Methods for Collecting Postschool Outcomes Data on Young Adults With Disabilities: A Literature Synthesis

The current U.S. federal mandate for educational accountability requires state departments of education to collect data on the postschool employment and postsecondary school and/or training enrollment of young adults with disabilities. To examine how these data have been collected, we conducted a literature synthesis of follow-up and follow-along studies to answer four critical questions: (a) What data collection methods were used? (b) What were the sample characteristics? (c) What variables were examined? (d) What postschool outcomes were identified? We report the answers to these questions, discuss the limitations of our synthesis, outline implications for stakeholders, and make recommendations for state researchers collecting postschool outcomes data and for education professionals using these data to improve secondary transition programs for students with disabilities.