Indicator 7: Measuring Preschool Outcomes Cycle II – Cohort 3 Web/Call Training – November 2009

1. Indicator 7: Measuring Preschool OutcomesCycle II – Cohort 3Web/Call Training – November 2009 Pat Cameron – Department of Early Education and Care and Donna Traynham – Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Review of Indicator 7 Measuring baseline and progress/exit data on preschoolers with disabilities in three developmental domains: • Positive social emotional skills (including positive social relationships) • Acquisition of skills and knowledge (including early language/communication and early literacy) • Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs

3. Reporting Baseline Data • Baseline data are: • the percentage of preschool children with disabilities who exhibit skills and behaviors that are comparable to same age peers • the percentage of preschool children whose skills are not comparable to same age peers

4. Assessment Tools • Districts are able to use a wide variety of formative assessment tools that measure a child’s functioning in these developmental domains • IMPORTANT – these three domains may or may not be in the area of disability – so eligibility assessments can not be your only data source and may in fact be irrelevant • Gather data from various sources who know the child (i.e., classroom teachers, related service providers, child care, parents)

5. Early Childhood Outcomes Center • ECO Center has “crosswalked” assessment tools to the outcomes • Crosswalks show which sections of assessment are related to each outcome • The number of items addressing an outcome does not necessarily mean that the assessment captures functioning across settings • www.the-eco-center.org

7. Children Have Positive Social Relationships • Involves: • Relating with adults • Relating with other children • For older children- following rules related to groups or interacting with others • Includes areas like: • Attachment/separation/ autonomy • Expressing emotions and feelings • Learning rules and expectations • Social interactions and play

8. Children Acquire and Use Knowledge and Skills • Involves: • Thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem-solving • Using symbols and language • Understanding physical and social worlds • Includes: • Early concepts – symbols, pictures, numbers, classification, spatial relationships • Imitation • Object permanence • Expressive language and communication • Early literacy

9. Children Take Appropriate Action to Meet Their Needs • Involves: • Taking care of basic needs • Getting from place to place • Using tools • In older children, contributing to their own health and safety • Includes: • Integrating motor skills to complete tasks • Self-help skills (e.g., dressing, feeding, grooming, toileting, household responsibility) • Acting on the world to get what one wants

10. Functional Outcomes • Functional refers to things that are meaningful to the child in the context of everyday living • Refers to an integrated series of behaviors or skills that allow the child to achieve the outcomes • They are not • a single behavior; • nor are they the sum of a series of discrete behaviors

11. Functional Outcomes, cont. • They cross domains– do not separate child development into discrete areas (communication, gross motor, etc.) • Emphasis is on how the child is able to carry out meaningful behaviors in a meaningful context

12. Thinking Functionally • Uses finger in pointing motion • Knows how to make eye contact • Smiles • Give hugs when prompted • Can imitate a gesture when prompted by others • Takes 4 steps on 6 inch balance beam • Climbs 6 stairs, one foot on each step

13. Using your baseline data • Once you have gathered and reported baseline data – use it to • inform instruction • inform curriculum • identify areas that need improvement and areas of child’s strengths for success • “peer pairing”

14. Why the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF)? • No assessment instrument assesses the 3 outcomes directly • Many states will allow local programs to use different assessment instruments, and outcomes data will need to be aggregated • The summary form’s 7 point rating scale defines a child’s current functioning in a metric that can be compared over time to reflect child progress

15. Features of the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) • Not an assessment tool • Uses information from assessment tools and other data sources to determine an overall rating of how the child is functioning in each outcome area, at one point in time

16. Features of the Child Outcomes Summary Form • 7-point rating scale • Rating is based on child’s functioning: • How a child functions across settings and situations • Compared to what is expected of a child his/her age

18. Helping Children Move Toward Age-Expected Functioning • Assumption: Children can be described with regard to how close they are to age-expected behavior in each of the 3 outcomes • By definition, most children in the general population demonstrate the outcome in an age-expected way • By providing services and supports, Early Childhood Special Education is trying to move children closer to age-expected behavior

19. Measuring Functioning Compared to Age-Expectations • Documenting children’s movement toward age-expected development is one type of evidence that program services are effective • The Child Outcome Summary Form (COSF) was designed to measure this type of progress

20. Essential Knowledge for Completing the COSF Team members need to know: • The child’s functioning across settings and situations • Age-expected child development • Content of the 3 outcome areas • How to use the rating scale

21. Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF)

22. A Domain Score on an Assessment Tool Does Not Necessarily Translate Directly into an Outcome Rating • Ratings require • Looking at functional behaviors, and • Collecting and synthesizing input from many sources familiar with the child across different settings and situations.

