Kentucky Post School Outcome Study Human Development Institute University of Kentucky www.kypso.org

1. Kentucky Youth One Year Out Former Student Interview (YOYO) Interviewer Training Kentucky Post School Outcome Study Human Development Institute University of Kentucky www.kypso.org

2. Purposeof this Module The purpose of this training is to provide Youth One Year Out (YOYO) Interviewers with information regarding the purpose of the YOYO and to assure that it is conducted in the appropriate manner.

3. Anticipated Outcomes YOYO Interviewers will understand : • what the YOYO is • why collecting post school outcome data is important • importance of their role in data collection • the role of the YOYO in the overall Kentucky Post School Outcome Study (KyPSO) • how to access the interview on-line • different strategies to employ for students who may need assistance in completing the YOYO

4. What Is the Youth One Year Out (YOYO)?

5. The Kentucky Youth One Year Out (YOYO) is a computer assisted telephone interview that collects information about former students’ post school outcomes

6. The YOYO is Data Collection Point 2 in the Kentucky Post School Outcome Study • Point 1: Kentucky In School Transition Survey (KISTS) ~ gathers information from records and students regarding student post school plans • Point 2: Kentucky Youth One Year Out (YOYO) former student interview ~ gathers information by way of telephone interview about former students’ post school outcomes

7. When is the Youth One Year Out Done? • The YOYO is conducted from April 1st through June 30th of every year. • The YOYO must be completed by June 30, 2009.

8. Collecting Post School Outcome Data is a Federal Requirement The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires that all states follow up with former students who had IEPs to determine: “the percent of youth who had IEPs, are no longer in secondary school and who have been competitively employed, enrolled in some type of postsecondary school, or both, within one year of leaving high school (U.S. Department of Education, 2006a).”

9. Youth who had IEPs… Includes any student with an IEP who exited school last year by either • Graduating with a diploma • Completing with a Certificate of Attainment • Aging Out • Dropping Out

10. The YOYO Interviews Former Students about: • Employment • Enrollment in postsecondary education • Leisure activities • Quality of life • Services/supports currently receiving

11. Collecting This Data Will Help Us Answer Questions Like These: • For students who are successful, did school help and how? • For students who aren’t successful, was there something school could have done differently/better? • What kinds of supports do young adults need most after high school? • What changes are needed to better support students, families, schools, agencies?

12. Who Does the Youth One Year Out? You do if your Local Education Agency (LEA) is in the random sample in any given year.

13. What is a Random Sample? • A sample whose members are chosen at random from a given population. • The KyPSO randomly selects LEAs to participate each year. • The random sample consists of approximately 30 LEAs being selected in any given year. • The randomly selected LEAs then follow with all student leavers with IEPS who exited one year ago. • All of Kentucky’s 176 LEAs will be in the sample, at some point, between 2006-2012, the Office of special Education Programs reporting period.

14. All LEA’s will be in the YOYO sample once during each six-year cycle Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

15. When Is My School District in the Sample? • To determine if your LEA is in the sample for a given year, go to: www.kypso.org YOYO Sample

16. Who Conducts the YOYO Interview? • The Director of Special Education (DOSE) for each Local Education Agency (LEA) decides the person(s) that will be responsible for conducting the YOYO. • If you are participating in this webinar, you have been selected as the person responsible. • If any other personnel assist you in completion of the YOYO, they should go through the on-line YOYO training module and complete the on-line quiz.

17. What Happens After Data is Collected? • KyPSO @ the Human Development Institute (HDI)/University of Kentucky (UK), conducts secondary data analysis. • KyPSO compiles reports for KDE/DECS, LEAs, parents, and other stakeholders.

18. Being a Youth One Year Out Interviewer

19. IsBeing a YOYO Interviewer a Big Responsibility ? YES! • You are collecting data that tells us about the post school outcomes of former students with disabilities across Kentucky • The information you collect will be compiled and reported to districts, the state, and federal governments • Important decisions will be made based on these reports and recommendations.

20. Protecting Confidentiality • As a YOYO Interviewer, you will be accessing personal information about former students • As a Youth One Year Out Interviewer you are trusted with protecting the confidentiality of the former students interviewed as well as the information you obtain from them.

21. Protecting Confidentiality • Youth are protected by ensuring that all personal information about them is confidential. • All paper and electronic information containing personally identifiable information must not be available to anyone outside of school personnel with designated access. • Never leave YOYO materials in a public place (e.g. leaving your computer screen open to a former student interview). • Never allow unauthorized persons to look at them. • Notify your supervisor if you lose any confidential materials. • Never talk about who you interviewed or what they say. Potsdam Institute for Applied Research (PIAR) at State University New York (SUNY) Potsdam and the National Post-School Outcomes Center, Eugene, Oregon, (funded by Cooperative Agreement Number H324S040002) with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

22. Please Note! • Even though conducting the YOYO, itself, is a federal requirement, Former Student participation is strictly voluntary. • Should a Former Student choose not to be interviewed, thank her/him for their time and hang up. • Note, on the YOYO, what transpired.

