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