Predictive Validity of Vocational Entry Measures and A Vocational Education Summative Criterion for LD Adolescents' Success in Vocational Programs

Abstract

Historically, adolescents with specific learning disabilities (SLD) have been denied entry into vocational education programs due to vocational educators' negative assumptions about such students in terms of: (a) career choice, (b) academic skills, and (c) social behavior. In the present study, three instruments were administered to 21 SLD and 21 nonhandicapped students to measure their entry-level skills in these three areas. Entry scores were compared to summative grades earned in a regular vocational course. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the mastery and non-mastery groups on entry scores. The ma.thematic scores on the Basic Skills Assessment and the Career Maturity Inventory score were found to be significantly related to the vocational course grade for the nonhandicapped group. Although confidence intervals for the proportions of each group who reached mastery showed that a smaller proportion of the LD group reached mastery, the confidence bands of the two groups overlapped to a great extent. Thus, it was concluded there was no significant difference between the proportion of SLD and the proportion of nonhandicapped students who reached mastery levels in a regular vocational course. That is, once LD secondary-level students enter vocational training programs, their success appears related neither to their academic deficiencies nor to their classification as LD.