How Can I Improve SPPI 14 Outcomes in My LEA?

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome back to our three part video series on State Performance Plan Indicator 14 or SPPI 14. I am Michelle McKinley, and I'm the executive director of Special Programs for Manor Independent School District in Manor, Texas near Austin. I am excited about the opportunity to spend time with you today. In this video, I will share strategies for improving the SPPI 14 outcome data for your local education agency or LEA. In the first video, I shared basic information about SPPI 14 for administrators. In the second video, I showed you how to read and use data from the SPPI 14 reports. If you have not already viewed these first two videos, I encourage you to watch both. The first step in improving outcomes for students is to have confidence in your data. Good data depends on adequate responses to the SPPI 14 survey. You can help increase the number of replies submitted from your LEA in future years which will help improve the extent to which LEA level results are representative and actionable. Consider some of the following activities to ensure an adequate number of responses are obtained from students or their families. Obtain updated student email and phone contact information before the student exits your LEA. Most student contact records across the state are LEA issued Email addresses. For example, studentname@LEAname.org. Typically, the LEA deletes the accounts upon the students exit. Even if they don't, young adults tend not to use these high school issued email addresses once they leave high school. Alert students and families before students exit high school that they will receive a follow-up survey one year after the student leaves school. This will help instill trust in the survey when they receive it and prompt more students and families to reply. Review the format of the survey with students and families before they exit high school. This will familiarize them with the words used and allow you in opportunity to answer any questions in advance. During the survey window, communicate with your exited students and families that the survey is live; that responses are essential, in that your LEA team supports the collection of this information. Share results with your current families so that when they receive their survey in future years, they are familiar with the data collection and see that your LEA is using the information to improve services for students. Add information to your school or LEA website about the post-school outcomes survey throughout the year, especially during the data collection window. Increasing the number of respondents, from your LEA increases the data available for consideration and inclusion in the reports. By increasing the available data, you increase the validity of the information used by the LEA, Regional education Service Centers or ESCs and the Texas Education Agency or TEA. These groups depend on reliable information for planning and making improvements. Let's look now at the employment and post-secondary education outcomes. What percentage of former students are employed? What percentage are enrolled in college? What percentage are engaged in other training or post-secondary education? How many are in the military? Now, compare these answers to the percentages you would expect for your entire student population, based on data you have on those former students. If you have 60% of students graduating high school who are college bound, 30% headed into the workforce and 10% either headed to the military or an alternative educational or training setting, do your SPPI 14 results reflect the same percentages? If your report shows 55% enrolled in college, but only 5% employed, employment preparation may be an area for growth. Look at your current employment preparation services and programs, if this is the case, do you utilize high quality evidence-based practices? Do your students participate in career and technical education courses? Do they receive instruction in inclusive settings? Do they have the opportunity to gain job experience while in high school? Using the same hypothetical results, with 60% of college bound students, 30% headed into the workforce and 10% either headed to the military or in alternative educational or training setting, let's look at the SPPI 14 numbers reflecting the experience of college bound students. If you find that only 15% of students are enrolled in college, you must consider other factors. Are students aware that college is an option? Do your transition services include discussions about various types of college programs that mirror students' interest and address students' needs? Are students graduating from high school academically prepared for college? Do students complete the application and enrollment process before high school graduation? Do students have financing in place before high school graduation, including accessing support through the Texas Workforce Vocational Rehabilitation Services? Have students contacted college disability services before high school graduation? What other factors might hinder students from enrolling in and attending college as planned? If you guide secondary teachers in analyzing the results of the SPPI 14 report, you can impact outcomes. If you provide teachers with the opportunity to see how their students fare beyond high school and investigate the factors that contribute to those outcomes, you empower them to architect systems change. If you then allow them to compare the SPPI 14 results with similar outcomes for all students, you can help expand that impact to the whole LEA. I hope you found value in this three part video series on SPPI 14, and that it sparks conversations in your LEA about improving post-secondary outcomes for students. If you miss the first two videos, you can view them here. If you have follow up questions, please contact your ESC transition contact available here, thanks for watching.