The following definitions are specific to the reporting requirements for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B. For more information about IDEA, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s IDEA website.
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: B-1 (Graduation Rates), B-2 (Dropout Rates), B-13 (Transition IEP Components), and B-14 (Post-School Outcomes).
Indicator B-14, section C is the measurement of any post-school “engagement” outcomes for youth with disabilities. It is defined within IDEA as the percent of youth who:
In order for a district to “meet requirements” (determination level 1) for Indicator B-14, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) requires this number to be a minimum of 60%. Learn more about OSPI’s criteria for calculating annual Determination Levels for school districts.
Post-school outcomes (PSO) are reporting categories used in the Indicator B-14 data collection. They can be divided into two broad categories: Any Engagement and No Engagement. PSO data are collected not only for state and federal reporting, but for continuous programmatic improvement.
Any Engagement is a broad term for former students who meet reporting requirements for one of the four PSO engagement categories: Higher Education, Competitive Employment, Other Education/Training, or Other Employment. Washington’s criteria for meeting requirements (determination level 1) for engagement is 60% or higher.
Higher Education is a post-school outcome category for leavers who enrolled on a full- 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 is a post-school outcome category for leavers who worked for pay at or above the minimum wage in a setting with others who are nondisabled 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/Training is a post-school outcome category for leavers who enrolled on a full- or-part-time basis for at least one complete term at any time in the year since leaving high school in an education or training program (e.g., Job Corps, adult education, workforce development program, or vocational technical school which is less than a two-year program).
Other Employment is a post-school outcome category for leavers who worked for pay or were self-employed for a period of at least 90 days at any time in the year since leaving high school. This includes working in a family business (e.g., farm, store, fishing, ranching, catering services, etc.).
Post-school outcome category where leavers did not meet the reporting criteria for any engagement categories.
The Post-School Survey is the instrument used to collect post-school outcome data. Each year school district personnel conduct the survey by contacting former students ages 16-21 with an IEP one year after the students graduated or permanently exited high school. The surveys are administered from June 1 to November 1 via phone, and data are recorded in the Transition Systemic Framework 2.0 (TSF2), CCTS’s secure online data collection platform. After the surveys are complete, CCTS analyzes these data and provides state- and district-level reports.
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.
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) is a response rate of 70% or higher.
The TSF2 is CCTS's secure online data collection platform that houses the Post-School Survey and district-level post-school outcome data. Future additions to the TSF2 include:
TSF2 users must be employed by a school, district, or ESD in the state of Washington, and data-viewing permissions vary depending on the assigned user role. To be added to the system, please contact CCTS to find out who manages the Post-School Survey for your district.
Leaver is the technical term for former student youth 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.
Leavers who left high school with a diploma fall under the Graduated exit category.
Leavers who left school without a diploma fall under the Dropped Out exit category. This includes students who aged out or received an adult high school diploma or GED.
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.
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.
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.
A less than two year postsecondary institution offers programs that, at their highest level, are less than two years.
Page last updated
May 1, 2023