increase adult nonverbal cognitive skills, even after controlling for school attainment. Post-school tenure in skilled jobs has significant positive effects on both types of cognitive skills. The findings (1) reinforce the importance of early life investments; (2) support the importance of childhood nutrition (“Flynn effect”) and work complexity in explaining increases in nonverbal cognitive skills; (3) call into question interpretations of studies reporting productivity impacts of cognitive skills that do not control for endogeneity; and (4) point to limitations in using adult school attainment alone to represent human capital.

Understanding black academic attainment

This article is a contribution to the ongoing issue and debate concerning the performance of black children in British schools. The issue of under-performing black students is longstanding and persistent. There has been a lack of political will to rectify the matter. On the contrary, the inculcation of neo-liberal education policies with their emphasis on competition and choice is exacerbating existing inequalities. It is argued that an understanding of inequalities can be enhanced by intersectional analysis. The post-school experience of black students indicates a desire to transform their relative school failure through the use of wider community resources. A case study reveals the attempts of black students to move beyond their negative school experience. Critical social capital in the black community can foster a proactive approach in access to post-school education.

Accounting for the early labour market destinations of 19/20-year-olds in England and Wales and Japan

In most advanced countries, young people are now expected to remain in education until the age of 18 and, in a context of poor opportunities for those who leave at an early stage, there are concerns about those who are being left behind. In this paper we use comparable survey data to focus on the destinations of young people in two contrasting societies, England and Wales and Japan. We compare the destinations of 19/20-year-olds in the two countries, with a strong focus on those who leave education at an early stage, and go on to explore the extent to which young people's socio-economic backgrounds and their orientations to education explain their post-school experiences. We argue that, in both societies, those who enter the labour market before the age of 20 face severe difficulties irrespective of their social background.

Transition Planning for Students With Intellectual Disability, Autism, or Other Disabilities: Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2

To compare the status of transition planning for students with intellectual disability, autism, or other disabilities, we used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, a federally funded, national study of the secondary and postschool experiences of students with disabilities. Results show that although transition planning had been conducted for the majority of students, few of them took a leadership role in their transition planning. Students with autism or intellectual disability were significantly less likely than students with other disabilities to take a leadership role. The majority of the active participants in transition planning were school-based personnel. We also found limited participation from other agencies/support persons (e.g., vocational rehabilitation). Students with autism or intellectual disability had more identified needs for support after school than did students with other disabilities.

Post-school quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities who use AAC

Even when augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions enhance the communication skills and educational achievements of students with complex communication needs while they are in school, there is no guarantee that these gains will be maintained following students' transition to adult life. Unfortunately, information on the post-school quality of life and related outcomes of individuals with complex communication needs is scarce. This study addressed this issue by examining the post-school outcomes of eight Canadian individuals with developmental disabilities who used AAC technology while they were in school. Two surveys were used to compile the data: the Quality of Life Profile: People with Physical and Sensory Disabilities (Renwick, Rudman, Raphael, & Brown, ) and a Communication Survey designed specifically for this study. Four of the participants and the people who knew them best also participated in brief interviews in which they discussed the positive and negative aspects of their school and post-school experiences. Results indicated that participant outcomes in important life domains were generally discouraging. A high positive correlation was found between quality of life and quality of communication scores, and participants who achieved relatively better outcomes showed evidence of higher communicative competence. However, the majority of participants and their supporters were very dissatisfied with the lack of AAC and other services that were available to them as young adults. The results are discussed in relation to outcomes for adults with development disabilities who use AAC and their implications for future research, practice, and advocacy efforts related to transition planning.

Disability Voice: Educational experience and disability

ABSTRACT Lightly structured, in-depth interviews of 30 adults with disabilities and parents of disabled children, probing their educational experiences, yielded rich autobiographical data. The interview transcripts were analysed in terms of the significant patterns of experience which emerged. That particular experiences were shared was clear from frequency of mention, and our claim that these were significant experiences is based on both their subjective intensity and on their impact on the lives of our respondents. In this paper we discuss the most widely shared of these school and post-school experiences and the educational opinions they have generated. We include illuminitive extracts from a small number of the interviews. Finally, we draw some general conclusions supporting the need for educational change towards a more enabling education.

