Comment on IDEA Transition Regulations Until March 19, 2007

Improving Youths with Disabilities Outcomes for Postsecondary and Employment
John H. Hager, assistant secretary of the Office of SpecialEducation and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), U.S. Department ofEducation, is pleased to share with you an important message regarding a Notice of Proposed Priority and Definitions for Special Demonstration Programs-Model Demonstration Projects-Improving the Postsecondary and Employment Outcomes of Youths with Disabilities.
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The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) called for states to set measurable targets for the progress of students with disabilities. Together with the No Child Left Behind Act, the IDEA is holding schools accountable for making sure students with disabilities achieve to high standards. We must ensure that all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, graduate from high school with theskills they need to successfully transition into post secondary education and the workforce.Youths with disabilities face significant challenges both in the school environment and in their transitions to adult life.National studies and reports have shown that, compared to their non-disabled peers, students with disabilities are less likely to receive a regular high school diploma; drop out twice as often; enroll in and complete postsecondary education programs at half the rate; and, up to two years after leaving high school, aboutfour in 10 youths with disabilities are employed as compared to six in 10 same-age out-of-school youths in the general population.

These and other related findings on the secondary and postsecondary outcomes of youths with disabilities have spurred federal and state efforts to improve transition policies and practices.Federal and state efforts to improve the postschool outcomes ofyouths with disabilities have resulted in some important gains over the past decade, including graduation rates, enrollment in postsecondary education and the number of youths entering theworkforce; however, despite these gains, far too many youths with disabilities continue to experience difficulties in achieving successful post-school outcomes. We are making progress, but we still have work to do.

Toward that end, I am excited to share with you the Federal Register notice inviting public comment on the Notice of Proposed Priority and Definitions under the Rehabilitation Services Administration's Special Demonstration Programs Model Demonstration Projects Improving the Postsecondary and Employment Outcomes of Youths With Disabilities. This priority is intended to improve the post-school and employment outcomes of youths with disabilities. We invite you to submit comments to help ensure that it does.

The NPP is open for public comment until Mar. 19, 2007.

The Federal Register notice, including relevant dates and
directions on how to submit comments, may be viewed in HTML and
PDF formats  by clicking here.

You may view this notice, as well as all other Department of Education documents published in the
Federal Register at  http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html. 

Sincerely,

John H. Hager
Assistant SecretaryOffice of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
U.S. Department of Education

Comments

[Sherry Hollis]

US DOE site was comments about 2 yrs ago. I'm not sure if it was on this same topic. I think it was just for general comments. I told them about my own specific situation with our school, plus questioned why there is no enforcement for schools to follow the laws?
I don't see that anything changed from 2 yrs ago, so I wonder why they are doing this again??

[Andy, school teacher]

Sherry, an important message is "We are making progress, but we still have work to do" - I think it should answer your question.

The society is trying to improve the situation but it isn't wise to rely on the society only, it isn't wise to expect the society COMPENSATE for somebody's disability. The society can help to create a friendly environment, parents can help to understand you are capable of many things despite being 'special', government can help with some protective laws. However, the final result depends on you. And I think that one of the most important things within the program is to help youngsters with disabilities realize their capabilities.