In April of 2005, the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), in response to Federal initiatives, convened a work group to develop the State Performance Plan (SPP) for children with disabilities ages 3-21. As a result, the Early Childhood Direction Centers have been given the responsibility of supporting implementation efforts for indicator(s) 6, 7, 8, 11, and 12. These indicators all relate to Preschool Special Education. For in-depth information about the specifics of the SPPs please visit the New York State Education Department’s website: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/spp/home.html.
After a child has had an evaluation for Preschool Special Education there is a meeting to discuss whether the child qualifies for services and if they do which services will best match the child’s strengths and weaknesses. The Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) is responsible for making recommendations for placement of preschool students with disabilities. The CPSE is required by law to consider providing special education services in a setting where age-appropriate peers without disabilities are typically found before they can recommend the provision of special education services in a setting, which includes only preschool children with disabilities (a more restrictive setting).
The CPSE must first consider providing related services (for example, Occupational Therapy OT, physical therapy PT, speech and language therapy) only, and or special education itinerant teacher services (SEIT) only; or related services in combination with SEIT services before they can consider a half-day or full-day Special Class Integrated Setting (SCIS) preschool program or a half-day or full-day Special Class (SC) preschool program.
When the CPSE recommends that a child receive special education services in a setting where there is no regular contact where age-appropriate peers, the CPSE is required to include in its written report of recommendations the reasons why the child could not be served in a more inclusive setting.
2007-08 State Education Goal for SPP #6: 65.5 percent of preschool students with disabilities served in either natural settings or settings that include non-disabled children.
Our ECDC (Mid-State Central covering Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego Counties) will provide information and technical assistance to schools, preschool providers, preschool programs and parents to promote placement of preschool students in settings with non-disabled peers.
For all children entering the CPSE process (Committee on Preschool Special Education) school districts are required to collect entry data on all preschool children who receive an initial evaluation under CPSE. Each child will receive a score of 1-7 for each outcome area under the indicators listed below as a part of their initial assessment. All school districts are now required to collect entry data.
A. Positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships)
B. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language/ communication and early literacy); and
C. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.
Indicator #7 also requires that exit data be collected from a representative sample of school districts indicating the percent of preschool children with IEP’s who demonstrate improvement in the (3) areas above at the time of transition to CSE or declassification from CPSE.
Ultimately, any child who exits CPSE due to declassification or referral to CSE (Committee on Special Education) will need to have an exit assessment completed. This information will be used to identify how successful programming/services have been. A comparison of the child’s score from the entry and exit assessment will be the criterion used to measure success.
Our ECDC will provide training related to social-emotional development, brain development and early literacy, the process of declassification and using positive behavioral guidance with young children. We are also available to assist families and providers in understanding the 1-7 outcome scale.
A resource for early childhood outcomes is: http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ECO/.
When a preschool or school aged child is referred to their school district for special education services for the first time, the district must provide parents with a copy of the State’s publication “A Parents Guide to Special Education” or a locally developed guide.
The State’s guide is available at: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/parentguide.htm
Based on pre-identified school years various school districts are required by the state to survey a sample of parents of students for whom their district has developed an Individualized Education Program. The survey will ask parents for their input about their experiences with their school district and special education programs. Statements from parents on both the strengths and weaknesses of the district’s special education program are considered in the school improvement planning process. Surveys will be returned to an independent source to collect, analyze and report on the parent survey information. A parent’s individual responses will be confidential. This information will be used as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities. The ECDC will encourage parents in identified school districts to complete the survey, and will ask parents of newly evaluated preschoolers if they have received a guide concerning special education services.
NYS law and regulations require the evaluation and eligibility determination of a preschool student be made within 30 school days of receipt of the parents consent for evaluation. The CPSE provides the parent with a list of approved evaluators, the parent selects an evaluator and the evaluation is scheduled. In addition with consent from parents, approved evaluators and CPSE must be provided with the most recent evaluation report for children transitioning from Early Intervention to CPSE. The Early Childhood Direction Centers will assist parents by providing information regarding evaluation and parental rights. In addition the ECDC will assist in identifying counties/ school districts that have high classification rates, in order to better support the child, family and programs in receiving services in a timely manner.
As a first step the ECDC will maintain, on our website, a listing of approved evaluators with their timeframe for performing evaluations. We will also include a chart that lists providers’ current service availability. This is currently for Onondaga County only but if parents and CPSE chairs indicate that it is useful, we will expand the site to include each of our nine counties.
SPP #12 determines the percent of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, and who have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthday. The Early Childhood Direction Center has been given the responsibility to inform parents and professionals about the process of transition from Early Intervention to Preschool Special Education. Individuals can access the ECDC booklet on Transitioning from Early Intervention to CPSE online (http://ecdc.syr.edu/TransitionfromEIDownload.htm). In addition, dates for trainings on the transition process will be provided on our website so families and professionals can attend and learn more about transitioning from Early Intervention to the CPSE.