2014 ALACASE CONFERENCE Preschool Indicators

2014 EI Preschool Conference

Indicator 6 Least Restrictive Environment

OSEP Letter February 29, 2012 letter from OSEP sent to coordinators: “The purpose of this letter is to reiterate that the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirements … apply to the placement of preschool children with disabilities.” The statute regarding LRE applies equally to preschool and school age children with disabilities. “Special classes, special schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular education environment may occur only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”

Indicator 6 LRE Codes for Preschool Children through For ages 3 through 5 years only Nine from which to select Found in the Child Count Help Document on ALSDE website

Indicator 6 measures the percent of preschool children aged 3 through 5 with IEPs attending: Measurement A Regular early childhood program and receiving the majority of special education and related services in the regular early childhood program. (LRE 20, 22) Alabama’s target: 52.5% or above. Alabama’s results for are 46.94%. Measurement B Separate special education class, separate school or residential facility. (LRE 18, 17, 16) Alabama’s target: 6.58% or below. Alabama’s results for are 5.18%.

Measurement A Target: 52.5% and Above Current Data

Measurement B Target: 6.58% and Below Current Data

Ways to improve Indicator 6 Use the Indicator 6 Quick Tips for Preschool! Review and understand the LRE codes for preschool. Use the Preschool LRE Decision Chart. Review your system’s Indicator 6 percentages for Measurements A and B. If your LEA is not meeting the targets, consider if there were LRE coding errors or if the LREs selected were appropriate for the child’s situations. Know the options of providing preschool special education services in ‘regular class’ environments.

Indicator 7 - ELPP The timeline for completion of the ELPP has been extended to 60 days from the date that special education services begin. The previous timeline was 45 days. The ELPP should not be completed too early or too late. Too early means completion of the entry ELPP before the child’s functional levels are directly observed or reported by those who know the child. Do not complete the entry ELPP prior to actually providing services to the child, preferably after directly seeing the child for a few sessions. Too late means beyond 60 days after special education services begin. The beginning of services means the date that services actually begin, not the IEP signature date. A new field will be added in SETS in the February release to indicate the actual beginning of services date.

What will be reviewed during monitoring Paper copy of the ELPP Individual entry and exit forms that are on the Auburn website or the single comprehensive form on the ALSDE Special Education page under the Preschool tab may be used. Documentation that multiple sources were used to collect data. Documentation should be recorded on the paper copies using the key provided. An ELPP objective will be selected and an explanation/documentation of the rating will be discussed. Relationship between Preschool Standards and IEP goals. Progress monitoring Attendance, transportation

Indicator 12: “t”ransition EI to Preschool Tracking Log

Indicator 12 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 birthdays. Data is reported on the EI to Preschool Tracking log. OSEP Target for Alabama is 100%. Alabama’s result was 99.56%.

Suggested Checks and Balances Use the Indicator 12 Quick Tips for Preschool. Develop a plan for receiving and distributing the Early Intervention Notification to Local Education Agency letters from EI to preschool coordinators/case managers. Be sure the plan includes a method to track the letters within your LEA. Each month, SDE s the LEA a list of children that have been referred by EI to the LEA. The is from Annie Youngblood. Please watch for this ! Send this list to the appropriate staff.

Suggested Checks and Balances Compare the list to the Early Intervention Notification to Local Education Agency letters that were actually received. Notify Denise Gilham if a letter of notification was not received for any of the children that EI reported sent to the LEA. Do not send this list to EI service coordinator/s as this is a breach of confidentiality of notification for the children and their families. SDE will request EI to send another letter of notification to the LEA for children for whom notifications were not received.

Step 1: Letter of Notification

Ways to Improve Indicator 12 Review the EI to Preschool tracking log under state reports to ensure all data is entered correctly with all fields completed. Review information entered in the EI to Preschool tab on the student folder page of SETS to be sure data is accurate. Only data for children transitioning from EI are entered in the EI to Preschool tab. Data on the tracking log is pulled from this tab. No parental referrals should be entered on this tab. All children, for whom the LEA received the Early Intervention Notification to Local Education Agency, must be accounted for on the EI to Preschool Tracking Log during the reporting period in which the child turns three. The child should be enrolled in iNow upon receipt of this notification. Enrollment cannot be denied due to lack of SSN, birth certificate, or driver’s license. Homeless children may not be denied enrollment.

Training Modules Training modules for all three preschool indicators are in the development process.

Contact Information Denise Gilham – Stephanie Frucci – Jan Enstrom – (Until August, Kay Spivey – (Until December 1 st