23. Summary Ratings are Based on… Types of Evidence • Curriculum-based assessments (e.g., HELP) • Norm-referenced assessments (e.g.,BDI-2) • Developmental screenings (e.g., Ages and Stages) • Parent and professional observation and report Sources of Evidence • Parents and family members • Service providers • Therapists • Physicians • Child care providers • Teachers • People familiar with the child in all the settings and situations that he/she is in

24. Ratings on the 3 Child Outcomes • Ratings on all 3 outcomes should be reported for every child enrolled • Ratings are needed in all areas even if: • No one has concerns about a child’s development • A child has delays in one or two outcome areas, but not in all three outcome areas • Even if the domain is not in the area of disability

25. Assistive Technology Considerations • Ratings should reflect the child’s level of functioning using whatever assistive technology or special accommodations are present in the child’s typical settings • Children who could benefit from assistive technology but don’t have it will get lower scores • This does not reflect on the child’s inability inasmuch as the fact the child does not have the necessary equipment/services

26. Summary Ratings (1-7) • Provide an overall sense of the child’s current functioning in 3 areas • Reduce rich information from assessment and observation into a rating to allow a summary of progress across children • Information at this detailed level will be more helpful for intervention planning purposes

27. Summary Ratings are not: • They are not: • Information on the services provided themselves • The family’s satisfaction with services • An explanation of why the child’s functioning is at that level • Do not provide specific information for planning for the individual child

28. What about the Speech only kids? • How are articulation difficulties impacting the child in each of the outcome areas? • social relationships? • acquisition of skills and knowledge? • ability to communicate wants and needs? • Necessary for the SP/L staff to look at these three areas and seek data from other sources.

29. Including Parents in the Discussion • No consensus around the country on whether parents should be included in deciding on the summary rating. Even parent groups don’t agree • Some states are including parents to help reach a rating • Others states are deciding on a rating without parent input • Parent input about the child’s functioning is critical • Family members see the child in situations that professionals do not • Need to ask family members about what the child does at home • Need a way to learn about what family members know about the child • No expectation that parents will be able to determine if what they are seeing is age appropriate

30. Coming in the Spring…. You’ll report progress data on each child in the sample as long as they have been with the program for 6 months. At progress, children’s scores will fall within five (5) categories Percentage of children who: ▪ Did not improve functioning ▪ Improved functioning, but not sufficient to move nearer to functioning comparable to same-aged peers ▪ Improved functioning to a level nearer to same-aged peers but did not reach it ▪ Improved functioning to reach a level comparable to same-aged peers ▪ Maintained functioning at a level comparable to same-aged peers

31. Summary Statements • OSEP has taken the five categories and collapsed them into two summary statements • Summary Statement 1: Of those children who entered the program below age expectations in each Outcome, the percent who substantially increased their rate of growth by the time they exited the program. • Summary Statement 2: The percent of children who were functioning within age expectations in each Outcome by the time they exited the program.

32. Setting Targets • States will be required to set targets in the upcoming Annual Performance Report (APR) due to OSEP in February 2010. • Targets will be based on aggregate data from LEAs and LEAs will be setting their own targets. • More information is available at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/pages/fed_req.cfm#TargetSetting

33. Logistics • Selecting sample of 40 students • Prioritize the youngest, then • A representative sample • across disability categories • across settings • mixed gender • Review the excel reporting form • SASIDs • DOB • “exit date” • Baseline data • Review the security portal

34. Timelines • Gather baseline assessment data now through mid-December • Your file will be available through the Security Portal on or about December 11 • Complete the Excel spreadsheet and upload it back into ESE security portal by December 23 • Be thinking of setting targets and how these data can be used now • Spring – progress data gathering in late May, reporting progress through the security portal in June.