Exit Type Data Collection and Reporting

2003-04 and Beyond

Exit type describes the circumstances under which the student exited from a school. Exit type is required any time there is an exit date. Requirements that apply to districts also apply to non-district charter schools. The following table provides information about the choices available.

CHANGES: Department of Corrections and Department of Health and Family Services schools are added for the 2007-08 ISES Count Date as valid schools within the WSLS. Two exit types are added for use in 2004-05 ISES Year End records. These are Below Compulsory Age, BCA, and Prior Completion Credential, PCC. These exit types are not valid for 2003-04 records.

Exit Type	Code	Description/Comments
Transfer to another WI school covered by WSLS. ¹ Known to be continuing.	TC	Use this exit type if you have evidence (e.g. a records request or WSLS email enrollment notification) that the student transferred to a school covered by WSLS. Covered schools include schools in Wisconsin school districts under ch.119 and ch.120, stats., and nondistrict charter schools under s. 118.40(2r), stats. For interdistrict transfers, this exit type may require that your district indicate the new district.²
Transfer to a WI school not covered by WSLS. Known to be continuing.	TNC	Use this exit type if you have evidence (e.g. a records request) that the student transferred to a state or district-approved WI educational program not covered by WSLS. This may include transfer to, for example, a private school, full-time home-based private education ³, or other approved program⁴. For students with disabilities, districts will also need to indicate whether the student is returning to regular education. Prior to the 2007-08 school term, transfer to a school within the Department of Corrections or Department of Health and Family Services was reported using this code.
Transfer out-of-state. Known to be continuing.	TOS	Use this exit type if a student moved out-of-state or out-of-country and you have evidence (e.g. a records request) that the student is continuing in an educational program.
Expected transfer/ promotion to new school covered by WSLS. Not known to be continuing.	ETC	Use this exit type if the student has moved to another WI school district OR was expected to enroll in another school in your district AND is not known to be continuing in an educational program. This exit type requires that your district identify the expected new district if move is to another WI school district or the expected new school if the student was expected at another school in your district.
Out-of-state move. Not known to be continuing.	OOS	Use this exit type if a student is known to have moved out-of-state or out-of-country and is not known to be continuing. In future years, districts using this exit type may be required to provide the new state or indicate out-of-country.
High school completion⁵ ¹²	HSC	Use this exit type if student earned a high school completion credential on or before the exit date. This exit type requires that your district submit a high school completion credential type.
Prior Completion Credential	PCC	Use this exit type if the student has a previous year end ISES record with the exit type HSC, High School Completion. This code is initially valid for 2004-05 Year End records.
Death	DE
Below Compulsory Age⁸	BCA	This exit type applies if a student was under age 6 on the school exit date. This code is initially valid for 2004-05 Year End records.
Maximum age⁶ ⁷	MA	Use this exit type if all of the following applies: the student's exit date is on or after the end of the most recently ended school term prior to the count date, he/she turned 21 prior to the beginning of the school term that includes the count date, and he/she did not complete high school prior to the count date.
Other Dropout or Possible Dropout ⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹	ODO	Use this exit type if the student is a known dropout or if the student is not known to be continuing in an educational program and no other exit types applies.

USES: Exit types will be used for multiple data collection, reporting, and accountability purposes. These purposes currently include dropout/ high school completion/ graduation rates, adequate yearly progress, and information system improvement. Federally mandated methods of calculating rates currently differ depending on the intended use of these data. For more information see "Notes about Public Reporting Using Exit Types."

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT EXIT TYPES:

