1. Early Childhood Special Education Update March, 2016

2. Dawn Hendricks, Ph.D. Early Childhood Special Education Specialist

3. “Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don’t begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten.” – Robert. L. Ehrlich

4. Model for Conceptualizing, Designing, and Implementing Inservice PD to Promote EC Practitioner Use of Evidence-Based Practices
Evidence-
Based
Inservice Professional Develop-ment Practices
Changes in Early Childhood Practitioner Knowledge
and Skills
Early Childhood Practitioner Adoption and Use of
Evidence-Based Intervention Practices
Changes and Improve-ments in Child and Family Outcomes
Changes in Early Childhood Practitioner Attitudes and Beliefs
Dunst, C. J. (2015). Improving the design and implementation of inservice professional development in early childhood intervention. Infants and Young Children, 28(3),

5. Model for Conceptualizing, Designing, and Implementing Inservice PD to Promote EC Practitioner Use of Evidence-Based Practices
-Increased self-determination skills
-Increased reading proficiency
-Increased school attendance
-Increased graduation rates
-Increased success in adulthood
-Increased….
Ultimately, the final column in the model should include:
-Increased self-determination skills
-Increased proficiency in reading
-Increased school attendance
-Increased graduation rates
-Increased success in adulthood
This list can also include decreased….decreased special education, decreased drop outs

7. Preschool Indicators
Indicator 6: Preschool Least Restrictive Environment
December 1 Child Count
Indicator 7: Preschool Outcomes
SSWS, individual student data
Indicator 12: Part C to Part B Transition
SSWS, aggregate data

8. Indicator 12
Section 637, (a)(9)(A)(ii)(II) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act In the case of a child who may be eligible for such preschool services, with the approval of the family of the child, convene a conference among the lead agency, the family and the local educational agency not less than 90 days (and at the discretion of all such parties, not more than 9 months) before the child is eligible for the pre-school services, to discuss any such services that the child may receive.
Referral begins the 65 day timeline.

9. What is a regular early childhood environment?
Indicator 6
What is a regular early childhood environment?

10. Child Count & Placement: Regular Early Childhood Program
2014
Total ECSE
16394
Receiving Majority Special Education and Related Services in Regular Early Childhood Program, at Least 10 Hours per Week
3777
Receiving Majority Special Education and Related Services in Regular Early Childhood Program, Less than 10 Hours Per Week
861
Total Majority Special Education and Related Services in Regular Early Childhood Program
4638
Percentage Receiving Majority of Special Education and Related Services in Regular Early Childhood Program (Reported in APR)
28.3%

11. Child Count & Placement: Self-contained/ Separate Settings
Dec 2011
Dec 2012
Dec 2013
Dec 2014
Total ECSE
16677
16610
16400
16394
Self-Contained
4415
4802
4322
4647
Separate School 51 64 36 45
Residential 8 12 9
Home
441
416
421
437
Service Provider Location
1070
1095
1018
1292
Total Separate Services
5985
6389
5809
6430
Percentage
36%
38.4%
35.4%
39.2%
Percentage Separate School, Class or Residential (Reported in APR)
27.0%
26.65%
26.68%

12. Child Count: Disability Category
Total Dec 1, 2014 Child Count Ages
02-05
Autism (AUT)
Dev Delay (DD)
Emotional Disturbance (EMN)
Hearing Impaired
(HI)
Multiple Disabilities
(MD)
Intellectual Disability (ID)
Other Health Imp (OHI)
Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
Speech or Language Impairment
(SLI)
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Visual Impairment
(VI)
3 to 5 yr olds
16394
1388
8241 27
189
174
125
333
113 21
5720 16 47
2 yr olds
998 77
725 28 11
764 18 3 10
TOTAL
17392
1465
8966
217
185
889
351
116
5845 57

13. Indicator 6 Year Target 2014-15 Results
A) Regular early childhood program and receiving majority of sped and related service in the regular EC program
>31.00%
28.29%
Missed target
Slippage
B)Separate sped class, school or residential facility
<25.00%
28.68%

14. Indicator 7 - Child Outcomes Data
A. Positive social-emotional skills
B. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills
C. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs
Targets
1. Of those children who entered the program below age expectations in Outcome- % that substantially increased rate of growth in Outcome by the time they exited
85.8
83.0
90.3
84.0
86.93 83
87.7
86.0
92.0
90.0
89.3 87
88.2
92.2
89.2
89.8
93.4
89.6
93.9
93.5
90.5
91.08
89.7
93.56
93.6
91.25
90.6
Met target
No slippage
Did not meet target

