Parent’s Post-School Goal Expectations for English Learners with Disabilities

What we know about transition-age ELs with disabilities comes from a limited number of studies and reports. These students face multiple obstacles to achieving the benchmarks of post-school success, including coming from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and having lower academic achievement than other students with disabilities. This study analyzed National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 data to explore parents’ expectations for their child’s future goal aspirations, including postsecondary education, independent living, and financial independence for English learners (ELs) with disabilities and compared results with non-ELs with disabilities. Results showed parent expectations varied by disability category and post-school goals. Also, parents of ELs with disabilities, compared to non-ELs with disabilities, had higher expectations for their child to be financially independent by age 30. The analysis also identified several individual and family predictors of these post-school goals for both parent groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed.