A secondary analysis was conducted of the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 to examine (a) main effects of parents' school and postschool outcome expectations on the actual outcomes achieved, (b) demographic moderators, and (c) adolescent autonomy as a mediator of parent expectations and outcomes. Parent expectations were found to significantly predict study outcomes. Moderator analysis indicated that disability type moderated the relationship between parent expectations and outcomes. Meditational analyses indicated that autonomy did not mediate the relationship between parent expectations and study outcomes. However, parent expectations significantly predicted levels of autonomy, and autonomy predicted a number of postschool outcomes. Together, these findings suggest a need for interventions that support and foster positive parent expectations and parental supports to promote autonomy development. Additional research is needed on the mechanisms by which parent expectations and autonomy affect the outcomes of adolescents with disabilities.

This article examines recent efforts to improve the school-to-work transition process for all students. This study examined the extent to which the instructional components and skill outcomes associated with school-to-work programs actually predict better postschool outcomes for students with and without disabilities. Findings provide general support for the school-based and work-based instructional components envisioned as part of a comprehensive school-to-work program—-particularly an emphasis on academic skills, work experience while in school, and continuing support for 1 year postschool. Recommendations emphasize building school-to-work programs for all students in a manner that serves each student equally well.

E mployment is one important marker of adult success in our society. In addition to providing financial security, stable employment allows individuals to be self-sufficient and contributes to an overall sense of self-esteem and personal satisfaction (Szymanski, Enright, Hershenson, & Ettinger, 2003). However, the literature suggests that the benefits accrued from securing fulfilling employment have gone largely unrealized by people with disabilities (National Organization on Disability, 2004; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). Overall employment rates for individuals with disabilities continue to fall behind those without disabilities, contributing to the persistently high poverty rates for this population (Foley, Marrone, & Simon, 2002;O'Day & Foley, 2008).Limited employment opportunities and lack of financial stability are also a reality for many young adults with disabilities. Although overall employment rates have risen over time, occupational outcomes for young adults with disabilities still lag behind those without disabilities 423

This study investigated the role of the family in career development and postschool employment outcomes for young adults with learning disabilities. Using a multiple-case study design, the authors examined a set of family structural and process variables. Fifty-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with young adults, parents, and school staff. Family structure was not directly linked to employment outcomes, but family socioeconomic status was related to initial career decision making and vocational identity development. Family process variables, including family relationships, involvement, support and advocacy, career aspirations, and intentional career-related activities worked in combination to form 3 patterns of family interaction labeled (a) advocates, (b) protectors, and (c) removed. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

In three experiments we explored the relation between normal variation in depressed mood and memory in college students. Subjects read and subsequently recalled stories whose protagonists experienced good, bad, and neutral events. Contrary to predictions arising independently from capacity theory and from schema theory, the recall of depressed and nondepressed subjects did not differ in either overall level or in affective content. The results are not easily handled by a conceptualization of depression, tied to schema theory, which proposes that negative cognitions are important for the initiation and maintenance of depression. The general usefulness of induction procedures in research on the depressive syndrome is discussed.

This study examined predictors of participation in postsecondary education for school leavers with disabilities, using instruments, procedures, and logistic regression analyses that were used in an original study. Both studies found six predictors to be associated with participation in postsecondary education: (a) high scores on a functional achievement inventory, (b) completing instruction successfully in certain relevant curricular areas, (c) participating in transition planning (d) parent satisfaction and (e) student satisfaction with instruction received by the student, and (f) parent perception that the student no longer needed help in certain critical skill areas.

Promoting self-determination has become “best practice” in the education of students with disabilities. We synthesize the decade's work in this area as a foundation for considering issues pertaining to promoting self-determination in light of the current educational context. We particularly examine the role of promoting self-determination in light of federal standards-based reform initiatives. We conclude that school reform efforts provide an opportunity to infuse instruction in self-determination into the education programs of all students, including students with disabilities. Many state and local standards include a focus on component elements of self-determined behavior and promoting self-determination enables students to perform more effectively within other content domains. The importance of personnel preparation to enable teachers to promote self-determination is discussed.

The usefulness of a general capacity model for predicting age differences in memory for critical information in text was assessed. Passages that either explicitly stated or implied, in either a predictable or unpredictable manner, a fact central to understanding were read to study participants. No age differences were obtained in the recall of explicit central facts, but the younger adults outperformed the older adults when these facts had to be inferred. A revised capacity model, which implicates encoding processes in the breakdown of inference formation, is outlined to account for these and other data.