High School Completion by Youth with Disabilities (continued)

Employment. The advantages that accrue to high school graduates with disabilities in the postsecondary education arena are not evident in the employment domain in the first years after high school. There is no statistically significant difference between those who do and do not finish high school in the likelihood of working for pay outside the home; 46 percent of graduates are working, as are 38 percent of dropouts. Neither do the hourly wages of the two groups differ; 38 percent of graduates with disabilities and 51 percent of dropouts earn more than $7.00 per hour. However, graduates are much less likely than dropouts to work full-time (34 percent vs. 59 percent), in part because graduates are more likely than dropouts to be attending a postsecondary school.

Independence. Both youth with disabilities who finished high school and those who did not begin to demonstrate several aspects of adult independence in their first few years after high school.

About three-fourths (78 percent) of high school graduates are living with one or both parents up to 2 years after high school. The large majority of graduates (92 percent) are single, and few (4 percent) have had or fathered a child. In contrast, significantly fewer high school dropouts with disabilities (57 percent) live with parents. Similarly, many fewer dropouts (74 percent) are single, and almost five times as many dropouts as graduates are parents (19 percent).

Even though dropouts are more likely than graduates to be living independently and to have the responsibilities of parenthood, they are less likely to have the mobility that comes with having driving privileges. Almost three-fourths (73 percent) of age-eligible graduates with disabilities have a driver's license or permit, compared with about half (51 percent) of dropouts. Dropouts also are less likely than graduates to have one of the financial management tools that are markers of adulthood-a checking account (16 percent vs. 39 percent).

Community participation. NLTS2 has investigated several aspects of community participation by youth with disabilities, including taking part in organized community groups and in volunteer or community service activities. Overall, 31 percent of graduates with disabilities take part in organized community groups within 2 years of finishing high school, and 30 percent take part in volunteer or community service activities. This is not significantly different from the 19 percent and 18 percent of dropouts who are thus engaged. Taking part in the political process through voting is another positive form of community participation. In the early years after high school, 69 percent of graduates with disabilities are registered to vote, significantly more than the 48 percent of dropouts who are.

Summing Up There has been an increase over time in the percentage of youth with disabilities who complete high school; according to NLTS2, 72 percent achieve that milestone. However, this mark of success is much more common for some youth than others. Those with sensory or orthopedic impairments finish school at much higher rates, for example, than youth with multiple disabilities or emotional disturbances. Hispanic youth with disabilities and those from the lowest-income households also lag behind others in their high school completion rates.

Whether youth with disabilities finish or drop out of high school is associated with marked differences in their experiences in the early postschool years. A high school diploma gives graduates with disabilities access to a college education that is unavailable to most dropouts. Although the two groups are equally likely to be working for pay after high school, dropouts work longer hours, on average, thereby generating greater income.

But the decision to drop out of high school is reversible. About 3 in 10 dropouts with disabilities pursue a high school diploma within 2 years of first leaving school, and about one-third of those youth with disabilities earn their high school credential in that time period.