Abstract
This study investigated the validity of the Post-School Outcomes Transition Survey (PSOTS). The PSOTS was designed to ascertain whether individuals who received special education services in secondary school have obtained postschool employment or have enrolled in postsecondary education or training within 1 to 2 years of exiting high school. The PSOTS also attempts to obtain continuous scores for transition program services provided to students while they were enrolled in secondary school. Two representative data sets of PSOTS respondents (Year 2004, n = 539, and Year 2005, n = 415) were employed to validate the PSOTS via exploratory factor analysis. A total of 16 salient factors were supported, 8 of which were regarded as postschool outcome dimensions with 8 construed as in-school program dimensions. Because the factors represent robust, continuous measures of transition constructs, they can be used to link transition practices to postschool outcomes through experimental research as suggested by Test, Fowler, et al.
|
Alverson, C. Y., Naranjo, J. M., Yamamoto, S., Unruh, D. K. (2010). Methods for collecting postschool outcome data on young adults with disabilities: A literature synthesis. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 33, 155–164. doi:10.1177/0885728810378680 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
American Educational Research Association . (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar | |
|
Brolin, D. E. (Ed.). (1995). Career education: A functional life skills approach (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Bullis, M. (2005). Post-school outcomes for youth with disabilities: Establishing a representative sample of your state to address indicator #14. National Post-school Outcomes Center . Retrieved from http://www.psocenter.org/content_pages/18-sampling Google Scholar | |
|
Clark, G. M., Patton, J. R. (1997). Transition planning inventory: Administration and resource guide. Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Google Scholar | |
|
Cliff, N., Pennell, R. (1967). The influence of communality, factor strength, and loading size on the sampling characteristics of factor loadings. Psychometrika, 32, 309–326. doi:10.1007/BF02289594 Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Cronin, M., Patton, J. R. (1993). Life skills instruction for all students with special needs: A practical guide for integrating real-life content into the curriculum. Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Google Scholar | |
|
Dever, R. B. (1989). A taxonomy of community living skills. Exceptional Children, 55, 395–404. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
District Office of Transition Services . (2011). Curriculum and instruction. Los Angeles, CA: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
Gliem, J. A., Gliem, R. R. (2003, October). Calculating, interpreting, and reporting Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for Likert-type scales. Presented at the Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus. Google Scholar | |
|
Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
|
Hair, E., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. I., Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Halpern, A. S. (1993). Quality of life as a conceptual framework for evaluating transition outcomes. Exceptional Children, 59, 486–498. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Hasazi, S., Hock, M., Cravedi-Cheng, L. (1992). Vermont’s post-school indicators: Using satisfaction and post-school outcomes data for program improvement. In Rusch, F., DeStefano, L., Phelps, L. A., Szymanski, E. M. (Eds.), Transition from school to adult life: Models, linkages, and policy (pp. 485–508). Champaign, IL: Sycamore. Google Scholar | |
|
Hawaii Transition Project. (1987). Honolulu: University of Hawaii, Department of Special Education. Google Scholar | |
|
Kohler, P. D. (1996). Taxonomy for transition programming. Champaign: University of Illinois. Google Scholar | |
|
National Center on Educational Outcomes . (1993). Educational outcomes and indicators for individuals at the post-school level. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, College of Education. Google Scholar | |
|
Pennell, R. (1968). The influence of communality and N on the sampling distributions of factor loadings. Psychometrika, 33, 423–439. doi:10.1007/BF02290161 Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Roberson, K., Blumberg, R., Baker, D. (2005). Keeping it real: How to get the support you need for the life you want. New Brunswick, NJ: Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. Google Scholar | |
|
Salvia, J., Ysseldyke, J. E., Bolt, S. (2010). Assessment in special and inclusive education (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Google Scholar | |
|
Sitlington, P. L., Clark, G. M. (2007). The transition assessment process and IDEIA 2004. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 32, 133–142. doi:10.1177/15345084070320030201 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Skinner, M. E., Lindstrom, B. D. (2003). Bridging the gap between high school and college: Strategies for the successful transition of students with learning disabilities. Preventing School Failure, 47, 132–137. doi:10.1080/10459880309604441 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Stanfield, J. (2011). The Stanfield transitions curriculum. Santa Barbara, CA: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences . (2009). SPSS (release 17.0) [statistical software]. Chicago, IL: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
Test, D. W., Fowler, C. H., Richter, S. M., White, J., Mazzotti, V., Walker, A. R., . . . Kotering, L. (2009). Evidence-based practices in secondary transition. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 32, 115–128. doi:10.1177/0885728809336859 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Test, D. W., Mazzotti, V. L., Mustian, A. L., Fowler, C. H., Kotering, L., Kohler, P. (2009). Evidence-based secondary transition predictors for improving postschool outcomes for students with disabilities. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 32, 160–181. doi:10.1177/0885728809346960 Google Scholar | SAGE Journals |