23. How to Conduct the Youth One Year Out (YOYO) former student interview

24. Getting Started Go to the Kentucky Post School Outcome Study (KyPSO) web site located at: www.kypso.org Let’s Go to the Web Page!

25. Getting Started • Click on “Tools for Data Collection” on the left hand side of the home page • The Kentucky Youth One Year Out former student interview (YOYO) will be found under the second bullet on this page (the first bullet is the KISTS, don’t forget you have to do this, too) • Practice YOYO • Actual YOYO

26. How to Navigate through the YOYO • You will use text boxes, drop down menus, and arrows to move through the YOYO • You will note that some items allow the Former Student (FS) to select only one option while others will allow you to select all that apply

27. Preparing for the interviews • Former Students (FS) should be informed of the fact that you will be contacting them approximately 2 weeks before you actually do. • Perhaps the easiest way to do this will be to send a letter to the FS

28. What You’ll Need to Complete the Youth One Year Out Former Student Interview • Computer with Internet access • Telephone with speaker phone capability • Student Contact Information After High School sheets from previous school year KISTS • Approximately 30 minutes per interview • this includes your preparation time as well as the actual interview itself • Quiet area as free of distraction as possible • you may want to post a sign on the door of the office/area you are using notifying people of telephone interviews in progress

29. Note! • The KISTS Student Contact Information After High School is an excel spreadsheet that should have been saved to a secure school (used only by school personnel) computer from last year. • You will be asked to enter the 10 digit student unique identification number from the Student Contact Information After High School spreadsheet on the YOYO.

30. Which Former Students Must Be Interviewed? • Students for whom a Kentucky In School Transition Survey (KISTS) was completed the previous school year • These include students with IEPs who left school by way of: • a standard diploma • a certificate of attainment • aging out • dropping out

31. Keep Track of Where You Are with Your Interviews • It probably will not be possible to contact and interview all former students in one session • Therefore, you will need to keep track of where you are with your interviews in terms of former students who: • Have been contacted and interviewed • Have been contacted but requested to be interviewed at another time • You were unable to contact

32. Keeping Track of Interviews This is an example of how you might keep track of where you are with your interviews….

33. Conduct the Interviews in as Quiet an Area, as Free of Distraction as Possible You may want to post a sign on the door of the office/area you are using notifying people that you are conducting telephone interviews Shhhh…Telephone Interviews in Progress!

34. A Word of Caution! Once you begin a YOYO former student interview, you must complete it! If you exit the interview prior to completion, you will lose all data!

35. Contacting the Former Student

36. How Many Times Should I try to Contact Former Students? Attempt to contact the Former Student (FS) 3 times • Start by contacting the FS at the home telephone number(s) provided on the KISTS Contact Information sheet. • If you cannot reach the FS at the home telephone number, attempt to contact the student via her/his cell phone number, if provided. • If you are unable to reach the FS via telephone, you may e-mail the FS

37. E-mailing the Former Student If you are unable to contact the Former Student (FS) via a cell phone number, e-mail the student (if an e-mail address has been provided) using the following content: Dear __________________________ :Name of Former StudentWe are conducting a telephone interview of students who finished high school last year. We are conducting the interview to see how you are doing and to see if there are school programs/services that you feel helped you after you left high school. All of your responses will be kept private/confidential. If you would like to participate in this interview, please respond to this e-mail and provide a telephone number at which you may be reached. Thank you. Sincerely: Interviewers’ Name

38. When to Call? Ideally, interviews would be conducted at a time when the former student(s) is most likely to be at home: • Week-day evenings, between 5:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. • Week-end Times to avoid: • Before 9:00 in the morning • After 9:00 at night. • As a last resort, try early morning or late evening calls.

39. When to Call? • Unfortunately, the times when former students are most likely to be available for a telephone interview do not coincide with school personnel work hours • Therefore, if an Interviewer is unable to make arrangements with their district to conduct the interviews during these hours, the Interviewer will need to conduct them whenever possible throughout the typical work day • Try to call at a time when you know, as an Interviewer, you are least likely to be interrupted. • Remember to allow approximately 30 minutes to conduct the interview

40. Getting an answering machine If you get an answering machine, use the following script: Hello, this is ____________________calling from ___________school. I am calling for Former Student Name.I want to know if you would like to participate in an interview we are conducting with former students to see how things are going. You can return my call at__________. I will also try to call you at another time. Thank you.

