Here s where we re going. How are EE codes determined? How can we ensure that our data is accurate?

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1 Welcome to Determining Early Childhood Educational Environment Codes. 1 June, 2015 Type of program EE Codes Location of services Educational Environment (or EE) Codes tell what type of early childhood education program a child attends and where their services are provided. The EE codes are defined in Illinois by the Illinois State Board of Education and reported using the Funding and Child Tracking System, (or FACTS) for the December 1 Child Count. Today we ll focus on how these codes can be determined efficiently and accurately. Here s where we re going What are the Educational Environment (EE) Codes? Why is accuracy in EE data reporting important? How are EE codes determined? How can we ensure accurate data? By the end of this presentation, we hope you will be able to answer the following questions: What are the Educational Environment (or EE) Codes? Why is accuracy in EE data reporting important? How are EE codes determined? How can we ensure that our data is accurate?

2 Before we continue, let s review some tips on navigating through this presentation. The buttons along the bottom of the window will allow you to Play, Pause, Advance, or Go Back. You may also wish to change the view of this presentation by clicking on the tabs that are above the Outline on the right hand side. Click on the tabs to access the Thumb nails of the slides or Notes. 2 Decision Tree for Coding Educational Environments for 3-5 Year Olds There are four handouts that support this module. To access the handouts, click on the links you will see above this presentation. Before you continue, please print the handout titled Decision Tree for Coding Educational Environments for Children ages 3 through 5 Served Under the IDEA so that you can refer to it throughout this presentation. You ll also see: A presentation handout which includes the slides and script, A resource titled Early Childhood Special Education Educational Environments Codes, and A summary of the references and web sites for this module. You may wish to print and/or save these to your computer. Click on the Play button when you are ready to continue. We also recommend that you click on the link on this slide to access your district s Special Education Profile. On page 5 of this profile is a summary of the Percent of Students with IEPs in Various Educational Environments for 3-5 Year Olds for your district. We suggest that you print this page for reference throughout this module. Click Play when you are ready to continue.

3 Attends RECP 10 hours or more per week 30 majority of special RECP 31 majority of special Other Location Less than 10 hours per week 32 majority of special RECP 33 majority of special Other Location Does not attend RECP 23 Special Education Classroom 24 Separate School 25 Residential Facility 26 - Home 27 Service Provider Location or Other Location (Illinois State Board of Education, n.d.) Let s take a quick look at the current codes for early childhood educational environments. Codes 30, 31, 32 and 33 are for are for children who attend regular early childhood programs (abbreviated on the slide as RECP). Codes 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 are for children who do not attend a regular early childhood program. 3 What is a Regular Early Childhood Program? So the first question that we need to ask is, What is a regular early childhood program? A program that includes a majority (at least 50%) of nondisabled children (i.e., children not on IEPs). This category may include, but is not limited to: Head Start Kindergarten, public or private Preschool classes, public or private Group child development center or child care Home Day Care (Illinois State Board of Education, n.d.) For federal data collection purposes, the definition of a regular early childhood program is a program that includes a majority (at least 50 %) of nondisabled children (i.e., children not on IEPs). This includes, but is not limited to: Head Start Kindergarten, public or private Preschool classes, public or private In Illinois public preschool classes would include programs funded through Preschool for All, tuition or Title I. Group child development center or child care center It is important to note that Illinois does NOT include home day care as a child care center.

