Overview of Issue/Description of System or Process 

Through contract with SUNY at Potsdam, NYS has been conducting a longitudinal post school study in which 13,000 special education and general education students have been followed since they were seniors in 2000 and 2001.  The NYS LPSI study follows two randomly selected representative samples of special and general education seniors who left high school in 2000 (beta sample) and in 2001 (main sample) with regular high school diplomas (Regents or Local) or IEP diplomas from the point of senior exit, then at one, three and five years beyond high school.  Given the extensive body of research on the negative post-school consequences of dropping out and the high cost of tracking down these students beyond school, students who dropped out were excluded from the NYS LPSI.  The NYS LPSI questions are designed to determine how in-school transition preparation relates to community living, postsecondary education and career participation on a post school basis.  This study will be concluded in September 2007. 

The NYS LPSI found that 83 percent of the Class of 2001 completers at one year out of high school successfully transitioned to employment, postsecondary education or day program alternatives.  Day program alternatives are adult service programs designed for persons with the most severe disabilities who cannot successfully compete in the competitive labor market or postsecondary education even with extensive support.  This rate was 75 percent for the class of 1995.  Thus in six years, for completers, the rate of successful post school transitions increased eight percentage points.

Former general education students included in the NYS LPSI left the same schools in the same years as the special education students sampled.  Ninety-six (96) percent of general education students who left high school with regular high school diplomas transitioned to postsecondary education or employment within one year of high school completion.  Thus, compared to their general education peers at one year beyond high school, students with disabilities experience a gap in post school outcomes of approximately 13 percentage points. 

Baseline Data for FFY 2004 (2004-2005) 

The baseline data for students exiting school in 2005-06 will be reported in the 2008 APR.

Plan to collect baseline data

2006:

NYS will redirect the activities of the SUNY Potsdam LPSI to collect baseline data on a representative sample of one-sixth of the school districts in the State.  See sampling plan below.

Exiters are defined to include those students with disabilities completing the program with any diploma or certificate of completion (Regents or local diploma, IEP diploma, GED), completing by reaching maximum age to attend special education or those dropping out in the school year 2005-06. 

Employment is defined as competitive employment for at least minimum wage, either full time or part time, for any length of time.

Post secondary school enrollment is defined as participation in a two- or four-year college program, vocational or technical education beyond high school and adult basic education, either full or part time.

• By January 2006, school districts selected for sampling for this indicator will be notified that they must obtain contact information and consent to be contacted from all students who leave secondary school between the months of January to June 2006.  School districts will provide demographic and contact data to the LPSI contractor for these students.  Demographic data will include name of the school district and student identification, date of birth, year of exit, primary disability, gender, race/ethnicity information, type of school exit (e.g., graduation, drop out, aging out) and special education placement during the student’s last year of school participation.

• By September 2006, school districts will submit the contact and demographic information to the LPSI contractor, who will verify completeness of information with school districts and initiate planning for interviewing, via a calling center, regional interviewers, mail and on-line survey alternatives.

2007 activities related to 2005-06 exiters:

• By February 2007, SED will notify 2005-06 students of the upcoming survey and encourage their participation when contacted by the LPSI contractor.

• From May through the end of July 2007, interviews will be conducted by the LPSI contractor with approximately 4,500 students exiting school during 2005-06, using a modified form of the National Post-School Outcomes Center Post-School Data Collection Protocol, involving twelve basic questions plus one qualitative question.  Questions pertaining to employment and postsecondary education include the following:

Employment The level of employment, from working in a competitive employment setting for pay to supported employment. If employed at all during the previous year If currently employed Hours worked per week Typical hourly wage received If the job provides health insurance benefits (an indicator of the stability of the level of engagement in the world of work). If not employed, why? Postsecondary education The level of postsecondary education (from 4-year college program to Adult Basic Education) If ever participated in postsecondary education If currently involved in postsecondary education Whether enrolled full or part time If not engaged in postsecondary education, why? The interviewer will record whether the student or the student’s designee answered for the student.

• By the end of September 2007, the LSPI contractor will provide a compiled report back to each school district and to SED for reporting purposes.  The compilation will indicate the response rate.

• One year out interviews will be conducted from May through July. 

• Final reports to LEAs and SED will be provided by the end of September.

Sampling Plan

Sampling will be used to establish the 2005-06 baseline for this indicator.  One-sixth of the school districts in NYS will be randomly selected.  This represents approximately 120 school districts each year.  The NYC School District will be included in the sample each year.  It is the only school district in the State with a total enrollment of 50,000 or more students. 

NYS has distributed all school districts among six statewide representative samples. These six groups of school districts were tested with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and there was no statistical difference among the six groups of school districts on the population variables described in Attachment 2.  These population variables were from the 2000 decennial census.

All school districts will have a choice of reporting data on all eligible students or submitting data on a randomly selected sample of students. The minimum number of students required for this indicator can be obtained by using the sampling calculator provided by the State and the guidelines provided below. The vast majority of school districts will need to submit data on all eligible students for this indicator.  For some large school districts, if it will be less burdensome to report on a sample of students, the methodology described below (totally random sampling) is likely to produce a sample that is representative of the school district in terms of all variables, since every eligible student has the same chance as another student to be selected for the sample. 

SED will require that school districts maintain documentation as described below if they choose to report data on a sample of students.  The totally random sampling methodology and required documentation should eliminate selection bias. The Department will attempt to prevent missing data by first describing precisely what the State needs to collect, providing technical assistance and then following up with school districts to request missing data. The completeness of data collection will improve after the first year and will continue to improve as long as requirements remain unchanged.  All issues of confidentiality will be handled by following in accordance with FERPA.  The Department will also guard against divulging personally identifiable information by not reporting results when there are less than five students for whom data are available or when those results can be easily calculated based on other data provided. 

 

Federal Indicator Number	Eligible Population of Students From Which A Random Sample Must be Selected	Minimum Number of Students in the Sample	Method for Selecting Students	Required Documentation
14	All students with disabilities who are no longer in secondary school but received some special education service during the school year (July 1-June 30) in district-operated program or under contract with other service provider. (Include all students who left with a credential, reached maximum age for educational services or dropped out.)	School districts with less than 100 students with disabilities exiting, survey all students. School districts with 100 or more students use the sampling calculator. Require 95% confidence interval and plus or minus 5% margin of error.	Same as above for larger districts	Same as above

Improvement Activities/Timelines/Resources

Improvement activities will be reported in the APR due to USDOE in February 2008.