The Post-School Outcomes Transition Survey: A Tool for Effective Decision Making?

This study investigated the validity of the Post-School Outcomes Transition Survey (PSOTS). The PSOTS was designed to ascertain whether individuals who received special education services in secondary school have obtained postschool employment or have enrolled in postsecondary education or training within 1 to 2 years of exiting high school. The PSOTS also attempts to obtain continuous scores for transition program services provided to students while they were enrolled in secondary school. Two representative data sets of PSOTS respondents (Year 2004, n = 539, and Year 2005, n = 415) were employed to validate the PSOTS via exploratory factor analysis. A total of 16 salient factors were supported, 8 of which were regarded as postschool outcome dimensions with 8 construed as in-school program dimensions. Because the factors represent robust, continuous measures of transition constructs, they can be used to link transition practices to postschool outcomes through experimental research as suggested by Test, Fowler, et al.