Abstract
Welcome to Volume 35, Issue 2, of Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals (CDTEI), the official journal of the Division on Career Development and Transition of the Council for Exceptional Children. We hope that your summer went well and that you are rested and prepared to settle back into another school year. We are sure that the information included in this issue will make your job a bit easier.
The first three studies in this issue involve the construct of self-determination. In the first study, Berry, Ward, and Caplan summarize findings from their secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study–2 (NLTS-2). Among the results of their logistical regression, they found higher levels of empowerment and autonomy associated with a higher likelihood of participating in 2- and 4-year colleges. Second, Palmer, Wehmeyer, Shogren, Williams-Diehm, and Soukup provide findings from their study using a multistage model of improving student involvement in educational planning called Beyond High School. Results indicated enhanced self-determination skills for students with mild to moderate intellectual disability. Third, Solberg, Howard, Gresham, and Carter provide findings from their study using path analyses to examine ways in which being exposed to quality high school environments contributes to student self-efficacy, motivation, and academic achievement. We believe that path analyses could become a useful tool for additional research in secondary transition.
The next three articles focus on the area of postschool employment for individuals with disabilities. First, Joshi, Bouck, and Maeda provide results from another secondary analysis of NLTS-2 data. In this study, the authors focused on students with mild disabilities and investigated relationships between employment-related transition activities, school demographic variables, and postschool employment outcomes. Second, Lindstrom, Harwick, Popper, and Doren provide findings from their study investigating barriers and supports needed to help young women with disabilities transition to education and/or employment. Their article extends the current literature by including the perspectives of community employers who had hired and trained young women with disabilities, as well as adult women with disabilities enrolled in 2- and 4-year colleges. Third, Harvey, Bauserman, and Bollinger provide the results of a pilot test of an employability skills rubric. Based on their findings, it appears that the rubric can be useful in preparing the summary of performance for students.
Finally, we want to extend our thanks to our consulting editors whose timely and comprehensive reviews make our job easier. In the past few years, we have also started accepting, and relying on, guest reviewers. As a small token of our appreciation, similar to other journals, we will publish their names in each issue. To all our consulting editors listed on the inside cover of the journal, and to our guest reviewers listed below, thank you, you make CDTEI a great journal.