1. Understanding the Indicator 6 Terminology: Early Childhood Special Education Settings for Children Ages Birth-Five
Hello and welcome to Understanding the Indicator 6 Terminology: Early Childhood Special Education Settings for Children Ages Birth - Five. This online webinar is designed to provide Special Education Administrators, Preschool Special Education Coordinators, and others responsible for oversight of Early Childhood Special Education programs an overview of the reporting requirements related to Preschool Special Education Settings. My name is Dawn Hendricks. I am the Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator. I will be your guide in this training.

2. Resources Indicator 6 Decision Tree
Educational Environments for Children Birth - Five: Instructions
Educational Environments for Children Birth - Five: Questions and Answers
Before we begin, let's discuss additional resources that can help you further understand Indicator 6 and the reporting requirements. These resources are:  
Indicator 6 Decision Tree,
Educational Environments for Children Birth - Five: Instructions, and
Educational Environments for Children Birth - Five: Questions and Answers.

3. Module Objectives Define the terminology associated with Indicator 6
Identify resources for additional support
Upon completion of this webinar, participants will:
Define the terminology associated with Indicator 6 and
Identify resources for additional support.

4. What are Early Childhood Special Education Settings?
Before I discuss the terminology associated with Indicator 6, we need to be sure we have a common understanding of the different Early Childhood Settings and the continuum of learning environments for preschool aged children. 

5. Setting vs. Program Setting is a generic category - type of place
Program is the actual place - name of the place
Setting determination drives the program placement
People are sometimes confused by the concepts of a setting or environment versus a program. A setting is the generic category or the type of place. The program is the placement; the actual place, with a name and a specific curriculum, staffing, etcetera.
Think about it in terms of deciding where to go out to eat. If you want to go out for Mexican Food, that is a setting. You then decide between two different restaurants, which are the programs.   
When we hear the word setting, we frequently jump to placement or the program where the child will be going. As part of developing the IEP, the IEP Team must first determine the location or “setting” where each special education and related service will be provided. The setting determination then drives the program placement.
In the next slide, we will be going over the different types of settings as defined by the Office of Special Education Programs, or OSEP. It is important to understand the settings when reporting indicator 6 data.

6. Early Childhood Settings
OSEP Settings include:
Regular Early Childhood Program
Could be Public or Private
Special Education Classroom (Public/Private)
Separate School (Public/Private)
Residential Facility (Public/Private)
Caregiver’s Home
Service Provider Location
OSEP defines three different types of educational settings for children aged 3-Five.
The first category is a regular early childhood program. This can be a public or private program.
The second category is a special education program which includes a special education classroom, separate school, or residential facility. Again, a special education program can be public or private.
The third category is a caregiver’s home or service provider location.
These terms will be clearly defined in the upcoming slides.

7. Regular Early Childhood Program
A regular early childhood program includes 50 percent or more children who do not have disabilities (children not on IEPs)
May include, but is not limited to:
Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI/VPI+)
Head Start
Kindergarten (public or private)
Reverse mainstreaming classrooms
Preschool classes (public or private)
Group child development center or child care
Community based play groups
Let’s talk about each of these settings in a little more detail.
The setting referred to as a regular early childhood program is defined as having at least 50% of children without IEPs. In other words, the class will always have at least half of the children be children who are not identified for special education. Programs associated with this setting include but are not limited to programs in these categories:
Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI/VPI+);
Head Start;
Kindergarten, both public and private;
Reverse mainstreaming classrooms;
Preschool classes, both public and private;
Group child development center or child care; and
Community based play groups.
For Indicator 6 purposes, the definitions of a regular early childhood program and a special education program are independent of any label put on the classroom itself for funding purposes, classroom certification, or anything else. If a preschool classroom has 50 percent or more children without IEPs, it is considered a regular early childhood program. If a classroom has more than 50 percent children with IEPs, it is considered a special education classroom.

8. Regular Early Childhood Program
The child may be enrolled in the program by the Local Education Agency (LEA) or by the parent/guardian.
The program is to be a part of the child’s typical week for the child to be considered attending for Indicator 6 purposes.  
A regular early childhood environment includes BOTH the hours per week the child is in a regular early childhood program placement as determined by the IEP Team AND the hours per week that the parent has enrolled their child in a regular early childhood program.
Additionally, the program is to be a part of the child’s typical week for the child to be considered a participant in the regular early childhood environment for Indicator 6 purposes. A typical week is what the child does consistently across weeks during the school year. This does not include weekend time.
I will further define a typical week later in this webinar.

9. Time Provided by the Family and the Local Education Agency
Ask the family to list and describe programs the child attends outside of school
Public or private preschool classes
Public or private kindergarten
Licensed child care centers
Head Start
Before and after school programs
Exclude time spent with babysitters, neighbors, relatives, or at home
Consider nature of the setting and whether the child is attending
To determine if the child attends a regular early childhood environment, first ask the family to list and describe programs the child attends outside of school. When considering whether or not the child attends a regular early childhood program, you must also count time the child spends in selected settings outside of his/her school day. Environments can include:
Public or private preschool classes,
Public or private kindergarten,
Licensed child care centers,
VPI or VPI+,
Head Start, and
Before and after school programs.
Exclude time spent with babysitters, neighbors, relatives, or at home.
Here is an example. If the child attends a special education classroom at the local elementary school in the morning and attends a licensed day care in the afternoon, that time in the licensed day care may count as time in a regular early childhood program, as long as 50 percent or more of the children in the licensed day care program do not have disabilities
Next, identify programs where the child attends provided by the LEA.
It is important to note, to be considered a participant in the regular early childhood environment, the child must be attending. I will define the word attending on the next slide.

10. Attending
Example: If a child attends a special education classroom for a portion of the week and also attends an after school program where she receives intentional instruction, she is considered to be attending. Non-examples: If a child attends a special education classroom and ‘visits’ the regular program on occasion, he is really not attending a regular program, he is visiting. A child simply being in the same place with a group of children without IEPs does not count as spending time in a regular early childhood program.
The child is considered to be attending if he or she is a member of the program. If there is intentional teaching (either direct or embedded instruction) and promotion of the child’s interaction with children without disabilities, the time may be counted as time attending a regular early childhood program.
The child is considered to be attending if she is a member of the program. This means there is intentional teaching, either direct or embedded instruction, and promotion of the child’s interaction with children without disabilities. If the child meets this definition, he will be considered as attending a regular early childhood program.
Let’s look at an example.
If a child attends a special education classroom for a portion of the week and also attends an after school program and she receives intentional instruction, she is considered to be attending.
Here is a non-example.
If a child attends a special education classroom and ‘visits’ the regular program on occasion, he is really not attending a regular program, he is visiting.
A child simply being in the same place with a group of children without IEPS does not count as spending time in a regular early childhood program.

11. Typical Week
A typical week is what the child does consistently across weeks during the school year.
Example: A child may attend a community-based licensed child care every Monday in the afternoon. This is considered typical.
Non-example: The child only occasionally goes to child care when mom works late. This would not count as typical.
A week is considered for preschool children because the child may not have the same schedule each day. For example, a child may attend child care three days a week and not daily.
As I have mentioned, to be considered attending a regular early childhood environment, the child must do so during a typical week. A typical week is what the child does consistently across weeks during the school year. This excludes weekend time.
Let’s look at an example.
A child may attend a community-based licensed child care every Monday in the afternoon. This is considered typical.
Here is a non-example.
The child only occasionally goes to child care when mom works late. This would not count as typical.
A week is considered for preschool children because the child may not have the same schedule each day. For example, a child may attend child care three days a week and not daily.

12. Regular Early Childhood Environment?
True or False
Does the Child Attend a
Regular Early Childhood Environment?
Child spends the first hour each day in the kindergarten class and participates in morning circle and small group instruction
True
Child spends time with grandma after school with her brother who is a year older
False
Child and her preschool class are on the playground with a kindergarten class
Child attends a preschool program every Tuesday
Child goes to child care after school on occasion when mom has to work late
Let’s now look at some examples and determine whether the examples qualify as attending a regular early childhood program. Answer the question, the example qualifies as a regular early childhood environment, true or false?
A child spends the first hour each day in the kindergarten class and participates in morning circle and small group instruction.
True
A child spends time with grandma after school with her brother who is a year older.
False
A child and her preschool class are on the playground with a kindergarten class.
A child attends a preschool program every Tuesday.
A child goes to child care after school on occasion when dad has to work late.

13. Special Education Program
A special education program is a program that includes more than 50 percent children with disabilities (i.e., children with IEPs).
Now that we have defined a regular early childhood environment, I will now define a special education program. A special education program is a program that includes more than 50 percent children with disabilities. In other words, children with IEPs.

14. Special Education Classroom
Less than 50 percent children without IEPs
Classrooms may be in:
Regular school buildings
Trailers, portables
Hospital
Other community-based settings
A special education classroom is defined as having less than 50% children without IEPs. In other words, the majority of the children in the classroom are children with disabilities. It is operated by the local school district and can include, but is not limited to special education classrooms in regular school buildings, trailers or portables outside regular school building. It can also include a hospital setting or other community-based setting.

15. Separate School
A separate school is a school designed specifically for students with disabilities in either a public or private day school.
A separate school is a school designed specifically for students with disabilities in either a public or private day school.

16. Residential Facility
A residential facility is a program in a public or privately operated residential school or residential medical facility where the student stays on an inpatient basis.
A residential facility is a program in a public or privately operated residential school or residential medical facility where the student stays on an inpatient basis.

17. Home Principal residence of the child’s family or caregivers
Caregivers includes babysitters
Home is defined as the principal residence of the child’s family or caregivers. The term caregivers includes babysitters.

18. Service Provider Location or Other Locations Not in Any Other Category
A service provider location or other locations not in any other category include a private clinician’s office, clinician offices located in a school building, hospital facilities on an out-patient basis, libraries, and other public locations.
These children do not attend any regular early childhood program, special education classroom, separate school, or residential facility.
Service provider location or other locations not in any other category are defined as receiving special education and/or related services in a:
Therapist or clinician’s office in a public school,
Private therapist or clinician’s office,
Hospitals facilities in an outpatient basis,
Libraries, and
Other public locations.

19. Conclusion Indicator 6 Terminology: Early Childhood Special Education Settings
This concludes the second webinar in the series. The terminology for Indicator 6 is important to understand so data can be reported accurately.
For more information on Indicator 6, please view the other webinars in this series.