4 Attends RECP 10 hours or more per week 30 majority of special RECP 31 majority of special Other Location Less than 10 hours per week 32 majority of special RECP 33 majority of special Other Location Does not attend RECP 23 Special Education Classroom 24 Separate School 25 Residential Facility 26 - Home 27 Service Provider Location or Other Location (Illinois State Board of Education, n.d.) Looking more closely at the codes, you will note that: Codes 30 and 31 are for children who attend regular early childhood programs at least 10 hours per week. Code 30 is used when the majority of the child s services occur in the regular early childhood program, while Code 31 is when the services take place in another location. Codes 32 and 33 are for children who attend regular early childhood programs less than 10 hours per week. Code 32 is when the majority of services occur in the regular early childhood program, while 33 is when the services take place in another location. Codes 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 are for children who do not attend a regular early childhood program. Children who fall in this category might be educated in: A Special Education Classroom Code 23 A Separate School Code 24 A Residential Facility Code 25 Their Home Code 26, or At a Service Provider Location or Other Location Code 27 For example, children may go to a service provider location for services such as speech and language. This is sometimes referred to as walk in or drop in services. For more detailed descriptions of the codes, you may wish to refer to the handout titled Early Childhood Special Education Educational Environments Codes. 4 Early Childhood Educational Environments (ages 3-5) Percent of Students with IEPs in Various Educational Environments Regular Early Childhood Program Separate Home Service Majority of Services: Class/ Provider Facility Inside EC Program Outside EC Program Codes 30 & 32 Codes 31 & 33 Codes 23, 24 & 25 Code 26 Code 27 Looking at the data from one sample district summarized in the Special Education Profile, let s see how the EE codes correspond to the categories in the table. The first column is the percentage of children who attend a regular early childhood program and receive the majority of services within that program. Codes 30 and 32 fall in this category. The next column includes children who attend a regular early childhood program but receive the majority of their services in some other location. For example, the services could be pulled out, or they could attend a self-contained early childhood special education classroom half of the day and receive their services there. Codes 31 and 33 are compiled here. The next three columns are for children who do not attend a regular early childhood program. Children who are educated in a separate class or facility are

5 indicated in the third column. Codes 23, 24, and 25 are combined here. 5 Next is the percentage of children who receive their services in the home, which corresponds to Code 26. The final column reflects children who receive services by a service provider. Code 27 is placed here. Why is it important for the EE data to be accurate? The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the federal level requires each state to submit a State Performance Plan (or SPP) and an Annual Performance Report (or APR) yearly. ISBE reports on the 21 indicators in the SPP. Indicator 6 focuses on preschool least restrictive environment. The data for this indicator is collected at the December 1 Child Count for children who are ages 3-5 on December 1 st. (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015) Codes 30 & 32 Codes 23, 24 & 25 Percent of children 3 through 5 with IEPs attending: Indicator 6A: Regular early childhood program and receiving the majority of special education and related services in the regular early childhood program. Indicator 6B: Separate special education class, separate school or residential facility. The measurement table for Indicator 6 reports the percent of children 3 through 5 with IEPs attending: Regular early childhood program and receiving the majority of special education and related services in the regular early childhood program (Codes 30 & 32); and the percent of children 3 through 5 with IEPs attending a: Separate special education class, separate school or residential facility (Codes 23, 24 & 25). (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015)

6 Regular EC Program 42% National Data Special Education 26% Why are these indicators priorities in Illinois? Let s take a look at the national picture, which includes data from all 50 states and territories. You can see that nationally we serve 42% of our preschoolers in regular early childhood programs with the majority of special education services in the regular program. Only 26% of children are served in separate special education classes, schools or facilities. 6 And receiving the majority of Special education class, special education in the separate school, or residential program facility (U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, ) Regular EC Program 2013 Illinois Data Special Education Now, let s take a look at Illinois data. In contrast, Illinois serves 34% of our preschoolers in regular early childhood programs with the majority of special education services in the regular program. And, Illinois serves 29% of children in separate special education classes, schools or facilities. 34% 29% And receiving the majority of Special education class, special education in the separate school, or residential program facility (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015) 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% National 42% Illinois 34% Illinois National 20% 29% 26% 15% 10% 5% 0% National Illinois RECP Special Education (U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, ) (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015) Therefore, compared to the national data, Illinois educates fewer children in regular early childhood programs and more children in separate programs, which brings us back to Indicator 6 on the SPP/APR.

7 6A - Regular early childhood program and receiving the majority of special education and related services in the regular early childhood program (Codes 30 & 32). Regular Early Childhood Program Majority of Services: Inside EC Program Outside EC Program Separate Class/ Facility Home Service Provider Codes 30 & 32 Codes 31 & 33 Codes 23, 24 & 25 Code 26 Code 27 6A (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015) Let s return to Indicator 6A that was introduced earlier. You ll recall that these children attend regular early childhood programs and also receive the majority of their services in this environment. For example, children in this category may attend a Preschool For All classroom or a Head Start classroom and receive their special education services like speech and maybe some support from a special educator or other therapist in that classroom. They are not pulled out for services and they do not attend a specialized program to receive their services. Over time, we would want to see an increase in the percentages of Codes 30 and 32, as more children are served in the regular early childhood program with supports and services delivered there. This district s percentage is 71.8 which is well above Illinois 2015 target of 32.6%. Take a moment to look at your district s data for this category on page 5 of the Special Education Profile. Click Play to continue. 7 6B Separate special education class, separate school or residential facility (Codes 23, 24 & 25). Now, let s take a closer look at Indicator 6B which looks at the percentage of children who are served in a separate special education class, school or facility. Regular Early Childhood Program Majority of Services: Inside EC Program Outside EC Program Separate Class/ Facility Home Service Provider Codes 30 & 32 Codes 31 & 33 Codes 23, 24 & 25 (Illinois State Board of Education, 2015) 6B Code 26 Code 27 We would want to see a decrease in the percentages of Codes 23, 24 and 25 over time, as fewer children are served in separate classrooms or buildings. At 13.8%, this district is doing significantly better than Illinois 2015 target of 30.8%. Take a moment to review your district s data in this column. Click Play when you are ready to continue. Now, let s take a closer look at how we can accurately determine the codes for early childhood aged children.

8 The Decision Tree is a tool that provides guidance in determining an EE code for each child. We suggest that you locate your printed copy of this handout to refer to as we work through some examples. As you can see, the first question to consider is, Does the child attend a regular early childhood program? 8 (NECTAC & Skorheim, 2013) A program that includes a majority (at least 50%) of nondisabled children (i.e., children not on IEPs). This category may include, but is not limited to: Head Start Kindergarten, public or private Preschool classes, public or private Group child development center or child care You ll recall the definition of a regular early childhood program that was introduced earlier. Take a moment to review this and the examples of programs that are considered regular early childhood programs. Remember that home day care is not considered to be a child care center in Illinois. Click the Play button when you are ready to continue. Home Day Care (Illinois State Board of Education, n.d.) Let s try out using the Decision Tree to assist us to determine some EE codes. (NECTAC & Skorheim, 2013)

9 Caleb attends a PFA class at the local elementary school. He has an IEP for speech only and is pulled out for speech 30 minutes a week. What would his EE code be? Does the child attend regular early childhood program? YES NO Let s work through this example together. Caleb attends a Preschool For All class at the local elementary school. He has an IEP for speech only and is pulled out for speech 30 minutes a week. What would his EE code be? Keeping in mind the definition, we d first decide if Caleb attends a regular early childhood program. Since a Preschool For All class is considered a regular early childhood program, we d respond YES. Click on the YES to continue. 9 Caleb attends a PFA class at the local elementary school. He has an IEP for speech only and is pulled out for speech 30 minutes a week. What would his EE code be? If YES, determine the following: How many hours does the child attend a regular early childhood program? Next we d determine how many hours Caleb attends the regular early childhood program. We d select At least 10 hours per week since the Preschool For All classroom is in session at least 12.5 hours per week. Click on At least 10 hours per week to continue. At least 10 hours per week Less than 10 hours per week Caleb attends a PFA class at the local elementary school. He has an IEP for speech only and is pulled out for speech 30 minutes a week. What would his EE code be? Finally we d consider where Caleb receives the majority of his services. Since he receives speech therapy in a location other than in the regular early childhood program, his code would be 31 in some other location. Click on Code 31 to continue. If at least 10 hours per week: Where does the child receive the majority of special education and related services? 30 in the regular early childhood program 31 in some other location

