Alternate Assessment Scores and Life Outcomes for Students with Significant Disabilities: Are They Related?

This study investigated the extent to which alternate assessment scores for 12th- grade students in Kentucky's Alternate Portfolio Program for students with significant disabilities correlated with a measure of post-school outcomes for these students approximately one year after completing school. Forty-one former students participated in the study and in a comprehensive interview with their families. Life outcomes were measured through an author-developed tool, the Life Dimensions Scoring Rubric. No significant relationship was found between these two measures, indicating that for this sample alternate assessment scores were not related to post-school outcomes. Factors that may have contributed to these results are discussed, as well as some of the recurrent themes that emerged from the interviews. Suggestions for future research are also presented.