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Special Education: Federal Actions Can Assist States in Improving Postsecondary Outcomes for Youth

GAO-03-773 Published: Jul 30, 2003. Publicly Released: Jul 31, 2003.
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Highlights

States receive federal funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to help students with disabilities reach their postsecondary goals, and various federal programs offer services that can assist these youth. However, research has documented that youth with disabilities are less likely to transition into postsecondary education and employment. Congress requested that GAO provide information on (1) the proportion of IDEA students completing high school with a diploma or alternative credentials, and their postsecondary status; (2) the transition problems being reported and state and local actions to address them; and (3) the types of transition services provided by the vocational rehabilitation, the Workforce Investment Act youth, and the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency programs, and the factors affecting participation of IDEA youth.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education To expand the availability and use of data on the postsecondary employment and education status of IDEA youth, Education should collect and disseminate information to states on sound strategies for collecting these data and appropriately using these data for program improvement.
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education has established two main mechanisms, a community of practice and the National Post-School Outcomes Center (NPSO), to collect and disseminate information to states on sound strategies for collecting post-school outcome data of IDEA youth and on usage of these data for program improvement. The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, funded by Education, offers a technical assistance community of practice which helps identify and disseminate research-based practices that address post-school outcome data collection and usage. The NPSO's primary functions include knowledge development and technical assistance, and its activities include conducting a national survey of data collection strategies and dissemination of relevant information on strategies and procedures.
Department of Education To enhance federal assistance provided to states to help them address existing transition problems, Education should develop an action plan with specific time frames to provide states with feedback on state improvement plans to address education and transition problems of IDEA youth.
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education has been providing states with more timely feedback on their state improvement plans to address education and transition problems of special education youth. Education's response timeline to the state plans prior to GAO's recommendation ranged from 2 months to over 14 months. According to Education officials, its responses are now averaging about 4 months.
Department of Education To enhance federal assistance provided to states to help them address existing transition problems, Education should develop an action plan with specific time frames to ensure consistency in the quality of technical assistance provided to states by its regional resource centers.
Closed – Not Implemented
To address our recommendation, although the Department of Education provided some training to its regional resource centers, it did not develop an action plan with specific timeframes to ensure consistency in the quality of technical assistance provided to states by its regional resource centers.
Department of Education Finally, to increase awareness of available federal transition services, Education should take the lead in working with other federal agencies to develop strategies for using the federally mandated high school transition planning process to provide IDEA youth and their families with information about the full complement of federally funded transition services.
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education held a meeting with other federal agencies and states to develop collaboration amongst cognizant entities involved in the transition process. It has also taken action to work with federal agencies and others to develop strategies to provide IDEA youth and their families with information on federally-funded transition services. For example, Education funded the National Post-School Outcomes Center, which began its work in 2004. The Center disseminates relevant information on improving results for post-school youth with disabilities through its user-friendly web site and technical assistance; and facilitates consensus-building among parents on outcomes to be measured. In June 2005, Education sponsored a National Leadership Summit on Improving Results for Youth in collaboration with 23 federal agencies (including Labor and SSA), national organizations, families and youth. The Summit developed action plans to, among other things, disseminate information on comprehensive transition services to families and youth and provide for additional accessible information and trainings for families and youth. The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, a technical assistance and dissemination center funded by Education, analyzed the Summit's action plans and identified priorities, such as the need to work with parent training and information centers to fully inform and engage families. In a separate effort, parents from the federal Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers, which helps develop, assist and coordinate Parent Training and Information Projects and Community Parent Resource Centers under IDEA, developed several transition-related information and training resources for parents. In 2006, Education convened a National Employment Conference on Transition into High Demand Industries to promote collaborative relationships between state vocational rehabilitation agencies and employers. Finally, the agency organized a Youth Development and Leadership National Summit to be held on August 16-17, 2007 to share useful information related to youth development and leadership programs, such as transition services for disabled youth.

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Topics

Aid for the disabledEmployment of the disabledEmployment assistance programsFederal aid to statesHigher educationPeople with disabilitiesStudentsDisabilitiesSpecial educationData collection