10 Sarah has an IEP and receives special education services at the early childhood special education classroom (all students have IEPs) in her local school. She attends a home daycare after her class is over. What would her EE code be? Does the child attend regular early childhood program? YES Correct - Click anywhere to continue You must answer the question before continuing Try again Submit Clear Now, work through this example on your own. Sarah has an IEP and receives special education services at the early childhood special education classroom (all students have IEPs) in her local school. She attends a home daycare after her class is over. What would her EE code be? First, consider Does Sarah attend a regular early education program? Remember, Illinois does NOT include home day care as a child care center. Click on your response to continue. 10 Sarah has an IEP and receives special education services at the early childhood special education classroom (all students have IEPs) in her local school. She attends a home daycare after her class is over. What would her EE code be? Now determine the following: Does Sarah attend a special education program? Select YES or NO. If NO, determine the following: Is the child attending a special education program? YES Sarah has an IEP and receives special education services at the early childhood special education classroom (all students have IEPs) in her local school. She attends a home daycare after her class is over. What would her EE code be? Finally, select which of these options applies to Sarah and choose that code. If YES, 23 - Separate Class

11 Micah has an IEP and receives special education services at the early childhood special education classroom (all students have IEPs) in his local school. His mom sends him to KinderCare in the afternoons (11:30 to 5pm) after his class at the school is over. His EE code would be: Let s try a few more examples. Use the Decision Tree to assist you, and click on the code you determine for Micah. 11 A) EE Code 23 Separate Class Lily attends a PFA class at the local elementary school. She has an IEP for speech only and the SLP delivers her services in the PFA classroom. Her EE code would be: Now determine Lily s EE code and click on your answer. EE Code 30 - RECP, 10+ hours, A) majority of services in RECP Follows the Decision Tree and generates an EE code Produces a brief printable form with EE code Click here for the User Guide. How can we ensure we are all using the Decision Tree and reporting the data as accurately as possible? Early CHOICES created the site called the EE SPP 6 Decision Tree that works as an application to generate a preschool EE code. The application follows the Decision Tree to generate a code as well as a brief pdf that can be used as documentation of the EE code. The application is free. Click on this link to access the User Guide for this App.

12 Let s use the EE SPP 6 Decision Tree App to work through this example. 12 Jamie T. receives speech services (walk in) at the local elementary school for 30 minutes a week. He does not attend any childcare, preschool or special education class. What is Jamie s EE code? Jamie T. receives speech services (walk in) at the local elementary school for 30 minutes a week. He does not attend any childcare, preschool or special education class. What is Jamie s EE Code? On the next slide you ll see a short video which demonstrates how the App works. Does your district use the Decision Tree and/or App to generate codes? How accurate is your district s data? Let s consider a few questions. First, does your district consistently use the Decision Tree and/or App to generate codes? A consistent approach will lead to more accurate data. Do we ask families if their child attends a regular early childhood program? Regular Early Childhood Program Majority of Services: Inside EC Program Outside EC Program Separate Class/ Facility Home Service Provider Also, looking at your district s Special Education Profile, does the data appear to reflect the practices in your district? For example, do we ask families if their child attends a regular early childhood program? Sometimes we may not have this information, and therefore codes related to children attending regular early childhood programs could be underreported Codes 30 & 32 Codes 31 & 33 Codes 23, 24 & 25 6A 6B Code 26 Code 27

13 What is working? In your district, what practices for determining EE codes are currently working? What might need to be changed? You may wish to jot down a few thoughts or ideas. Click on Play when you are ready to continue. 13 What might need to be changed?? Early CHOICES For additional information about educational environments or to explore inclusive options, we suggest that you investigate these resources. Press Play when you are ready to continue. LiveBinder: Educational Environment Data for Children Ages 3-5 Illinois STARNET Illinois State Board of Education: Preschool Inclusion/LRE Thank you for accessing this module. We hope this presentation has answered some of your questions and provided you with some information and understanding of Early Childhood Educational Environments Codes and Data.

14 Illinois State Board of Education. (n.d.). Early Childhood Special Education Educational Environments Codes. Retrieved from Illinois State Board of Education. (April, 2015). State Performance Plan and Annual Performance Report, PART B FFY2013 ( ). Retrieved from NECTAC & Skorheim, N. (May, 2013). Decision Tree for Coding Educational Environments for Children Ages 3 through 5 Served Under the IDEA. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs. ( ). Part C and Part 619 Data Display: Illinois Retrieved from Listed here, are the complete citations for the materials referenced in this presentation. Click on the link above if you would like a handout that lists the web resources and references. 14 This module was developed by: Ann Kremer, Early CHOICES Susan Raso, Consultant Pam Reising-Rechner, ISBE