The Maryland Model for School Readiness for Preschool

1. The Maryland Model for School Readiness for Preschool a statewide collaborative approach to promote school readiness through professional development

2. Alphabet Soup • COSF • ECAS • IDEA • MMSR • MSDE • NCLB • OSEP • PLOD • PLOP • WSS

3. Alphabet Soup • COSF • Child Outcome Summary Form • ECAS • Early Childhood Accountability System • IDEA • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act • MMSR • Maryland Model for School Readiness • MSDE • Maryland State Department of Education

4. Alphabet Soup • NCLB • No Child Left Behind Act • OSEP • Office of Special Education Programs • PLOD • Present Levels of Development • PLOP • Present Levels of Performance • WSS • Work Sampling System

5. Women’s Height

6. Investing in Quality Early Childhood Education in Maryland

7. Purpose: To improve results for children ages 3 and 4 with disabilities and their families Modules 1 &2 • To demonstrate efficacy of early intervention & preschool special education services • To maximize intervention and instructional strategies

8. Purpose: To improve results for children ages 3 and 4 with disabilities and their families Modules 3 & 4 (next session) • To provide developmentally appropriate services to promote a child’s school readiness • To provide supports, services, and programs for all children that are individualized and differentiated

9. GOAL# 1 To demonstrate efficacy of early intervention & special education services • To understand relationship to Maryland early childhood and general education curriculum, development and assessment MMSR WSS • To understand federal accountability and program effectiveness ECAS COSF

10. GOAL# 2 To maximize intervention and instruction strategies • To measure accurately the PLOD, PLOP, and individual child progress WSS Exemplars Healthy Beginnings • To develop IFSP outcomes & IEP goals School Readiness • To provide differentiated Strategies Activities Learning opportunities Objectives

11. National Education Goal # 1: Ready to Learn All children in America will start school ready to learn

12. The Purpose of the Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR) To improve the performance of kindergarten, prekindergarten, and preschool special education students by providing intensive professional development for teachers and other early childhood providers such as Head Start and child care

13. Maryland Model for School Readiness The Five Componentsof MMSR Communication Collaboration and Coordination Staff development Five Components Assessment Instruction M M S R

14. Maryland Model for School Readiness The Five Componentsof MMSR Communication IFSP, IEP Collaboration and Coordination ECAS, COSF Staff development MMSR for Preschool Five Components Highlighting children ages 3 and 4 with disabilities and their families Instruction Differentiation Assessment WSS M M S R

15. MMSR Framework Defines what children should know and be able to do by the end of kindergarten. It encompasses: • Maryland’s definition of school readiness • Learning standards, indicators, and objectives for kindergarten, prekindergarten, and preschool three-year-olds • A systematic assessment method that is aligned with the State Curriculum and supports classroom instruction

16. MMSR School Readiness Definition • The state of early development that enables an individual child to engage in and benefit from early learning experiences. • As a result of family nurturing and interactions with others, a young child in this stage has reached certain levels of social and emotional development, cognition and general knowledge, language development, and physical well-being and motor development. • School readiness acknowledges individual approaches toward learning as well as the unique experiences and backgrounds of each child.

17. Reflections MMSR • What do you bring to MMSR? • How do you define assessment? • What assessment strategies are you currently using?

18. Definition of Assessment The process of gathering specific information about a child’s • knowledge, • skills, • preferences, • behavior, and/or • other unique characteristics for the purpose of making a decision about a child. Source: McLean, M. E., Wolery, M., & Bailey, D. B. (2003). Assessing infants and preschoolers with specialneeds (3rd ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall.

19. Purposes of Evaluation and Assessment • Eligibility determination • Individualized results-orienteddecision making for individual children and families • Accountability for federal, State and local requirements

20. Evaluation and Assessment Best Practices • Families as Partners • Culturally Sensitive • Evidence Based • Quantitative & Qualitative Data • Multidisciplinary, multidimensional across domains • Authentic & Functional

21. Complementary Processes of Assessment Documentation Evaluation

22. Features of Authentic Performance Assessment • Keeps track of individual student achievement • Based on actual examples of activities in classrooms and natural environments • Provides ongoing information from multiple points in time

23. On-Demand Assessment • Students perform tasks when asked • Tasks may or may not be familiar to the student

24. Curriculum-Embedded Assessments • Assessment occurs in the context of classroom, childcare, or activities in the home • Student’s routine performances are the “data” for the assessment

25. Guidelines for Appropriate Assessment Developmentally appropriate assessment is: • Ongoing, strategic, and purposeful • Used to benefit children • Systematic and integrated with curriculum planning • Aligned with goals of the curriculum and goals for individual children • Tailored to a specific purpose and used only for the purpose for which it has been designed • Responsive to individual and cultural differences • Dependent on multiple sources of information

