Subject:  Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Exit Assessments

Source:  Sarah Parker, Supervisor, Effective Practices

Intended Audience:  Special Education Directors

Date:  August 16, 2005

 

As part of Missouri’s effort to improve instruction, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will continue to conduct the same assessment of all children with disabilities exiting ECSE services in Missouri, as now conducted with all children in the Missouri Preschool Project and Title I Preschool programs.  The purpose of the assessment is to determine “what they know and can do” as they prepare to enter kindergarten.  ECSE teachers will use an observation-based instrument to collect data on their students’ exit-level knowledge and skills. 

 

As the Missouri Preschool Project and Title I Preschool programs conduct the same assessment for students in their programs, students with disabilities receiving ECSE services need only be assessed one time, by the child's primary teacher, whether that person be a Title I teacher, MPP teacher, or the ECSE teacher.  As a result, you will need to determine which of your ECSE staff require training to ensure all children exiting ECSE during the 2005-06 school year will be assessed. 

 

Since this is not a special education assessment, and is given to non-disabled children as well as children with disabilities in all three programs, IDEA consent provisions would not apply (is not required from parents).  Districts are encouraged to inform parents consistent with their district procedures.

 

This will be a no-cost assessment, as all Early Childhood Special Education costs are funded by the state.  Schools will use their ECSE budgets to fund substitutes for teacher's attendance at the one-day training and any associated costs. 

 

Any person who will be conducting this observation must have received training on the instrument.  If your district has ECSE staff that did not attend the training during 2004-05, please complete and submit registration for the fall workshops to ensure all children who will be kindergarten-eligible during the 2006-07 school year are included.

 

http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/FirstSteps/pdfs/RegiFrmfall05.pdf