From Preschool to Post-School Outcomes Preparing Florida’s Youngest Students to Become College and Career Ready Monica Verra-Tirado, Chief Florida Department of Education (FDOE), Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS) 2015 Leadership Conference “ All In : Achieving Results Together ”

OUR FOCUS Moving from Access to Attainment: Statewide Equity and Excellence Increase Number of Students Graduating College and Career Ready Improve Graduation Rate Decrease Dropout Rate Improve Post-School Outcomes

Five Game Changers for Students With Disabilities Aligning early childhood services and k-12 services for students with disabilities Developing policies that would push all teachers to be prepared and trained to work with SWD and parents Providing access to differentiated instruction, and effective intervention to all SWD (OSEP, 2012)

Five Game Changers for Students With Disabilities Including all students in assessment by making the assessments fully accessible Providing more transition planning for students moving into post-secondary and career opportunities (OSEP, 2012)

FDOE’s Mission –Increase the proficiency of all students within one seamless, efficient system, by providing them with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills through learning opportunities and research valued by students, parents, and communities, and to maintain an accountability system that measures student progress

FDOE’s Goals Highest student achievement Seamless articulation and maximum access Skilled workforce and economic development Quality efficient services

Florida’s State Systemic Improvement Plan, State Identified Measureable Results (SIMR) and BEESS Strategic Plan Aligned for: – Improved Outcomes –Momentum and Focus –Problem Solving –Teamwork, Learning and Commitment

From Preschool to Post-school Outcomes Florida’s SIMR: Federal Uniform Graduation Rate (Indicator 1) o Targets the same as targets under Title 1 of ESEA  85% or 2% improvement per year

Prepared for Kindergarten: What Does “Readiness” Mean? Question: Of the three child outcomes that we report to the Office of Special Education Programs, which domain do you think is the leading predictor of kindergarten success? a: personal-social b: communication c: adaptive * How does this differ from ready for work?

Prepared for Kindergarten: What Does “Readiness” Mean? Over 75 percent of the 3,305 kindergarten teachers sampled in a study felt being able to follow directions and communicate both needs and thoughts, as well as not being disruptive, were valuable indicators of kindergarten success. Source: Prepared for Kindergarten: What Does “Readiness” Mean?Prepared for Kindergarten: What Does “Readiness” Mean?

What Matters Most Key Practices Use Data Well Focus Your Goals Select and Implement Shared Instructional Practices Implement Deeply Monitor and Provide Feedback and Support Inquire and Learn Source: guide.pdfhttp://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/se-mocase-2014-moving-your-numbers-key-practices- guide.pdf

BEESS Strategic Plan Focus areas –aligned with state strategic plan –includes Exceptional Student Education/Office of Special Education Areas Dispute Resolution and Monitoring, K-12 Students –Best Practices for Appropriate Evaluation and Identification of Students with Disabilities Work, –Best Practices for Inclusion, –Best Practices for Literacy and STEM, –Best Practices for Positive Behavior/Student Engagement,

BEESS Strategic Plan –Focus areas (continued) Parent Involvement and Engagement, Prekindergarten, Teachers and Leaders, Transition/Postsecondary

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan –A team of collaborative partners Office of Early Learning (OEL) –school readiness –Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Early Steps –IDEA Part C »administered by the Florida Department of Health, Children’s Medical Services Home visiting programs

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan A team of collaborative partners (continued) –BEESS discretionary projects o Technical Assistance and Training System (TATS) o Measuring Outcomes, o Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System, Child Find, o Project Access, and o Student Support Services - Representatives from K-12

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan Five Year Plan (Big Picture) –Addresses Highest Student Achievement –improving child outcomes (Indicator 7), Seamless Articulation and Maximum Access –increasing inclusive opportunities for PK children with disabilities (Indicator 6), –Strengthening transition processes from Part C to Part B (Indicator 12) as well as from PK to K, and –Increasing the percentage of children with disabilities who participated in the VPK program and scored ready on the state kindergarten readiness assessments. Annual Plan –Steps to achieving goals above

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan Action Steps For Each Goal –Indicator 7 Florida’s Birth-5 Child Outcomes System established a Leadership Team of various stakeholders (representation includes local and state staff from Part C and Part B, discretionary projects (TATS and Measuring Outcomes) that meet monthly to discuss issues related to Battelle Developmental Inventory-2 nd Edition (BDI-2) data entry, exits, fidelity of test administration, training and program challenges related to improving child outcomes. –For , our goal is to develop an on-line training module for increasing fidelity of the administration of the BDI-2.

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan Action Steps For Each Goal (continued) –Indicator 6 This year’s focus encompasses collaboration with community agencies (OEL, Head Start, Florida’s Transition Project, TATs) to support the development of high-quality inclusive preschool programs while avoiding duplication of initiatives. –Indicator 12 Data Sharing between Part C and Part B to address timely transitions Our current annual plan includes the review of challenges associated with IEP implementation by 3 rd birthday through a verification analysis of specific reasons for a delay in the transition process that results in appropriate technical assistance.

BEESS Prekindergarten Strategic Plan Indicator 12 (continued) Florida’s Transition Project assists districts in development of interagency agreements that include procedures for transition from C to B as well as PK to K. BEESS Indicator: Children with disabilities who participated in the VPK program and scored ready on Florida’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessments For , our work around this indicator involves developing a crosswalk between PK and K standards to assist districts in the continuity of instruction, assessment and program improvement activities.

Impacts, Thus Far… Opportunities to work outside of silos Ambitious targets o Using data-driven decision making process o From Compliance to Results-Driven Accountability Multi-tiered system of supporting districts Monitoring and assistance visits focused on equity and access o Conducted by FDOE program staff and discretionary project staff o Includes district general education staff as well as ESE

Tips/Lessons Learned Collaboration among partners is a MUST –Working in silos does not assist with progress On-going process –Progress monitoring –Plan changes as needs change Flexibility required

Thank You! Monica Verra-Tirado, Ed.D. 325 West Gaines Street, Suite 614 Tallahassee, FL Phone: