Abstract
Statement of Problem
The graduation rate for students who received special education services is lower than the graduation rate of their typically developing peers (Foreman-Murray et al., 2022). As Sum et al. (2009) established a link between the graduation status of an individual and unemployment and incarceration rates, the lower graduation rate may lead to higher risk for students who received special education services to be incarcerated or unemployed. Factors that are outside of public school control, such as caring for a sibling, or grandparent do not have research directly linking it to impact on student academic success. This research aims to examine sutdent perceptions of what external factors influenced the participant's graduation status the most. Sources of Data
Data was collected from participants that completed a survey response online and through an interview where rationale could be provided as to why participants answered the way that they did to prompts. Participants were recent graduates from the same high school in one district in the greater Sacramento area.
Conclusions Reached
The three factors that participants perceived to have the most influence on their graduation status were the relationship with their parent(s), their access to technology, and the stability of their living situation. Each of these factors had only one participant out of five that responded that they perceived these factors to have no influence on their graduation status. Common rationale across participants included lack of support educationally and emotionally from parents, always having access to reliable computers and internet, and always having a dwelling that was not constantly changing.