Post Secondary Outcomes Sally Simich, Oregon Department of Education

What is the Post School Outcome(PSO) Data collection? What is required? Timeline How to complete this collection and use our data to make effective decisions for transition programs

Data Collected Yearly by States #14: Percent of youth who are no longer in secondary school, had IEPs in effect at the time they left school, and were: 1. Enrolled in “higher education” 2. In “competitive employment” 3. Enrolled in “other postsecondary education or training” 4. In “some other employment”

PSO Data Entry Screen The Follow Up and Exit Interviews can be completed online. Questions appear as needed, depending on answer to previous question. Eliminates data entry errors Does not allow for entry of additional comments district might like to capture

Timelines Exit Interviews PSO Survey Opens in April and closes in September PSO Survey Must be one year after the student left high school List of students posted in April Data entry for the interviews will open June 1st and close at the end of September.

District Size Very Small Small Medium Large Total 1-4 5-15 16-50 District Size Information District size   Very Small Small Medium Large Total Leavers per district 1-4 5-15 16-50 51-355 Number of districts 48 51 43 19 161 Total leavers 112 431 1,231 2,329 4,103 Selected for interviews 109 427 908 1,261 2,705 Number interviewed 61 243 699 911 1914 Response rate 56% 57% 77% 75% 72% Engagement Rate 80% 71% 67% 70%

Post-School Outcomes 2011-2012 and FFY 2012 Percentage Target 2011 (2011-2012) A) 25.1% B) 55.3% C) 71.8% A) 26% B) 52% C) 68% 2012 (2012-2013) A) 25.7% B) 54.4% C) 70.0% A) 27% B) 53% C) 69%

Strategies for Contacting Hard-­to­‐Find Youth Show Interest When Conducting the Survey Be enthusiastic and interested in the answers Convey a non-judgmental tone Provide Incentives Remind students that information will be shared to help other students and improve school services. Modest, $5.00 monetary incentive to “hardest” of the hard to find youth Maintain Contact Know who in family is still in school Leave call back number on messages so youth know it’s you Use PSO logo on all materials, reminders, etc.

Strategies for Contacting Hard-to-Find Youth Provide Pre-Notification In school, discuss the interview with students Share what district has learned from past students Include PSO information with other information Have students identify who should call them during last IEP meeting (teacher, coach, etc.) Create Familiarity Best motivator from study = help other students Practice interview

Post Card Notification of Post School Outcome Data Collection . you may receive a post card, like the one below,  alerting you that your high school may be calling you to ask some questions.  Please help your high school and fellow students, by taking 10 minutes to answer those questions.

Sample Text for the Postcard The (insert School or district name) needs your help! We want to learn from former students how we can improve high school transition services. You will receive a phone call that asks questions about what you have been doing since you left school, such as have you worked or gone to school? Answering the questions will take about 10 minutes. Teachers will use answers from students like you to learn what they can do to help other youth get jobs and go to school after high school. To make sure you have a chance to answer the questions, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx to help the district find you or a family member who can help with this information. We want to hear from you: what you tell us is very important. Questions? Contact your district or Pattie Johnson at johnsop@wou.edu   ________________________________________________

What do districts use to make changes to their transition Programs??????

In Oregon….. School districts that did exit surveys were more likely to successfully make contact with students The calls made by Teachers, Administrators, and YTP were more likely to result in complete interviews! . School districts that did not collect information on the exit interview did not have data to make informed decisions about whether their program launched students with adequate skills Calls made by Paraprofessionals, Assistants, and clerical staff were less likely to result in completed interviews.

Not Engaged 574 students (30% of all interviews) Follow Up questionnaire reports no activity, or less than a 90 days experience in work or school activities Federal reporting requirements do not include students who fail to qualify for the three outcome measurements. ) are of great interest to the districts and to the state.

Looking at Data: Process summary How representative are these data? What direction are our outcomes going? Are there differences in outcomes by subgroups? What is contributing to our outcomes? Not taking time to go over all the results, but selecting descriptive components for exploration Iterative process case dependent

Sally Simich Sally.simich@state.or.us http://tcntransition.org Oregon Department of Education Secondary Transition for Students with Disabilities http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=266 Transition Community Network (TNC) http://tcntransition.org