High School Exit Interview Jeff Williams Dave Malott

Background Based on experience in other states One tool to increase response rates Useful for subsequent phone or mail surveys

Why is response rate an issue? By definition, the list of “leavers” is 6 – 18 months old December 2005 count has leavers from the first half of the 2005 –20 06 academic year December 2006 count has leavers from the second half of the 2005 –20 06 academic year Even if addresses were updated right as they “left,” how often do you think 17 – 25 year olds move?

The Benefit Telephone response in other states 40 – 60 percent of graduates 10 – 30 percent of dropouts Exit survey boosts response rates by 10 – 20 percent Many states have not attempted to survey dropouts in annual surveys because it was “too hard” to reach the population

Three Options Option A Collect contact information Option B Provides an opportunity for the student to reflect on the high school experience and the utility of the Summary of Performance Option C To collect student interview data on processes, services, and/or systems for use in o analyzing SPP 14 data results and o informing the local system improvement process

SPP 14 Post-School Survey

The Short Version Centralized mail survey (4 rounds) ISD/LEA telephone survey (2 rounds) 12,306 eligible students ( academic year) Fielded May to October each year

Survey Process As of 8:01 AM, October 6, 2006; final plan not due to OSEP until later this fall March: PSC receives data file from MDE April: PSC preps mailings May: Wave 1 mailing to leavers June: Wave 2 mailing to leavers July: Wave 3 mailing to leavers’ parents August: Wave 4 mailing to leavers’ parents September: Wave 1 ISD/LEA calls October: Wave 2 ISD/LEA calls

Students (2004 – 2005 academic year) 8,312 students graduated 3,294 students dropped out 467 students received a certificate 233 students reached maximum age Total of 12,306 students

The Survey Survey developed by the National Post- School Outcomes Center (verbatim) Questions about Demographics Employment (hours, wages, industry setting) Education (type of training) 14 questions, 2 pages National resource and clearinghouse:

The Remaining Questions Does Michigan survey all leavers or only CIMS cohort 2 & 3 leavers in summer 2007? How do ISDs/LEAs record the results of the exit interview and transmit that to MDE and/or PSC? Will Michigan stay with a mail survey, or will this eventually become a telephone survey?