Parents' Page

Welcome, Parents!

We wish to thank the more than 6,000 parents and guardians who took the time to be interviewed in 2001-2009. We greatly appreciate their efforts and all the information they provided.

Each participating family's unique experiences provided a rich picture of youth's education and experiences and their long-term impacts. Approximately 12,000 students were selected randomly from students served by more than 500 school districts across the country. These students represent young people with all kinds of backgrounds, abilities, and school programs.

We appreciate the involvement of so many families across the country.

Check out our current FactSheets, Data Briefs and Newsletters, for more information. Our links page provides a list of websites with information and services for youth.

NLTS2 can help to improve schools

Information from NLTS2 will help to improve schools and other service systems by informing the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Congress, state policy-makers, parents, advocates, researchers, and educators about ways to improve educational and transition services to better meet the in-school and postschool needs of students.

We learned about young adult experiences with:

• residential independence
• social involvement with friends
• postsecondary education
• employment
• services

Parents

• Family Interviews We called by phone every 2 years (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009) to ask questions about youth and their experiences.
• Check out PACER resources for parents of young adults with disabilities.

Youth

• Youth Interviews Youth able to answer for themselves were interviewed by phone about their experiences or received a questionnaire in the mail (2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009).
• Assessments When students were 16 to 18 years old a one-time direct assessment was conducted to measure student progress in reading, math, science, and social studies. An interview was also conducted to learn about youth's self-concept and self-determination. Accommodations were provided to youth so that they could complete the assessment or an alternate assessment was completed by a person knowledgeable of the students' abilities.

Students' schools

For each student, NLTS2 has surveyed one or two teachers, who know the students well about student goals, services provided, classroom experiences, and performances. We also have collected information on the general characteristics of the secondary schools youth have attended. We collected students' transcripts to learn about their course-taking and school progress until they left secondary school.