Highest Education Level, 2011-2012
According to an article on the Reuters website, the high school graduation rate in the US is steadily increasing and is on pace to reach a 90% graduation rate by 2020. This is very exciting news, but comes with caveats. For example, the graduation rate of minority students falls far behind that of White students. One-third (33%) of African-American students and 29% of Hispanic students drop out of high school before graduation, In addition, students with limited fluency in English have a graduation rate of 25% in some states in the country.
The article also noted that students with disabilities face significant barriers to graduation. The article stated that in Nevada, for example, only 23% of students with disabilities completed high school in 2011. This gave us the idea to look at the NCI data on completed education levels.
The following results come from the 2011-2012 administration of the Adult Family Survey (AFS). The AFS is given to a family member of an individual with ID/DD. To be eligible for the survey, the individual with ID/DD must be living in the family home, must receive one publicly funded service in addition to case management, and must be over the age of 18. The data in this blog has not been analyzed for significance.
The following table shows the highest education level achieved by individuals with ID/DD who had a family member respond to the AFS survey.
|
Highest Education Level |
Percent of total N=4973 |
|
Less than a High School Diploma/GED |
46% |
|
High School Diploma/GED |
49% |
|
Vocational School |
3% |
|
Some College |
1% |
|
College Degree |
1% |
As can be seen from this data, almost half did not graduate from high school.
It is interesting to look at education by age of individual with ID/DD, as demonstrated in the below table:
|
Highest Education Level |
Age Categories |
||
|
18-30 |
31-50 |
50+ |
|
|
Less than a High School Diploma/GED |
38% |
49% |
78% |
|
High School Diploma/GED |
57% |
46% |
16% |
|
Vocational School |
2% |
5% |
3% |
|
Some College |
2% |
1% |
1% |
|
College Degree |
1% |
0% |
1% |
As can be seen from the above table, 57% of individuals with ID/DD between the ages of 18-30 have graduated from high school. Conversely, only 16% of individuals with ID/DD over the age of 50 have done so. This may be a testament to an increased emphasis on education and inclusion in ID/DD services.
Interestingly, our data does not show differences in education level based on race/ethnicity.
|
Highest Education Level |
Race/Ethnicity |
||
|
White |
African American |
Latino |
|
|
Less than a High School Diploma/GED |
48% |
42% |
43% |
|
High School Diploma/GED |
47% |
52% |
50% |
|
Vocational School |
3% |
5% |
4% |
|
Some College |
2% |
1% |
2% |
|
College Degree |
1% |
0% |
2% |
As can be seen from the above table, the rate of individuals with ID/DD with High School Diplomas/GEDs does not vary much by race/ethnicity. In fact, contrary to the racial/ethnic disparities in graduation rates for non-disabled students noted in the Reuters article, White students seem to have earned their High School Diplomas/GEDs at a slightly lower rate than Latino and African American students.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on this data.
Please note: The 2011-12 data reports will be released and placed on the NCI website this Spring. For more in depth analysis of previous year’s NCI consumer survey data, please see http://www.nationalcoreindicators.org.