41. What if There is No Answer? • If you discover a number is disconnected or no longer reaches the Former Student (FS), try alternate numbers. • You may also have an e-mail address for the student • No matter what the result, indicate on the YOYO what happened.

42. How Will Former Students without Telephones be Included? It is important to ensure that all those identified have the opportunity to respond. Here are some effective strategies: • Utilize a lap-top computer to facilitate meeting the former student and/or their family at their home or in the community. • Ask the former student and or their family to come into school to complete the interview. • Send a local or toll-free number to use to call in when they are at a place with a phone and tell them what days and hours to call. • If they are known to attend day programming, attempt to contact them there. Potsdam Institute for Applied Research (PIAR) at State University New York (SUNY) Potsdam and the National Post-School Outcomes Center, Eugene, Oregon, (funded by Cooperative Agreement Number H324S040002) with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

43. What if the Former Student Cannot Be Located/Contacted? It may be difficult to contact former students • They may have moved • They may not have a telephone • They may not wish to be contacted If you cannot contact the former student after 3 attempts, note this on the YOYO

44. Making the Call

45. Once someone answers • Expect they will probably think you are trying to sell them something and may hang up. • Quickly and politely explain who you are and why you are calling. An Interviewer Introduction script is included at the very beginning of the YOYO. • Remember, your call will often be an interruption. • If necessary, provide a chance to set up an appointment where you can call back at a time more convenient for the Former Student (FS). Potsdam Institute for Applied Research (PIAR) at State University New York (SUNY) Potsdam and the National Post-School Outcomes Center, Eugene, Oregon, (funded by Cooperative Agreement Number H324S040002) with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

46. Using Speaker Phone • It may be easier to input responses on the YOYO if you have the Former Student (FS) on speaker phone. • If this is the case, you will need to assure that you are conducting the interview in an area where it will not be overheard.

47. Using Speaker Phone Once you assure that you are in an area in which the interview will not be overheard… • Ask FS if it is o.k. to put him/her on speaker phone • Assure FS that the interview cannot be overheard

48. What Can I Say to Encourage Participation? • Inform the Former Student (FS) that the survey is voluntary. • Inform FS that they can refuse to answer any particular question. • Assure Former Student (FS) that the survey is important to their school district and the state. • Assure FS that what they say is protected and will be kept private and confidential. • Explain that their name won’t appear in any report and that their responses will be combined with many other surveys. • Inform the FS that they can have someone help them answer any part or all of the interview. Potsdam Institute for Applied Research (PIAR) at State University New York (SUNY) Potsdam and the National Post-School Outcomes Center, Eugene, Oregon, (funded by Cooperative Agreement Number H324S040002) with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

49. Interviewer Introduction Script • Hello my name is_________ and I am a ________ at _________school. • You may recall receiving a letter from us regarding the fact that we would be contacting you as part of our follow-up of former students. • The purpose of this follow-up interview is to help us identify programs and practices that may have helped you get a job or enroll in college or training since leaving high school. • The interview should take approximately 30 minutes of your time. • If you decide to participate, you can skip any question or end the interview at any time. • All of your responses will be strictly confidential and no identifiable information will be on this interview.Will you answer a few questions about what you (or your son/daughter) are doing now?If "Yes": SAY: "Thank you very much. Is this a good time to talk…do you have about 30 minutes right now?” • If “Yes”: • SAY: “Great. If you don't want to answer a question just say "skip that one. If you don’t understand something, just let me know“. Proceed with the questions.If "No, this is not a good time”SAY:"O.K., what time would work best for you?” Proceed to schedule appointment to re-contact FS • If “No, I do not want to participate” • SAY: “ O.k., thank you for your time"IMPORTANT: PLEASE DO NOT EXIT (EVEN IF INTERVIEW WAS DECLINED) WITHOUT ANSWERING QUESTION #8, BELOW.

50. If I Cannot Interview the Former Student, Can I Interview Someone Else? • Interview the Former Student (FS) whenever possible. • However, because of the types of questions asked, it is acceptable to interview the parents, or guardians, of a FS. • Occasionally the FS’s disability makes participating in a phone survey difficult. • It is sometimes effective to have the Former Student (FS) on one phone and their representative (often a parent) on another. • If this is not enough of an accommodation, it may be necessary to interview someone else. Potsdam Institute for Applied Research (PIAR) at State University New York (SUNY) Potsdam and the National Post-School Outcomes Center, Eugene, Oregon, (funded by Cooperative Agreement Number H324S040002) with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.