Special Education News in Brief

Youths With Disabilities Report High Expectations, Study Finds

By Christina A. Samuels — September 17, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Most adolescents with disabilities report feeling very positive about themselves and believe they will graduate from high school with a regular diploma, according to findings from a long-term study that were released by the National Center for Special Education Research, a branch of the federal Institute of Education Sciences.

Those youths are less confident, however, that they will attend a postsecondary school, and less certain that they will be able to get jobs that will pay enough for them to be financially self-sufficient, the study shows.

The findings come from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, which was launched in 2001 to provide a detailed look of the characteristics and experiences of youths with disabilities. About 11,000 students have taken part in the study.

Events

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Special Education Spotlight Spotlight on the Future of Special Education: Compliance, Data, and Transformation
Special ed is evolving fast, driven by compliance, data, accessible tech, and smarter supports for students with disabilities.
Special Education More Students With Disabilities Are in General Education Classes. How's That Working?
New report examines states' efforts to educate students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms.
1 min read
20250329 AMX US NEWS OSCEOLA PARENTS FEAR DISASTROUS FALLOUT 1 OS
Melanie Thomas plays with her autistic son, Luke, at their home in St. Cloud, Fla., on March 25, 2025. The local school district implemented changes that would merge more students with disabilities into mainstream classes. A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the number of students who have disabilities and spend at least 40% of their school day in general education classes rose about 25% between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 school years.
Stephen Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via TNS
Special Education Students With Disabilities Are Spending More Time in Mainstream Classes
Under federal law, students with disabilities are supposed to learn in the least restrictive environment.
6 min read
Asia Screen, special education compliance monitor, center right, greets a student at Edward T. Steel School on the first day of school on Aug. 25, 2025, in Philadelphia.
Asia Screen, special education compliance monitor, greets a student at Edward T. Steel School on the first day of school on Aug. 25, 2025, in Philadelphia. A new report from Congress' nonpartisan watchdog finds students with disabilities are spending more time in mainstream classrooms, though the progress toward achieving that goal in federal law varied by state.
Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP
Special Education Opinion Why Moving Special Education Out of the Ed. Dept Will Not Help Students
We shouldn’t redefine special education as a medical service. What to know as it moves to HHS.
Jerell Hill
5 min read
Image of a student's silhouette with a sunrise in it. Overlay is a medical file.
Illustration with Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty