Children left behind: An examination of the effects of a school counselor coordinated career development program and student and contextual factors on the post-secondary educational plans of students with learning disabilities

• Main Author: Lamm, Cindy Robins
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2008
• Subjects: Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618494; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1704&context=etd

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationship between diploma status, disability status, family configuration, socio-economic status, IQ function, race, participation in a career development program coordinated by the school counselor, and post-secondary educational plans among students with learning disabilities. A further purpose of this study was to assess the educational experiences of students with learning disabilities relative to their post-secondary educational outcomes. to explore these questions, this study used a constructionist theoretical framework as a implemented in Social Cognitive Career Theory. The participants for this study included high school graduates from the years 2001 through 2007 from a rural high school in the southeastern United States. The majority of participants included students who were economically disadvantaged, African-Americans, and first-generation college students. Results indicated that a career development program coordinated by the school counselor made a significant difference in post-secondary educational plans of students with learning disabilities included in the study. Qualitative results based on student interviews revealed perceived barriers, strategies for coping with a stigmatized identity, preferred teacher attributes, and the importance of a supportive and positive educational infrastructure for building self-efficacy and increasing the likelihood of post-secondary educational planning of students with learning disabilities.