POSTSCHOOL ENGAGEMENT OF YOUTHS WITH DISABILITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA: ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION OUTCOMES ACROSS THREE YEARS

For decades, youths with disabilities have had consistently poor postschool engagement outcomes in terms of employment and postsecondary education and training. Student-, school-, and district-level factors have impacted these outcomes in varying degrees. Using three years of postschool outcome data from the South Carolina Department of Education Office of Exceptional Children, this study examines engagement outcome differences for youths with high incidence disabilities (emotional and behavioral disorders, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities) using a logistic regression model. Findings indicated the student-level factors of age, race, high incidence disability, and special education exit reason were significant in predicting the postschool outcomes of employment and postsecondary education. At the school-, district-, and combined levels, only district retention rates were significant in the prediction model