The post-school experiences of young people with a disability

The transition of young people with disabilities from school to work and adult living has been the focus of attention for the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of OECD for some years. Various member countries of OECD have implemented transition education programmes as a result of community-based educational policies for students with disabilities. To establish a baseline of the post-school experiences of disabled students a follow-up study of a sample of ex-students in New South Wales, Australia, was conducted. While the responses to the survey came essentially from students who had been in special schools and hence may be unrepresentative of the total population of disabled ex-students, the data indicate some interesting trends. Only 42% were in open employment. Those with a moderate or severe intellectual disability were generally in sheltered workshops, activity centres or at home. The majority of respondents indicated that work was an important part of their lives, not so much from an economic perspective, but especially as it afforded them a social outlet. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of the current emphasis upon community-based rather than sheltered employment for people with disabilities.

The Transition of Young People with Disabilities from School to Work and Adult Living

It is a singular honour for me to have been invited to deliver the inaugural Len Cosson Memorial Lecture. It is obvious that Len’s Stirling contribution to special education in New Zealand will endure. His ability to enthuse peers and students alike will live on and will affect for the better the quality of the lives of young people with disabilities. Despite his untimely death, his family and professional colleagues can be comforted by the knowledge that Len’s ideas and vision will remain a beacon for those who follow in his footsteps. He has provided some very real challenges for the New Zealand Special Education Association - challenges that will be met if you emulate the truly professional approach that he maintained throughout his illustrious career. He obviously lived to the full the values and precepts that many of us aspire to, but often fall short of. While I did not have the privilege of knowing Len, I feel enriched by being in the company of so many people whose lives he touched in such a profound way.In the following presentation I wish to report the results of a study that examined the postschool experiences of 73 young people with a range of disabilities who left a special education facility in NSW in 1985. The roles that work, family support and friendship patterns played in their postschool experiences are analysed. The study points to the need for a more coordinated approach to the planning and delivery of transition education services to young people with disabilities.

The transition of young people with disabilities from school to work and adult living

It is a singular honour for me to have been invited to deliver the inaugural Len Cosson Memorial Lecture. It is obvious that Len's Stirling contribution to special education in New Zealand will endure. His ability to enthuse peers and students alike will live on and will affect for the better the quality of the lives of young people with disabilities. Despite his untimely death, his family and professional colleagues can be comforted by the knowledge that Len's ideas and vision will remain a beacon for those who follow in his footsteps. He has provided some very real challenges for the New Zealand Special Education Association ‐ challenges that will be met if you emulate the truly professional approach that he maintained throughout his illustrious career. He obviously lived to the full the values and precepts that many of us aspire to, but often fall short of. While I did not have the privilege of knowing Len, I feel enriched by being in the company of so many people whose lives he touched in such a profound way. In the following presentation I wish to report the results of a study that examined the postschool experiences of 73 young people with a range of disabilities who left a special education facility in NSW in 1985. The roles that work, family support and friendship patterns played in their postschool experiences are analysed. The study points to the need for a more coordinated approach to the planning and delivery of transition education services to young people with disabilities.

Secondary school leavers and the labour market in Swaziland

Secondary education in Swaziland has rapidly expanded in the decade or so since independence. Alongside this achievement has been a growing apprehension that the modern sector's capacity to generate employment is not commensurate with the rising number of educated young people leaving secondary school. The emergence of a ‘school leaver problem’ as disenchanted educated youngsters remained unemployed was therefore seen as a real possibility towards the end of the 1970s. Such considerations formed the backcloth to tracer surveys conducted in 1979 which investigated the post-school experience of secondary school leavers who left school in the period 1973–1977. Some aspects of these surveys are discussed in this article which covers the experience of school leavers in finding out about jobs and training, waiting time for jobs, and estimates of unemployment. The occupations entered by school leavers are then assessed in relation to demand projections for educated manpower. These observations reveal that institutional arrangements for transferring school leavers from school to work are embryonic and for a large minority of leavers family and other influentiaal contacts are more important than qualifications in securing a job. For Form 3 Junior Secondary School leavers some credence may be given to the popular impression that unemployment is worsening but Form 5 High School leavers are experiencing little difficulty as yet in finding work. More tentatively it would appear that the marginal additions to the skilled labour force stemming from school leavers are not modifying the occupational structure in line with recent manpower projections.