The Relationships Among Parent Involvement, Student Self-Determination, and Postsecondary Education Enrollment for Students With Learning Disabilities

Abstract

In light of the lower rates of postsecondary education enrollment by students with learning disabilities (LD), researchers have sought to identify predictors of enrollment so that improvement efforts can target specific predictors. Taking advantage of the rich data provided in the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, we conducted a secondary data analysis to investigate how parent involvement and student self-determination predict postsecondary education enrollment for students with LD. Findings from structural equation modeling analyses showed that parent involvement and student self-determination predict postsecondary education enrollment, and the influence of parent involvement is mediated by student self-determination. These results suggest that parents play an essential role in the secondary transition process, and schools need to make concerted efforts to work with parents to foster student self-determination, which ultimately promotes students’ participation in postsecondary education.