26. Morning Break

27. Purposes of Guidelines and Checklists • Focus observation • Summarize and interpret collected observations • Provide valid criteria for evaluation • Support curriculum and instruction

28. National Standards Work Sampling incorporates the standards of: • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics • National Council of Teachers of English • American Association of the Advancement of Science Work Sampling is consistent with: National Education Goals Panel Developmentally Appropriate Practice as defined by NAEYC

29. Organization of Checklists • Domain • Functional Component • Performance Indicator • Collection Periods (F, W, S) • Ratings • Identifying Information • Front Cover • Back Cover

30. Checklist Ratings Needs Development The skill, knowledge, or behavior has not been demonstrated In Process The skill, knowledge, or behavior is emergent, and is not demonstrated consistently Proficient The skill, knowledge, or behavior is firmly within the child’s range of performance

31. Organization of Guidelines • Domain • Functional Component • Performance Indicator • Rationale • Examples

32. Review Checklists Periodically, Make Preliminary Ratings • Observe and Record • Review and Rate

33. Completing the Checklist Documentation (Your ongoing observations) Ongoing observations are the data Data must be factual Evaluation (Your checklist ratings) Judgments or interpretations Based on multiple observations over time

34. What are the MMSR Exemplars? • Describe the performance – Proficient, In Process, Needs Development for each of the 66 Kindergarten WSS indicators, and 55 Prekindergarten indicators and 49 indicators for Preschool-3 year olds for fall and spring. • Developed by a cadre of early childhood educators • Based on the MMSR/VSC Standards, Indicators, and Objectives • Describe performance at the objective level which is more specific than the indicator level • Illustrate behaviors a teacher looks for when determining student performance • Used to ensure statewide consistency and reliability when rating students on the WSS indicators

35. Observing can help you go beyond your expectations and assumptions to see the many dimensions of a child that are revealed over time, The subtle shift from seeing observing as a skill to seeing it as an open attitude essential to good teaching makes an enormous difference. Jablon, Dombro, and Dichtelmiller (1999). The Power of Observation

36. After Lunch • Understanding how ECAS fits • Using the MMSR Exemplars for preschool-3 year olds • Making ratings on WSS • Healthy Beginnings • Tool for outcome development, planning and programming • To plan for a child you know

37. IDEA The Individuals with Disabilities Act 2004 (IDEA 2004) requires that states report on the progress of preschool children with disabilities receiving special education and related services.

39. Maryland Early Childhood Accountability System (ECAS) • Statewide system • Measuring • Collecting • Reporting data • Individual children’s participation • Preschool special education programs and services Program Effectiveness Based on Results for Children

40. Maryland Early Childhood Accountability System (ECAS) • Online data system & decision making tool • Captures WSS ratings for Entry, Exit, and interim points in time • For children 3 through 5 receiving special education or early intervention services

42. Maryland’s Approach • The intent of MMSR is the use of developmentally appropriate practices with all children • MMSR promotes a common language among early childhood general and special educators by enabling a view of children through a shared lens. • MMSR is a developmental frame of reference for aligning IEP goals with the State Learning Standards/State Curriculum (SC).

43. What are the OSEP Child Outcomes? • Outcome #1: Children have positive social relationships. • Outcome #2: Children acquire and use knowledge and skills (including language/communication). • Outcome #3: Children take appropriate action to meet their needs.

44. Crosswalked Early Childhood Outcomes Center crosswalked indicators • At each age level of the WSS • With one or more of the three functional child outcomes required by OSEP • For measuring the effectiveness of preschool special education programs.

45. “PRESCHOOL SPECIAL EDUCATION”defined • Children with an IEP* • Children 3 through 5 years of age * In Maryland, children on the Extended IFSP Option are included

46. ECAS • ENTRY(all items on WSS P-3, P-4) • 3 years old with an Extended IFSP • Upon entering special education • Transitioning from Infants and Toddlers • New through Child Find • Moving in to jurisdiction • EXIT (all items on the WSS P-3, P-4, K) • Upon exiting special education; met goals and objectives • End of kindergarten year Enter completed WSS checklist ratings into the web-based ECAS data collection tool

47. Kindergarten Readiness • One time only • Due within the first 2 weeks in November • Only 30 WSS items completed Enter completed WSS checklist ratings into the On Line MMSR System

48. Maryland’s Birth through Five Child Outcomes System

49. MSDE requirements • Status at Entry into preschool special education, or at age 3 for those continuing on the IFSP, WSS sent to ECAS (all WSS items) • Progress at Exit out of preschool special education WSS sent to ECAS (all WSS items) • Fall of Kindergarten year in November of kindergarten year sent to MMSR Online (only WSS 30 items) LOCAL jurisdictions May choose to complete WSS more often Judy Centers Pre-k programs Kindergarten programs

50. Vocabulary • MMSR • WSS • ECAS • COSF • Framework • Tool • Data system • Framework