ISES may use WSLS to auto-generate and validate exit types.
- ISES will use WSLS data to auto-generate exit types when exit types are not provided by districts. Four auto-generated exit types are possible: "below compulsory age," "maximum age," "transfer to another school covered by WSLS," and "other dropout or possible dropout." "Other dropout or possible dropout" may be automatically inserted in a student's record if no other exit type is provided by your district or by ISES.
- ISES will use WSLS data to validate two exit types provided by districts: "transfer to another school covered by WSLS" and "maximum age." Some out-of-district transfers might not be validated if the new district did not keep WSLS current or did not use WSLS to find WSNs for affected students. In these cases, your district may be expected to identify the new district/school.
- ISES will overwrite any "Not known to be continuing" exit types including "Other dropout or possible dropout" with "Transfer to another school covered by WSLS" if WSLS data show that the students are continuing.
- The "High school completion" and "Death" exit types will not be overwritten by auto-generated exit types and auto-generated exit types can be overwritten by districts if the "High school completion" or "Death" exit type applies.
- Districts may change auto-generated "Other dropout or possible dropout" exit types based on information available locally.
"Maximum age" exit type may be automatically inserted in a student's record based on the student's date of birth, exit date in WSLS, and school term dates reported by districts in PI 1203. Districts can change this exit type if the "High school completion" or "Death" exit type applies. "Maximum age" does not necessarily equate to changes in eligibility for free public education or state aid.
The "other dropouts and possible dropouts" exit type includes transfers to adult education programs, GED transfers, and certain expelled students.
- Access to GED programs through school districts is provided through HSED programs (§118.15 contracts). Students who exit high school to pursue a GED or exit high school prior to successful completion of HSED programs are counted as "other dropouts or possible dropouts. Completion of HSED programs includes GED testing as a last step so students are not expected to exit high school with a GED certificate only. For more information, contact Alternative Education Consultant, Beth Lewis.
- Permanently expelled students who are not receiving services and expelled students who fail to return when eligible are counted the same way as all other exited students not receiving services, i.e., as dropouts.
For fall 2004 ISES reporting only, districts will need to submit a separate file (Excel, csv, or some other common format) containing records for students who exited at the end of the spring semester of 2003 and who have discontinued schooling but were not reported as 2002-03 dropouts. Beginning in fall 2005, the required data will be captured in the same manner as all other ISES records. Districts may wish to use the Individual Student Search screens in WSLS to determine if these students continued schooling in another district during 2003-04.
Expulsions do not interrupt enrollment status if the student continues to receive his/her primary educational services through the school or if the expulsion is temporary and the student is not yet eligible to return to school. These students do not have exit dates so do not have exit types.
Early college transfers (baccalaureate or associate's program) are considered to be approved educational programs for exit type reporting purposes.
Although unusual, HSC may the appropriate exit type for an exited 11th grader if the student earned his or her high school completion credential on or before the exit date.
Evidence of transfer to home-based private education includes a copy of the completed Home-Based Private Educational Program Registration form (PI-1206). [More]
Prior to 2004-05, no appropriate exit type existed for students below compulsory school attendance age who are not known to be continuing. An ISES-generated exit type of "BCA" (below compulsory age) has been added for initial use in 2004-05 ISES year end records. This code is invalid for 2003-04, so use whatever exit type seems most appropriate in 2003-04 ISES year end records. Note that dropouts are not publicly reported below grade 7.
Students exiting after reaching the compulsory school attendance age of 18 continue to be included in reports until age 21 and must have exit types. Students who reach age 21 prior to the beginning date of the school term are not included in school and district summaries for public reporting and accountability purposes for that school term.
Foreign exchange students attending school in your school district without payment of tuition pursuant to s. 121.84(1)(c) have enrollment and exit dates in WSLS just like other students; foreign exchange students with WSLS exit dates must have exit types. The most common exit types used for exited foreign exchange students are TOS, OOS, and HSC.

NOTES ABOUT PUBLIC REPORTING USING EXIT TYPES:

The student's enrollment status at the end of a school term and on the count date and grade level placement at the time of dropping out do not affect the ISES exit type collection but do affect public reporting for Wisconsin School Performance Report (SPR) purposes.
- Students who leave school without completing the previous school term, but are re-enrolled by the count date of the current school term are not publicly reported as dropouts. If they do not return, they are publicly reported as "mid-term" dropouts for the school term during which they left school (i.e. the previous school term).
- Students who complete the previous school term but are not enrolled as of the count date of the current school term are "current term" or "summer dropouts." Summer dropouts are not publicly reported as dropouts if they return and complete the current term or are re-enrolled by the count date of the next school term. If summer dropouts are not re-enrolled by the count date of the next school term, then they are considered "full term" dropouts because they missed the entire school term. "Full term" dropouts are publicly reported as dropouts.
- Whether or not a student has "completed the most recently ended school term" will be based on school term dates provided by districts through the PI-1203 and exit dates provided by WSLS. Districts can make exceptions for individual students by submitting the appropriate "completed school term" indicator in ISES.
- Exit types are collected at all grade levels but dropouts are publicly reported through the Wisconsin School Performance Report only for grades 7-12. Grade 9 through 12 dropouts are used to calculate graduation and high school completion rates.
WISCONSIN SPR DROPOUT EXAMPLE: A student completes ninth grade at the end of the school term #1 and is expected back as a 10th grader for school term #2. If the student is not enrolled as of the third Friday of September of school term #2, then the student is a 10th-grade dropout for school term #2. If the student does not return and later complete the school term #2, and does not re-enroll by the third Friday of September of school term #3, then he or she is a publicly reported as a 10th-grade dropout for school term #2.
Exited students who reached the "Maximum age" but who later returned to enrollment status are only publicly reported in the "Maximum age" category for the school year they reached that age. These students are not reported in the "Maximum age" category for any subsequent school year. Students who reached "Maximum age" without earning a high school completion credential may be counted as dropouts for Common Core of Data (federal - NCES) purposes.
Two exit types may result in students being counted as dropouts for Wisconsin SPR and ESEA Report Card purposes:
- "Other dropouts and possible dropouts" (ODO).
- "Expected transfer to another school covered by WSLS; not known to be continuing" (ETC). If the expected transfer was intradistrict (e.g. student completed middle school in spring but never showed up at the high school during the next school year), then the student would be a dropout for the expected transfer school (in this case - the high school). If the expected transfer was interdistrict and the expected transfer district confirms the move, then the student may be counted as a dropout for the expected transfer district.
"Out-of-state move; not known to be continuing" (OOS) is counted as a dropout for IDEA purposes. The IDEA Exit Report looks at students ages 14 and up.
Event dropout counts are collected for state and federal reporting purposes. The event dropout count is the the number of students who leave school during a defined period of time and who do not return before a specified count date.
The exit date associated with a "high school completion" (HSC) exit type determines the school year for which the high school completion data are reported. If the exit date is on or after the beginning of school term X and before the beginning of school term X+1, then high school completion is counted for school year X. This is because students may earn their credential during summer school. Use of the HSC exit type also affect the completed school term indicator which is used in reporting dropout and retention rates and for other purposes.

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Last updated on 3/7/2008 9:32:36 AM