Indicator 14 Interviewer Training

Welcome New Interviewers! I am thrilled that you have joined my “team” of district interviewers who will be conducting the Indicator 14 Post School Outcomes Survey. Your hard work and connection to your former students will impact the statewide response rate this year and bring valuable data back into your district.

Completion of this module is required in order for you to have the “rights” to interview for your district. You are expected to read through all of the material and watch each of the videos. There are questions at the end of the module. Please answer the four questions and for the last question that asks you about the number of years you have been an interviewer, answer zero. Once you have answered the questions correctly, you will be recorded as having successfully completed the training and I will add “entering surveys” to your rights in the Indicator 14 website.

First, we need to discuss the importance of the survey. Indicator 14 is one of DPI’s special education indicators on the WI State Performance Plan. It is an unduplicated, hierarchical count of the activities in which youth are participating in within one year after exiting high school. One-fifth of the districts in Wisconsin are required to participate each year while all other districts can elect to participate in the survey. The data collected from the interviews is reported to DPI who in turn reports it to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the federal level. Let’s begin by learning about the Indicator 14 requirements, the definitions of the data we collect and who is eligible to be interviewed.

Thing to Do before Conducting District Interviews:

1. Complete this training
2. Practice using the Zeta logins (These can be found on the Interviewer Tips and Tricks found by logging into the website at www.indicator14wi.org and selecting Interviewer Training, then Interviewer Trips and Tricks, and are also listed below)
3. Print and read through the hard copy of the survey questions. (Located once logged in, select Interviewer Training, then 2023 Indicator 14 Questions with Script)
4. Verify that your exiter list is accurate on the www.indicator14wi.org website.
5. Enter exiter contact information into the website at www.indicator14wi.org by May 31st.
6. Determine if your district has sent letters to former students (if not, don’t mention the letters as part of the survey process). Sending letters or making phone calls to former students before the survey starts to let them know of the upcoming survey positively impacts a district’s response rate.

Zeta Logins

This next video demonstrates how to review your district’s exiter list and enter exiter contact information into the website. Have contact information entered by May 31st so that you are ready to begin making calls in June. Please note, these videos were created in 2022 so the years that you see in the videos will correspond to last summer’s survey. When you are working in the website, the website defaults to 2023 for this summer’s survey.

The next video details the survey itself that is built into the Indicator 14 website. If you have poor or spotty internet in the location from which you will be making your calls, consider using a paper copy of the survey. This is located in the secure portion of the website, click on Interviewer Training, and then select 2023 Interviewer Questions with Script. When using paper copies, you will need to write on each one the exiter’s name and contact information. The paper copies are to be kept in a locked area and shredded after you have this information entered into the website. For all other interviewers I recommend entering surveys directly into the website. Once you reach five attempted contacts to an exiter, the survey will be closed out as unsuccessful. If you do not want a survey to close out, do not enter the fifth contact until you have exhausted all numbers and other means of reaching the student. Just remember that Jenny Jacobs can reopen surveys that were closed out by mistake or if an exiter calls you back after the survey was closed. Consider using a hands free headset when making the calls so that you are able to quickly type responses into the textboxes where needed. Just a reminder that these videos were created in 2022 so the years that you see in the videos will correspond to last summer’s survey.

In the last video the key points of being an interviewer will be reviewed. You are representing your district as a district interviewer. Your professionalism and dedication to this process allows the state to collect accurate data that is reportable at the district, state and federal level.

At any point during the summer if you run into difficulties, have questions, or need a survey reopened please contact Jenny Jacobs at or at 920-809-7662. Refer back to the “Interviewer Tips and Tricks” document posted on the secure portion of the www.indicator14wi.org website by clicking on Interviewer Training. This document has many of the answers to commonly asked questions. You will receive emails throughout the summer so please check your email at the address listed on your district’s signed Assurance document. As soon as your district has all surveys complete, please send Jenny Jacobs an email letting her know. You are encouraged to work hard on the surveys in June and July. Districts who conduct surveys earlier in summer have shown a much higher response rate compared to those starting surveys later in summer. The survey window runs from June 1st through September 30th but emails from Jenny Jacobs will become more frequent beginning in mid August as a reminder to finish so that the deadline of September 30th is met by all participating districts.