Improving Youths with Disabilities Outcomes for Postsecondary and
Employment

John H. Hager, assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education
and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), U.S. Department of Education, is
pleased to share with you an important message regarding a Notice of
Proposed Priority and Definitions for Special Demonstration
Programs-Model Demonstration Projects- Improving the Postsecondary and
Employment Outcomes of Youths with Disabilities.


Dear Colleagues,

The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) called for states to set measurable targets for the progress
of students with disabilities. Together with the No Child Left Behind
Act, the IDEA is holding schools accountable for making sure students
with disabilities achieve to high standards. We must ensure that all
individuals, including individuals with disabilities, graduate from high
school with the skills they need to successfully transition into
postsecondary education and the workforce.

Youths with disabilities face significant challenges both in the school
environment and in their transitions to adult life.
National studies and reports have shown that, compared to their
non-disabled peers, students with disabilities are less likely to
receive a regular high school diploma; drop out twice as often; enroll
in and complete postsecondary education programs at half the rate; and,
up to two years after leaving high school, about four in 10 youths with
disabilities are employed as compared to six in 10 same-age
out-of-school youths in the general population.
These and other related findings on the secondary and postsecondary
outcomes of youths with disabilities have spurred federal and state
efforts to improve transition policies and practices.

Federal and state efforts to improve the postschool outcomes of youths
with disabilities have resulted in some important gains over the past
decade, including graduation rates, enrollment in postsecondary
education and the number of youths entering the workforce; however,
despite these gains, far too many youths with disabilities continue to
experience difficulties in achieving successful post-school outcomes. We
are making progress, but we still have work to do.

Toward that end, I am excited to share with you the Federal Register
notice inviting public comment on the Notice of Proposed Priority and
Definitions under the Rehabilitation Services Administration's Special
Demonstration ProgramsModel Demonstration ProjectsImproving the
Postsecondary and Employment Outcomes of Youths With Disabilities. This
priority is intended to improve the post-school and employment outcomes
of youths with disabilities. We invite you to submit comments to help
ensure that it does. The NPP is open for public comment until Mar. 19,
2007.

The Federal Register notice, including relevant dates and directions on
how to submit comments, may be viewed in HTML and PDF formats at
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/proprule/2007-1/021507a.html

You may view this notice, as well as all other Department of Education
documents published in the Federal Register at
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.

Sincerely,

John H. Hager
Assistant Secretary
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services U.S. Department
of Education

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