Greetings, and happy lunar new year wishes from the CCTS team! In this newsletter, we’re eager to share with you the recently published data from the 2022 Post-School Survey (2020-21 leaver year). These data are the cornerstone for all the work we do at CCTS. We look forward to working with districts and agencies throughout the year to utilize these data in ways that make meaningful impacts on youth with disabilities in Washington state.

We’re also highlighting some additional resources from OSPI around graduation and a unique summer opportunity for neurodivergent youth. Read on for more information!

Post-School Outcome Data Now Available

• Data reports and presentations from the 2022 Post-School Survey (2020-21 leaver year) are now available for viewing and download.
• To access Washington state, ESD, and county-level data, visit the Post-School Outcomes page on the CCTS website.
• To access district-level data:
  • You must have an active user account in the TSF2, CCTS’s secure online data collection platform.
  • If you do not have an account, contact your district’s data manager or email CCTS@seattleu.edu.

Initial Takeaways From 2022 Post-School Survey Data

About the Post-School Survey

What are former students with disabilities doing one year after high school? What are their “post-school outcomes?” Are they attending college or a training program? Are they working in competitive employment or some other employment?

One of the many activities CCTS is responsible for is the collection, review, and reporting of post-school outcome data for students with disabilities through the annual Post-School Survey. Data from the 2022 survey provide a snapshot of life after high school for over 6,000 former students.

From June 1-November 1, 2022, school district personnel conducted the annual Post-School Survey by making phone calls to former students ages 16-21 with an Individual Education Program (IEP) one year after the students permanently exited high school (i.e. graduated, aged out, or dropped out). Once the data are reviewed and published, CCTS shares district-level reports with school districts. State, ESD, and county-level reports are available for download from the CCTS website. The reports are made available to support program and system improvements. They also inform the training and technical assistance CCTS provides to the state.

Reviewing the Data

In their book Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation (2021), Safir and Dugan describe three levels of data. In the context of post-school outcomes, these are:

• Level 1 “satellite data”: a broad-brush, high-level look at post-school outcomes for these former students with IEPs
• Level 2 “map data”: slightly more focused and may provide trends at the state and district level
• Level 3 “street data”: helps us understand student and parent experiences as well as misconceptions and mindsets

CCTS staff spend time throughout the year reviewing and discussing post-school outcome data. We are always excited about this work and want to share some of our process and findings. For our initial review, we focused on state-level outcome data through Level 1 and 2 lenses. We invite you to do the same for your region and district. The following sections include initial findings that caught our attention.

Level 1 Satellite Data

• The percent of former students who responded to the survey was the highest response rate in seven years. Of the 7,938 former students, 6,261 or 78.87% responded to the survey.
• The rate of overall engagement increased from previous years. For the 6,261 former students who responded to the survey, 74.27% met reporting criteria to be considered engaged in Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education, or Other Employment. This is an increase of 4.34 percentage points from 2019-20 and the highest engagement rate since 2017-18 (74.68%). (See Post-School Outcome Terms and Definitions for details on these outcome categories.)

Satellite data can provide us with a high-level snapshot of our former students, but it doesn’t help us understand who is left on the margins or the root causes of those discrepancies. In addition, looking at data from this level doesn’t provide us with opportunities for transformative change in programs or policies.

Level 2 Map Data  

• Although the rate of overall engagement for all statewide respondents is 74.27%, among students categorized as having dropped out, only 55.37% were counted as engaged within the year after high school.
• Digging deeper into these data by ethnicity, former students categorized as American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander have the lowest rates of engagement (31.16% and 27.27%) compared to other race/ethnicity categories and compared to the statewide nonengagement rate of 25.73%

This lens takes us closer to the ground but still doesn’t have the detailed and specific information needed to make leadership decisions to improve practices. As we dig deeper into Level 3 data throughout the year, we’ll report back our discoveries and curiosities.

Making Meaning: The Power of Post-School Outcome Data

Save-the-Dates: June 27-29, 2023, Virtual Transition Forum

Post-school outcome (PSO) data provide a picture of life after high school for former special education students in relation to postsecondary education and employment. Join CCTS to learn how to use PSO data to inform practice around transition services including instruction, development of transition plans, activities, and agency collaboration.

Details and registration coming in spring, 2023.

Class of 2023 Graduation Toolkit and Additional Resources

Graduation Toolkit, Graduation Pathways Quick Reference one-pager, and updated HSBP Template available from OSPI

These newly posted resources on OSPIs Graduation webpage are designed to support schools in helping students graduate with a diploma and a plan for a meaningful first step after high school. For comprehensive guidance related to the implementation of Washington’s current graduation requirements, please see the following resources for detailed information:

• Class of 2023 Graduation Toolkit (PDF)
• The Class of 2023 Graduation Pathways Quick Reference (PDF) 
• High School and Beyond Plan template (DOCX)

Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL) Summer Program

Free Summer Camp, August 7-18

The DO-IT Center and Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) at the University of Washington are recruiting neurodiverse high school students to engage in the free 10-day Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL) summer camp. NNL is hosted as a “hybrid” program, with some days that are online and other days that are onsite at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle campus. Applications for the 2023 Summer Camp are now available! Please share with students you think would be a good fit.

CCTS Self-Paced Online Training

Transition training materials are available in self-paced, online formats. Each training includes a workbook and a series of modules that can be reviewed individually or with a group.

• Writing Effective Transition Plans (9 modules)
• Student-Led IEPs (7 modules)
• Developing Job Shadow Experiences (4 modules)
• Partnerships for Inclusion: Special Education and Career Technical Education (5 modules)

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