Post-School Outcome Terms and Definitions
Commonly used terms related to Indicator B14, the annual Post-School Survey, and Post-School Outcome data reports
The following definitions are specific to the reporting requirements for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B. For more information about IDEA, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s IDEA website.
Data Collection and Reporting
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
IDEA is a federal law that governs how public and state institutions provide special education and related services to youth with disabilities. To ensure compliance with IDEA, states must report annually to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on 17 performance indicators, or measurements. Of the 17 indicators, four relate to secondary transition: B1 (Graduation Rates), B2 (Dropout Rates), B13 (Transition IEP Components), and B14 (Positive Post-School Outcomes).
Indicator B14
Indicator B14, section C is the measurement of post-school engagement outcomes for youth with disabilities. It is defined within IDEA as the percent of youth who are no longer in secondary school, had IEPs in effect at the time they left, and within one year of leaving high school, met reporting requirements for Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education, or Other Employment.
Indicator B14 Determination Levels
For school districts to meet determination level 1 requirements for Indicator B14, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) requires this number to be at least 60%. Learn more about OSPI's determination levels.
Leaver
Leaver is the technical term for former students ages 16-21 with an IEP who left high school by graduating with a diploma, aging out, dropping out, or who were expected to return and did not.
Post-School Survey
The annual Post-School Survey is used to collect post-school outcome data from all former student leavers who were ages 16-21 when they permanently exited high school, and who were receiving special education services at the time that they left. School districts conduct survey phone calls from June 1 to November 1 and data are recorded in CCTS’s secure online data collection platform. After the survey closes, CCTS reviews the data and provides state, ESD, county, and district-level reports.
Survey Contact Rate
Contact rate is the percentage of former students or designated family members who were successfully reached for the Post-School Survey. School districts are required to attempt to contact all former special education students.
Survey Response Rate
Response rate is the percentage of former students or designated family members who were contacted and answered the Post-School Survey questions. Washington’s criteria for meeting requirements (determination level 1) includes a response rate of 70% or higher.
Survey Responders and Non-responders
Survey responders (or respondents) are young adult leavers or their designated family members who answered the Post-School Survey interview questions. Leavers are categorized as non-responders if they were unable to be contacted after repeated attempts or declined to participate in the survey.
Transition Systemic Framework 2.0 (TSF2)
The TSF2 is CCTS's secure online data collection and reporting platform that houses the Post-School Survey and district-reported post-school outcome data. TSF2 users must be employed by a Washington state school, district, or ESD. To be added to the system, please contact CCTS.
Post-School Outcome Categories
Post-school outcomes (PSO) are reporting categories used in the Indicator B14 data collection. They can be divided into two broad categories: Any Engagement and No Engagement.
Any Engagement
Any Engagement (sometimes referred to as overall engagement) is a broad term for former students who met reporting requirements for one of the four PSO engagement categories: Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education, or Other Employment. Washington state’s criteria for meeting requirements (determination level 1) for any engagement is 60% or higher.
Higher Education
Higher Education is a post-school outcome (PSO) category for leavers who enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in a community college (two-year institution/program) or college/university (four- or more year institution/program) for at least one complete term, at any time in the year since leaving high school.
Competitive Employment
Competitive Employment is a PSO category for leavers who worked for pay at or above the minimum wage, in a setting with others without disabilities, for a period of 20 hours a week or more, for at least 90 days at any time in the year since leaving high school. This includes military employment.
Other Education
Other Education is a PSO category for leavers who enrolled in an educational or training program on a full- or part-time basis for at least one complete term at any time in the year since leaving high school (e.g., Job Corps, adult education, workforce development program, or vocational-technical school which is less than a two-year program).
Other Employment
Other Employment is a PSO category for leavers who worked for pay for a period of at least 90 days at any time in the year since leaving high school. Unlike leavers who met reporting requirements for Competitive Employment, the Other Employment category includes leavers who may have worked for less than 20 hours per week and/or less than minimum wage.
No Engagement
No Engagement (or Not Engaged) is a PSO category for leavers who were not counted in Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education, or Other Employment. Leavers in this category may have attempted postsecondary education or employment, but they did not meet the reporting requirements for one or more reasons.
Exit Categories
Post-school outcome data can be compared for former students who graduated and those who dropped out of high school.
Graduated
Leavers who left high school with a diploma are categorized under the Graduated exit category.
Dropped Out
Leavers who left school without a diploma are categorized under the Dropped Out exit category. This includes students who aged out or received an adult high school diploma or GED.
Postsecondary Education
Education outcomes are categorized by type of program. Two- and four-year programs are considered Higher Education. Less than two-year programs are considered Other Education.
Four-year institution/program
A four-year postsecondary institution offers programs of at least four years duration or at/above the baccalaureate level. This includes schools that offer post-baccalaureate certificates only, graduate programs only, as well as free-standing medical, law, or other first-professional schools.
Two-year institution/program
A two-year postsecondary institution offers programs of at least two but less than four years duration. This includes occupational and vocational schools with programs of at least 1800 hours and academic institutions with programs of less than four years. It does not include bachelor’s degree-granting institutions where the baccalaureate program can be completed in three years.
Less than two-year educational institution/program
A less than two-year postsecondary institution offers programs that, at their highest level, are less than two years.