The Role Of Program And Alterable Personal Factors In Postschool Employment Outcomes

Case study research design was used to examine the role of program and alterable personal factors in the postschool employment outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities. Seventy-one indepth interviews were conducted with young adults and multiple key informants. A set of program factors clustered together to form two distinct patterns that the authors identified as targeted and restricted services, and a set of alterable personal factors clustered together to form two distinct patterns that they identified as active and passive career orientation. Overall, young adults who were identified with targeted services and active career orientation experienced more positive employment outcomes than did young adults identified with restricted services, passive career orientation, or both. Implications for instruction, student experiences, and professional development are discussed. Future research is suggested to generalize the findings to other samples and to conduct experimental research to disentangle cause and effect.