Relations between the Socioeconomic Status of Secondary Students with Disabilities and Non-Academic Transition Behaviors

ABSTRACT Many studies suggest students’ socioeconomic status (SES) predicts academic performance as well as employment and further education outcomes for students both with and without disabilities. The extent to which SES affects the precedents for those outcomes, or the non-academic transition skills identified as being predictive of those post-school outcomes, has been less well studied, and the studies that have been conducted have had varying results. The current study attempts to add to this growing literature base by using multilevel modeling to determine the extent to which variables related to SES predict non-academic skills identified in the literature as being associated with post-school further education and employment outcomes. Results of this study show non-academic outcomes are not strongly related to students’ SES classifications. Specifically, results indicate SES variables generally do not predict non-academic skills associated with post-school further education or employment at the school or student level, meaning SES status does not determine if high school students will attain necessary non-academic skills.