CLD Transition Success Research Project

Postsecondary education is becoming increasingly essential for obtaining quality employment, but youth with disabilities, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds, attend and complete postsecondary programs at much lower rates than their peers without disabilities. The project conducts research to answer the following questions:

1. What specific factors (personal, familial, cultural, socioeconomic) support the academic success of CLD youth with disabilities in high school resulting in postsecondary education success?
2. How do high schools and providers of related services effectively support CLD youth with disabilities to successfully transition into postsecondary education?
3. What contextual factors in high school contribute to postsecondary education success by CLD youth with disabilities?

Overall Goals and Objectives 

The overall goal is to increase understanding of key factors supporting CLD youth with disabilities to achieve postsecondary education success, and to use this knowledge to develop effective support policies and strategies. Specific goals include:

Goal 1: Maximize consumer participation through a participatory action research (PAR) approach.

Goal 2: Review and synthesize the relevant literature (Research Activity #1).

Goal 3: Conduct a national survey of 200-250 CLD youth with disabilities (Research Activity #2).

Goal 4: Explore factors underlying successful transition through 10 focus groups (Research Activity #3).

Goal 5: Investigate factors underlying success at a more fine-grained level through 10 case studies (Research Activity #4).

Goal 6: Conduct prospective follow-along research by repeating the survey, focus groups, and case studies (Research Activity #5).

Goal 7: Broadly disseminate research findings and products.

Goal 8: Evaluate the process and outcomes of the project.

Special features of the project include:

1. National scope and relevance is achieved by conducting the research at five sites, with each site focusing on specific CLD groups, as follows: – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (African Americans) – Northern Arizona University (Hispanic Americans and Native Americans) – Ohio State University (African Americans) – University of Hawaii at Manoa (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) – University of Washington (Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans).
2. A strong consumer perspective is incorporated through PAR teams consisting primarily of CLD persons with disabilities who have achieved postsecondary education success, one team per site. The PAR teams guide the conduct of all project activities (examples include the design and wording of the survey questionnaire and the questions that should be asked of focus groups).
3. The research design is prospective, following participants over the course of several years.
4. The research focus is on positive factors supporting success rather than deficits.

Expected Benefits

The project will provide insight into specific factors that tend to be important to the postsecondary education success of CLD persons with disabilities, and how these factors tend to differ for each of the major CLD groups. The research findings will be used to develop policy and practice recommendations. Findings and recommendations will be widely disseminated through publications aimed at different audiences and through electronic media including the project’s website.