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SALT LAKE CITY -- School districts and charter schools around the state will be contacting former students with disabilities to see how and what they are doing now that they are done with high school. But Dr. Wendy Bills, supervisor of at-risk programs with the Murray School District says many don't respond.
"Last year we only had two students that responded (within the Murray district). We didn't get an accurate picture at all," she says.
Statewide, about 16 percent of the students contacted responded to the survey.
Bills says they ask the students every year starting at age 15 about their plans and goals for life, and the schools are required to help see those through. Now the districts just want to see how the students are doing.
"We are doing a lot of work with these kids. Are we really preparing them and are they able to move on to what they want to do as an adult?" Bills says.
The State Office of Education says the survey provides valuable information that allows it to plan with local districts and charter schools to improve the services and outcomes for students with disabilities.
"There are so many different directions kids can go, and there so many requirements of students these days that we have to be able to justify if we're not working on those academic skills," says Bills.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
