National Early Childhood Transition Research and Training Center

1. National Early Childhood Transition Research and Training Center

2. Purpose of National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC) To investigate and validate practices and strategies that enhance the early childhood transition process and support positive school outcomes for children with disabilities.

5. Stakeholder Groups Advisory Council Input on data collection, analyses, and dissemination; Parents, 619 & Part C Coordinators, teacher/provider representatives Expert Panel Input on research methods, review research, policy, & practice documents Representatives from research, T & TA, state and national policy makers Diversity Workgroup Input on appropriateness of design, data interpretation, & development of materials for diverse populations Representatives address significant disabilities & diverse cultures/languages External Evaluator Ongoing evaluation of the project activities and processes.

6. Identify Current Research, Policy and Practice in Transition

7. The State of the Evidence

8. Review Process and Products Detailed Research Review Protocol Intervention Based Research Studies Policy Based Research Studies Research Summary Child and Family Policy Searchable Database

9. Identify Child, Family and Program Factors that impact Transition

10. Sampling Plan Target States (KY, LA, MI, OR & WI) Purposive sample for representation and diversity region, size, population density, minority membership Part C lead agency and history of EI/ECSE service delivery Sample of Children within Target States Met state criteria for Part C and at least 30 months old Met state criteria for 619 and will transition to kindergarten

11. Sampling Plan cont.

12. Cohort Groups

13. Recruitment Preschool transition sample Sampling pool based on providers willing to participate from sample of all Part C providers in state Stratified random sample of children/families on provider caseloads using state IDEA child data at the state level (with oversampling) Kindergarten transition sample a clustered recruitment frame recruited from same communities as the Cohort 1 followed Cohort 1 into settings

14. Study States

15. Transition Policy Characteristics of Study States Use of Section 619 funds to provide FAPE to children before their third birthday One state has a policy that allows One state has policy that does not allow The use of Part C funds to provide FAPE for children past their third birthday No states had a policy that allows Two states have policies that do not allow

16. Instrumentation Screened existing and published instruments for utility, psychometric properties, and feasibility Selected tools Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Behavior Assessment Scales Children Merrill Palmer, Revised Pediatric Evaluation Diagnostic Inventory

17. Selection of Existing Instruments Theoretical and conceptual linkages to research questions and literature Usage across other large scale studies to allow for comparison Items selected from the following studies National Center for Early Development & Learning (NCEDL) Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS) Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) (Birth and Kindergarten)

18. Development of Instruments Based on theoretical and conceptual linkages to research questions Piloted for ease of use and family-friendly language Spanish versions developed

19. A Conceptual Framework for Thinking About Transition

21. Instrumentation

22. Instrumentation

23. Study Personnel State Coordinators’ Roles (n = 4) Administrative & training oversight Recruit programs & providers Train data collectors Maintain all records Follow-up with families & providers Send to UK Data Collectors’ Roles (n = 28) Making home visits to gather data (children, families, & providers) Maintain reliability of data collection Organize paperwork for all visits in Preparation to send to UK (with Coordinator)

24. Inter-rater and Procedural Reliability and Fidelity All personnel trained on instrument administration Site coordinators trained by authors or certified trainers Site coordinators trained data collectors Initial reliability of 90% reached

25. Technical Support, Training & Fidelity Training Procedures Trainings standardized and revisited periodically to ensure fidelity of the procedures Technical Support Multiple formats (emails, listservs, printed resources, manuals, on-site visits by the Coordinator) Ongoing communication between site coordinators, data collectors, and research team Questions routed to full access shared server Fidelity Ongoing reliability of 10% of each state sample for each data collector Reliability established and maintained at 90%

26. Data Collection Timeline

27. Provider and Administrator Data Collection Family provided contact for provider who knows the child best Provider was mailed two surveys to complete Beliefs/practices based on his/her own caseload Child specific Administrators were asked to complete one survey on the general environment of the facility and inclusion practices

28. Sample Total sample for at-3 transition (n = 225) Child assessments completed Pre-transition at age 3 (n = 196) Post-transition at age 3 (n = 161) Factors affecting attrition KATRINA Locating families

29. Family Respondents Most frequent respondents were biological mothers The majority of children resided in two-parent households

30. Family Income and Work Status 46% of respondents did not work outside the home 35% of these respondents were in two parent households

31. Family Income Level 50% of children received WIC benefits 22% of children received SSI benefits

32. Child Ethnicity English was primary language for the overwhelming majority (96.7%) of children

33. Children in the Study The majority of children were male The majority were born during summer months

34. Disability Categories

35. What was your child’s age when you first started transition planning? Differences in transition by state Transition type does not impact age at transition

36. How much effort did it take on your part to transition your child?

37. How helpful were transition planning services? No significant differences by state

38. What Does Transition Look Like For Children in the sample?

39. Post Transition The majority of children transitioned to preschool special education services

40. Children Who Did Not Transition to Preschool Special Education

41. Activities to Support Transition Parent Survey Transition Perception of Parents (TPP – Adapted) Roberts, Innocenti, Judd, Taylor, & Morris, 1998 Occurred or did not occur If yes, level of satisfaction Organized by: Before the placement decision (N=7 items) After the placement decision (N=8 items) Once services were initiated (N=5 items)

42. Activities to Support Transition Before the placement decision (N=7 items) Average use = 4.30 (SD 1.68) or 61% Average Satisfaction = 16.16 (SD = 6.71), range 1-28 After the placement decision (N=8 items) Average use = 3.83 (SD 1.72) or 48% Average Satisfaction = 15.42 (SD = 6.06), range 1-32 Once services were initiated (N=5 items) Average use = 3.64 (SD 1.43) or 73% Average Satisfaction = 14.48 (SD = 5.04), range 4-20 Adapted TPP preliminary reliability = .64 to .96

43. Transition Activities Before Placement Decision

44. Transition Activities After Placement Decision

45. Transition Activities After Services are Initiated

46. Relationships Number of practices used BEFORE placement decision Number of practices used AFTER placement decision TOTAL number of practices used Parents’ perception of how helpful transition planning services were to the family

47. Discussion Questions Comments

48. For More Information Caroline Gooden Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute University of Kentucky 126 Mineral Industries Building Lexington, KY 40506-0051 Phone: 859-257-2081 Toll Free: 866-742-4015 Fax: 859-257-2769 Email:Caroline.Gooden@uky.edu http://www.ihdi.uky.edu/nectc