The Public Education Department, Special Education Bureau is conducting a State-Wide Follow-up Study, as a mandated requirement of the State Performance Plan, to provide post school follow-up information to OSEP to address SPP Indicator 14. The Northeast Regional Education Cooperative (REC #4) is conducting this survey for the PED-SEB.
The survey will be conducted as a census of the 89 school districts and special jurisdictions. All districts and state supported schools that serve high school students are required to report.

The project will consist of two separate surveys: (click on these to download paper surveys)

Tier 1 (2008) Survey, which will survey 2008 prospective graduates who are in the special education program. This includes all students with IEPs who are not designated as Gifted. The Tier 1 survey will be conducted between April 1 and May 31, 2008.

Tier 2 (2008) Survey, which will survey 2007 exiters who were in the special education program, not including gifted students. This survey will be conducted between April 1 and June 30, 2008.

As these surveys will require extra time and effort some of which will be performed on personal time, staff will be reimbursed for the tasks involved in conducting these surveys.

Three levels of tasks are addressed:
1) District Coordinator who will insure that school record information is available, surveys are conducted, collected and entered. RECs are asked to act as coordinators for their member districts, unless the schools prefer to coordinate the effort on their own. . Reimbursement for coordinators are pro-rated on size of district, number of schools and number of students to survey.
2) Interviewers who will conduct phone interviews of Tier 2 former students will receive $10 per completed survey
3) Data entry will be reimbursed at $1 per survey

By April 4, each district and REC should identify one coordinator for the survey effort and send contact information including name, job title, email address, phone# and cell phone# to: gdamian@nmhu.edu. The reimbursement formula for coordinators is as follows:

For school districts with 1-30 2008 Graduates- $100

For school districts with 31-60 2008 Graduates- $200

For school districts with 61-90 2008 Graduates- $300

For school districts with 91-120 2008 Graduates- $400

For school districts with more than 120 2008 Graduates- $500

Surveys will be entered online and the information will be collected on a database maintained by NEREC for analysis. Each district will create a unique password to access the survey entry site.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 surveys are posted as links on this webpage. They can be downloaded and printed. Interviewers conducting the Tier 2 surveys may choose to eliminate paper and directly enter survey responses online.

NEREC will send a list of students sorted by district and school to be surveyed. The lists will include Name, ID number and demographic data including setting, service level and pathway. If you have students who are not on the list, use your file records to fill in this data. Surveys entered without 9 digit student ID numbers cannot be processed or reimbursed. Phone numbers and addresses for Tier 2 surveys are not collected as STARS data, and must be obtained from school records. Your district will receive a list of contact information collected from last year's Tier 1 survey to assist in contacting Tier 2 students.

Please note that your Tier 2 list will include students who were not seniors at time of exit, and students who did not graduate. The survey is designed to collect outcomes information on students who did not graduate as well as those who did.

To enter the surveys, click on the access the Web-based SURVEY link at the top of this page. Follow the directions on the survey. A billing form is posted on the website and should be completed and returned by persons who complete the work. Reimbursement checks will be mailed to the address on the billing form.

Additional items posted on this webpage include phone interview instructions and a script to use in Tier 2 survey interviews.

Technical Assistance and Information: Glenn Damian

Email: gdamian@nmhu.edu, Phone: (505)426-2265, Cell: (505)699-6255

• Email coordinator contact information to: Glenn Damian, gdamian@nmhu.edu
• One coordinator per district will coordinate both Tier 1 and Tier 2.
  

• Each district will be sent an excel file containing the names and ID#'s of students to be surveyed. Each district must enter the student's home address and phone number on the online database.

• Surveys may be collected using paper surveys, or entered directly online in the process of a phone or personal interview.
  
• If needed, Download Tier 2 survey from NEREC website, www.rec4.com, post school outcomes icon. Copy a survey for each student.
  
• Students not on the excel list should be surveyed, but ID# must be obtained from school files. If no ID# can be located, survey should not be entered, and will not be reimbursed.
  

• Enter survey information into online database. Link posted on www.rec4.com, post school outcomes icon. Data entry will be compensated.

• Forms posted on www.rec4.com post-school outcomes icon.
  
• A check will be issued to individuals designated by each district for tasks performed
  
• Interviewing and data entry may be performed by as many individuals as designated by district. Each should submit separate billing forms.
  

• Download Tier 1 survey from NEREC website, www.rec4.com, post school outcomes icon.
• Copy a survey for each student.
  
• You may begin Tier 1 surveys earlier than April 1 if you choose to.
  
• Give surveys to each high school (transition coordinator, or other designated staff) with instructions on completion of the survey.
  
• Assistance may be provided as necessary to help students complete survey.
  
• Collect completed surveys.
  
• Coordinator of Tier 1 will be compensated
  

• Enter survey information into online database. Link posted on www.rec4.com, post school outcomes icon. Data entry will be compensated.

• Forms posted on www.rec4.com post-school outcomes icon.
  
• A check will be issued to individuals designated by each district to perform tasks.
  
• Data entry involved in the survey may be performed by as many individuals as designated by district. Each should submit separate billing forms for tasks performed
  
• Only one Coordinator for each district or REC will be reimbursed (responsible for both Tier 1 and Tier 2)