15. Indicator 7 - Child Outcomes Data
A. Positive social-emotional skills
B. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills
C. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.
Targets
2. Percent of children who were functioning within age expectations in Outcome by the time they exited
58.5
56.0
44.9 39
64.13
62.0
60.4
46.4
65.9
58.1
45.9
65.0
57.7
64.2
57.4
49.2
46.5
64.9
64.8
58.33
57.5
50.44
48.6
64.92
Met target
No slippage

17. Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data (DaSY)
1 year (final meeting August, 2016)
Individual TA
Group TA
Focus:
Indicator 7
Indicator 6

18. Early Childhood Personnel Center Technical Assistance
Early Childhood Special Education, Early Childhood, & Early Intervention
Focus
Develop strategic work plan to be implemented by VA Cross Sector Professional Development
VCPD to expand to pre-service training in Higher Education

19. DOE is invested with partners to improve service delivery in EC/ECSE
DOE is invested with partners to improve service delivery in EC/ECSE. The following slides demonstrate collaborative / funded efforts.

20. Early Childhood Special Education Network
5 TTACs and community partners
Provides professional development resources to support the development of young children with disabilities and families;
Fosters collaboration with EC interventionists, service providers, agencies, and school and community programs;
Promotes state priorities, federal guidance, and EBPs, supporting implementation and;
Build the capacity of early childhood systems and programs
VCPD has website with a description of current activities, partners as well as up to date resources

21. Virginia Cross Sector Professional Development
Promotes planning, implementation and evaluation of professional development with the intent to ensure coordination of all EC PD in Virginia

22. Virginia Commonwealth Autism Center for Excellence
Improves services and supports for individuals with ASD by promoting implementation of research-based practices in schools and the community through training, TA, research, and collaboration
Discuss the ACE website and the training available for free as well as the resources
ECMH – providing CSEFEL training with a focus on children B-3; endorsement for MH

23. Early Childhood Mental Health
Develops a comprehensive system of care for infant and child mental health serving children birth through age 8 and their families/caregivers
Early Childhood Special Education Consortium (Radford University & Lynchburg College)
Works to alleviate the critical shortage of ECSE endorsed teachers in Virginia, with a focus on Regions 5, 6, 7, and 8 by implementing instructional best practices coupled with the latest technology for course packaging and delivery
Discuss the ACE website and the training available for free as well as the resources
ECMH – providing CSEFEL training with a focus on children B-3; endorsement for MH

24. ECSE Network GOALS
Create a system of partnerships with individuals responsible for early childhood programs in order to build and sustain capacity.
Summer institute
Website

25. ECSE Network GOALS
Promote collection and use of valid, reliable, and accurate data for Indicators 7 and 6.
Promote the use of quality curriculum based-assessment practices.
Explore how preschool VTSS will be implemented and connect to K-12 VTSS to provide a full-continuum of supports.

26. Questions…
Do you have a continuum of placement opportunities for preschool students?
What standards do you use at the preschool level? Do you use a curriculum / curriculum based assessment?
Is appropriate professional development provided to preschool educators? Is professional development combined for all EC educators?

27. Resources available

28. IPOP Inclusive Placement Opportunities for Preschoolers
A systems approach to preschool inclusive practices
Designed to help LEAs meet federal and state mandates that children with disabilities be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Three types of inclusive placement opportunities:
Early childhood settings,
Part-time early childhood/part-time early childhood special education settings, and
Reverse inclusion settings
Manual under revision
TA available through T/TACs

29. Website changes…

30. VDOE Instruction/Early Childhood
Virginia Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds (PDF) Virginia's Foundation Blocks – Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds describes specific indicators for pre-kindergarten children in the content areas of reading and mathematics.
Preschool Curriculum Review Rubric and Planning Tool (PDF) – The rubric is designed to assist early childhood educators with reviewing curricula and products to determine if they align with the Foundation Blocks for Early Learning.
Virginia’s Quality Indicators for Responsive Teaching: Creating a High Quality Preschool Learning Environment (PDF) – This checklist aligns with the preschool standards and helps teachers, parents, and administrators focus on creating shared, active, and hands-on opportunities for young children to develop their full potential.
Foundation blocks being mailed to all school division at no charge to divisions by end of Sept.
notice

31. Question to Ponder
How do TTACs get schools to target this age group when asked for support and working on school improvement?
How does your division improve Early Childhood Special Education services? What resources and supports do you need?