Parent satisfaction with preschool special education services and process was generally positive but there are issues of concern

Areas of Satisfaction

• Child's placement and opportunities to interact with nondisabled children

• Quality of teachers, therapists and staff

• Quality of services (type, location and frequency)

• Progress made by child

• Preparation for transition to school-age programs

Areas of Dissatisfaction

• Delays in starting services

• Lack of providers

• Poor communication

• CPSE not helpful or responsive

• Insufficient parent and child preparation for transition to school-age programs

Notes: Parent ratings from mailed surveys (n=293) and follow-up forums (n=70) were in the 90-99% range regarding service quality, appropriateness, sufficiency, individualized attention, positive staff interactions with parents, and involvement in decision-making.

• e.g., 96% said their child's skills had improved.

Parents were slightly less satisfied with planning for the transition process

• e.g., 77% said good information about the transition process was provided;
• e.g., 76% said that staff spent enough time helping the parent get the child ready for school-age programs

Areas of dissatisfaction were identified in open-ended questions and generally addressed poor communication and bureaucratic procedures; a frequent mention was the difficulty in getting services started because there weren't enough providers for the services needed by the preschool student.

Preliminary summary of findings
Source: independent research by MGT of America, Inc.

NYSED VESID, DVJ
Oct. 3, 2007