Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Florida’s Efforts to Link Part C and 619 Outcomes Measurement April 25, 2006

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS A little bit about us - Early Steps –Reported over 12,000 infants/toddlers in the count –Broad state definition for eligibility – but does not include at risk –16 local Early Steps areas –Culturally and linguistically diverse population – large urban areas as well as rural areas

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS A little bit about us - Part B Preschool - Reported over 35,000, three through five- year-olds in 2004 Of those children, 22,000+ are in preschool 67 school districts Large, culturally and linguistically diverse state

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Some History Early Steps received GSEG grant in 2004 Last April, attended ECO Outcome meeting together Had an “epiphany” – did not seem to make sense to take building a measure system on as two independent entities

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Early Steps – Activities to Date Convened stakeholders’ group to advise process Developed Guiding Principles Developed recommendations for system design Considered “meaning” of the 3 OSEP outcomes through examination of instrumentation

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Early Steps – Activities to Date Assessed current practices related to use of instrumentation for evaluation/assessment Recommended instrument for phase in – based on existing requirements for evaluation process Communicated with stakeholders throughout process

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Part B Preschool – Activities to Date Convened stakeholders’ group to advise process Developed guiding principles (used Early Steps principles as foundation) Assessed current practice related to instrumentation used for evaluation Concurred with instrument recommendation made by Early Steps for the purpose of first phase pilot

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Jointly we’ve - Shared and modified the guiding principles between the separate stakeholders’ groups and now have a common document Will jointly convene the groups for any future meeting Decided on key elements and since Fall 05 have had joint planning/management team

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Other Considerations Lessons we’ve learned from K-12 accountability systems –Accountability systems must use reliable and valid data –Accountability systems must measure child progress in a consistent manner –Accountability systems must apply rules and decisions consistently across programs/schools

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Elements of Our Plan Phasing in with select “Early Adopters” who represent population of children served in the state. “Early Adopters” are “paired” – a school district and corresponding Early Steps For this year’s status data, we are “mining” existing data of a subset of adopters who are experienced with the instrument recommended

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Elements of Our Plan Using existing evaluation processes as primary vehicle for collecting data Only collecting entry/exit data Negotiation over “shared data point” critical (Early Steps exit/Part B preschool entrance)

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Elements of Our Plan Have left decision on how this “shared data point” will happen to the local level Attempting to depict four common scenarios (“flow charts”) to further define “what children” and “when” data is collected”

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Elements of Our Plan Will report data to same data collection system Each Department is “taking on” different aspects of what will be needed to get our “Early Adopters” off the ground

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS What’s ahead Assistance with capacity building, data analysis, consideration of research questions that emerge Building “process documents” that articulate procedures developed and “tested out”

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS What’s ahead Determining how data collected will convert to OSEP reporting categories Responding to myriad of policy/implementation issues Future reporting to multiple audiences

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS Positive Consequences – (we hope - ) Strengthened collaboration between school districts and Early Steps programs Improved, and more timely, transition planning Expanded joint evaluation teams – (already emerging in a few places)

Florida DOE/Florida DOH-CMS More information ? Sally Golden-McCord Cathy Bishop