To help improve school programming and supports for future students in Indiana schools, the federal government requires that states submit data to the Office of Special Education Programming (OSEP) about students with IEPs who have left school. Students may have dropped out, exited with a Certificate of Completion, or graduated with a diploma. This effort to capture outcomes information from these students and their families is part of Indicator 14.
Indiana’s Department of Education is currently working to improve its student and family awareness about the Indicator 14 Post-school Outcomes Survey, which takes place a year after the student leaves school. Surveyors contacting students and their families ask about any education, training, and employment experiences the student may have had in the year since they’ve left school. That information is confidential and aggregated into Indiana’s annual Indicator 14 report.
Since spring of 2020, staff of the Center on Community Living and Careers have been working with IDOE to contact students and families by mail, email, and phone to collect the survey data. Students who are contacted have been selected through a randomization process to ensure that IDOE has appropriate representation for its annual report.
Teachers can help by
- Asking students and families to update their contact information (first name, last name, address, phone number with area code, and a long-term email) at their exit Case Conference;
- Ensuring that the IIEP is updated with the student’s preferred language;
- Providing students and their families the Post-school Outcomes Information Letter (see the links below) concerning the upcoming survey that will be sent out a year after they have left school; and
- Informing and assisting families and students with IEPs to sign up for the free “What’s Next?” monthly transition newsletter. To read past issues or subscribe to the newsletter, see the “What’s Next?” page on the INSTRC website. (Yes, teachers can subscribe too!)
To see and share the Post-school Outcomes Information Letter with students and families, please use the following links: