Personnel Development in Early Childhood Special Education

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Cohort 1: Programmatic Tools and Resources to Support Preschool Children with Disabilities in the Mixed Delivery System

Special Educator Certification, Licensure, Endorsements

Delivery of Special Education Services for Preschool Aged Children

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Licensure ofÌýRelated Service Providers

General Education Teacher Certification and Qualification Requirements in Inclusive Settings

Certificates in Elementary and Public PreKÌýsettingsÌý

The Early Learning Team at the fb88 Department of Education created the Preschool Guidebook, providing comprehensive guidance to establish and expand public PreK in fb88. The guidebook includes standards, structures, and supports for SAUs that choose to offer high quality programming to meet diverse needs of preschoolers, families and communities. These programs are offering or have the potentialÌýto be inclusive settings for preschool children with disabilities. The following certificates qualify educators to provide early childhood general education.

Provider Qualifications in Private Childcare Programs

Preschool aged children may attend non-public, private childcare programs and receive their special education services in that location. When special education services to preschool aged children with disabilities are delivered here, they are to be designed and delivered by certified special education teachers. Children are included in and can benefit from the day-to-day learning activities in childcare programs delivered by professionals that meet licensing standards. Schools will determine if the private childcare setting meets the requirements of a Free Appropriate Public Education to ensure theÌýeducation program meets the standard of the State.Ìý

Provider Qualifications in Head Start Programs

Educational programs in Head Start classrooms are also opportune locations for children with disabilities to access high quality early learning environments; theyÌýenhance early childhood services for low-income and other at-risk children and families. Educator qualifications in these settings are represented in the following document:

Roles and Responsibilities of Early Childhood Special Education Practitioners

Several national early childhood technical assistance organizations have collaborated to developÌýEarly Childhood Special Education Standards of Practice. Additionally, they have made availableÌýsupportive resources to ensureÌýeducator preparation programs have readily available tools toÌýsupport recruitment and retention efforts and offer tools for personnel developmentÌýto enhance the workforce.

StandardsÌý

  • The Ìý(2020)Ìýrepresent the first formal standards to focus specifically on the preparation of early interventionists and early childhood special educators who work with young children ages birth through 8 years of age who have or are at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities and their families, across home, classroom and community settings.

Course Development Resources

  • Institutes of higher education course development resources from theÌýnational technical assistance center, Early Childhood PersonnelÌýCenter, aligned programs of study to state and national professional organization personnel standards and Cross-Disciplinary Competencies, integrated Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices (RP) into programs of study, and used evidenced-based adult learning practices to create resources to support IHE programs of study.Ìý

Practical Application Tools

  • The and the teamed up to offer Ìýthrough practice improvement tools andÌýself-assessments for practitioners and families in both English and Spanish.Ìý
Practitioner Recruitment and Retention

Recruitment and retention of practitioners in early care and education is an essential element in delivering high quality programs. The following resources are designed to aid in these efforts:

Child Find in Early ChildhoodÌý

The IDEA requires that children with disabilities be identified, located, and evaluated. An effective child find system is an ongoing part of an SAU’s responsibility to ensure that a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)Ìýis made available to all eligible children with disabilities. In early childhood, because children may not yet be in school, locating preschool age children with disabilitiesÌýrequires state and local education agencies to develop and support an ongoing system for notifying families and community members about evaluation opportunities when there is a concern aboutÌýdelays in children's development. It also requires that families and community members be familiar with the expected skills and behaviors are in early childhood, and what might constitute a delay.Ìý

Child Find in Early Childhood Special EducationÌýfb88 Unified Special Education Regulations (MUSER)

The Child Outcomes Summary (COS) Process

The Child Outcomes Summary Process is a required assessment process to measure the growth and development of preschool age children with disabilities who receive special education services. It is a consistent way to rate a child’s functioning relative to age expected behavior at specific points in time.ÌýChildren in early childhood special education programs are assessed at the beginning and at the end of their programming time to capture this development using the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process. The Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process is a federally mandated activity designed to gauge effective programming and achievement of children’s age expected development. to build ECSE provider capacity is available on demand. SAUs will conduct the COS process as children enter and exit the program and report outcomes data to the Office of Special Services and Inclusive Education (OSSIE). Once programs are collecting and reporting data, the next step is to evaluate the results, and then identify areas of strength and needs.ÌýÌýcan support transitioning to a focus of increasing use of evidence-based practices that can result in improved outcomes.

Professional Development

Practice Implementation Resources

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IDEA Part C to Part B Transition Process

Children aged 0-3 that receive Early Intervention (EI) services from Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,Ìýhave the potential to receive Part B Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services for children ages 3-5. Timely transition activities start while in Early Intervention to describe services available once the child turns three and Early Intervention ends. Coordinated activities to ensure eligible children have an Individualize Education Program prior to age three include:

  • Descriptions of available programs and services, differences between EI and ECSE,
  • Sharing of information about timelines and locations for the Transition Conference, evaluation, IEP meetings with schools
  • Sharing information about the parent's ability to opt-out of the notification to schools that the child is potentially eligible for special education

Overview of the C to B Transition Process

Graphic and Description of the C to B Transition Process TimelineÌý

Preschool Environments and Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

Access, participation and engagement are important goals for all children to develop the skills and behaviors needed to enter into school age learning environments. Research shows that settings in which preschool aged children with disabilities learn alongside typically developing peers have been shown to have the most impact, on both groups of children (, 2022).ÌýThe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states, "in determining the placement of a child with a disability, thatÌýthe child is educated in the school he or she would attend if nondisabled, unless the IEP requires some other arrangement" ().ÌýÌý

Presentation:ÌýConsiderations for Determining LRE in Early Childhood Special Education withÌýScenarios

Least Restrictive Environment CodesÌýReference for Each Environment on the Continuum of Placement Options

Using the Decision Tree to Help Find the Appropriate Category for a Preschool Aged Child

Self-Assessment of Inclusive Practices

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