International Journal Special Education

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION Vol 26, No: 3, 2011Predictors of Academic AchievementFor students with learning disabilities/speech language impairments, the findings indicated thatInstruction significantly predicted achievement, as measured by the Woodcock Johnson test (Beta = .61,p < .001). Parental involvement also significantly predicted Woodcock Johnson test performance (Beta= .54, p < .001). The model indicated that 77% of the variance in the dependent variable wasaccountedfor by the amount of instruction students received and their parents’ involvement. The findingsfor Students with Intellectual Disabilities indicated that Student Engagement significantly predictedachievement, as measured by the Woodcock Johnson test (Beta = .44, p < .01).Fig 2.1 Student Percentages at Grade LevelSince youth were at different developmental levels than students, other indicators may affect theiroutcomes. As such, the regression models for the youth sample included the following predictors,namely: youth’s marital status; household characteristics; youth experiences during leisure, participatingin school, interacting with friends, handling money, with school, receiving support, getting into trouble,reporting difficulties; youth’s feelings about life, about self, about support and about the future. Otherindicators included in this model were instruction youths received, accommodations youths received,their school programs, youth engagement in school, and teacher competencies.In the case of Youth with Learning Disabilities and Speech Language Impairment, the findings indicatedthat Support scores positively predicted test performance (Beta = .25, p < .05). Student Experiences –Difficulty significantly predicted Woodcock Johnson test performance (Beta = .25, p < .01). StudentEngagement positively predicted Grade Level (Beta = .49, p < .05). For the Youths with IntellectualDisabilities, the regression for the Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement scores showed that StudentExperiences – Support significantly predicted Grade Level achievement (Beta = .61, p < .01). Therefore,four key factors significantly predicted academic achievement for students and youths with disabilities,namely parental involvement and support, instruction, student engagement, and support for and difficultyof school work. In other words, the more parents were involved and supported their children’seducation, the more instruction students received in school, the more the students were actively engagedin their school work, and the more support they received with difficult tasks, the better were their scoreson the academic tests of achievement. There were no significant predictors of academic achievement forstudents and youth without disabilities.202