Overview of the State Performance Plan Development
See Overview of the State Performance Plan Development preceding Indicator #1. In addition, NYS consulted with the NYCDOE to identify NYC specific issues and needed improvement activities.
Monitoring Priority: Effective General Supervision Part B / Effective Transition |
Indicator 12: Percent of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible
for Part B, and who have an IEP developed and implemented by their third
birthdays.
(20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(B))
Measurement: a. # of children who have been served in Part C and referred to Part B for eligibility determination. b. # of those referred determined to be NOT eligible and whose eligibilities were determined prior to their third birthdays. c. # of those found eligible who have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays. Account for children included in a but not included in b or c. Indicate the range of days beyond the third birthday when eligibility was determined and reasons for the delays. Percent = c divided by a – b times 100. |
The Department of Health (DOH) under the Early Intervention Program (Part C) provides services to children with disabilities, birth to two. SED has responsibility for providing services to preschool children with disabilities, ages three to five (Part B).
SED and DOH have a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that focuses on activities that will result in
a smooth transition from Part C to Part B services for children beginning at age
three. Early Intervention Officials (EIO) have responsibility under Public
Health Law for notifying school districts (with parental consent) of an Early
Intervention (EI) child’s potential eligibility for services under preschool
special education and for arranging a transition conference at least 120 days
before the child is first eligible for preschool programs and services. A parent
may also refer the child directly to the CPSE. The transition conference is
scheduled at least 90 days before the child is first eligible for preschool
programs and services, and is attended by the EIO, the service coordinator, the
parent(s) and the chairperson of the CPSE. The purpose of the transition
conference is to decide whether the child should be referred to preschool
special education for determination of eligibility, to review program options
available to the child and family, and to develop a transition plan. This
process ensures continuity of services for the child. The timely referral and
evaluation of children to preschool special education and the provision of a
free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the LRE by school districts are
reviewed under the SEQA preschool focused monitoring review process.
The evaluation and eligibility determination of a preschool student must be made
within 30 school days of receipt of the parent's consent to evaluation. The
CPSE provides the parent with a list of approved programs that have a
multidisciplinary evaluation component. The parent selects the approved
evaluation program to conduct the individual evaluation of his or her child and
the board of education arranges for the evaluation by the service provider
selected by the parent. In addition, with the consent of the parents, approved
evaluators and CPSEs must be provided with the most recent evaluation report for
a child in transition from programs and services provided pursuant to title
two-a of article 25 of the Public Health Law.
Upon receipt of the recommendation of the CPSE, the board of education must arrange for the preschool student with a disability to receive such programs and services commencing with the July, September or January starting date for the approved program, unless such services are recommended by the CPSE less than 30 school days prior to, or after, the appropriate starting date selected for such preschool student, in which case, the IEP must be implemented no later than 30 school days from the recommendation of the CPSE.
SED has revised its PD data collection forms to collect data from a representative sample of school districts during the 2005-06 school year (July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006) on the percent of children referred by Early Intervention (IDEA, Part C) prior to age three, who are found eligible for preschool programs and/or services under IDEA, Part B, and who have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays. NYS will use these data to identify noncompliance and establish corrective actions for those school districts in which the data indicates less than 100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays.
To collect baseline data on the transition of children from early intervention (Part C of IDEA) to preschool special education programs and/or services (Part B of IDEA), the PD form will direct the school districts to report the following information:
The numbers of children referred from Part C (Early Intervention) to Part B for preschool special education programs and/or services prior to the age of 3 who were found eligible and not eligible on or before age three and after the age of 3. Of this number, how many had their IEPs developed and implemented on or before the age of 3 and after the age of 3.
The reasons for more referrals for evaluation than initial eligibility determinations (e.g., parents withdrew consent; student moved out of the district before the evaluation was completed; student awaiting an evaluation; other reasons).
The reasons for delays in initial eligibility determinations (e.g., an approved evaluator was not available to provide the evaluation in a timely manner; the parents refused or repeatedly failed to make the child available for the evaluation; the parents canceled the scheduled evaluation and/or selected another approved evaluator; the child transferred to the district after the evaluation period began in a previous school district and the parents and district agreed to an extended time period to complete the evaluation; other reasons).
The reasons for delays in developing and implementing children’s IEPs prior to the children’s third birthdays (e.g., parents chose to continue their child in the Early Intervention program after the child became age three; parents chose not to enroll their child in the recommended program; programs and/or services were not available; child moved out of the district prior to the child’s third birthday; other reason).
Sampling will be used to establish the 2005-06 baseline for this indicator. One-sixth of the school districts in NYS will be randomly selected. This represents approximately 120 school districts each year. The NYC School District will be included in the sample each year. It is the only school district in the State with a total enrollment of 50,000 or more students.
NYS has distributed all school districts among six statewide representative samples. These six groups of school districts were tested with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and there was no statistical difference among the six groups of school districts on the population variables described in Attachment 2. All school districts will have a choice of reporting data on all eligible students for this indicator or they may submit data on a randomly selected sample of minimum number of students using the sampling guidelines provided below.
Federal Indicator Number |
Eligible Population of Students From Which a Random Sample Must be Selected |
Minimum Number of Students in the Sample |
Method for Selecting Students |
Required Documentation |
12 |
All children who are referred for special education services under Part C to Part B prior to age 3 during the school year (July 1-June 30). |
Use a sampling calculator. Require 95% confidence interval and plus or minus 2% margin of error. |
Random selection using a random number table. |
Documentation period is seven years. Maintain list of all eligible students, copy of Random Number Table used, beginning random number for selecting students and list of all students who were selected and their number. |
FFY |
Measurable and Rigorous Target |
2005 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays |
2006 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays |
2007 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays |
2008 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays |
2009 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays |
2010 |
100% of children referred by Part C prior to age 3, who are found eligible for Part B, will have an IEP developed and implemented by their third birthdays. |
Activity |
Timeline |
Resources |
Annually review and update the MOU between DOH and SED that focuses on activities that will result in a smooth transition from Part C to Part B services for children beginning at age three, including monitoring programs that are approved by DOH and NYSED to serve both EI and preschool children with disabilities. |
2005-11 |
SED professional staff
|
Conduct joint training, technical assistance and monitoring on requirements for the timely transition of children with disabilities from EI to preschool special education. Develop a video/training program on transition from EI to preschool special education. Provide training to EI and preschool staff and administrators. |
2005-07 |
DOH and SED staff DOH and SED guidance document: Transition of Children at Age Three from the New York State Department of Health Early Intervention Program to the State Education Department Preschool Special Education Program or Other Early Childhood Services |
Approve new program applications and requests for program expansions in regions where data indicates preschool students are not receiving services by their third birthdays where there is documented need for additional programs. |
2005-11 |
VESID staff |
Continue to authorize variances to class size maximums where appropriate to allow additional students to be temporarily admitted to a preschool program. |
2005-11 |
VESID staff |
Address shortages of qualified personnel to provide evaluations and services to preschool students. Provide technical assistance to NYCDOE on the provision of interim alternate bilingual program and services for English language learners/limited English proficient preschool students with disabilities. |
2005-08 |
See indicator #1 |
Conduct monitoring of approved preschool programs. |
2005-11 |
SEQA |
Require corrective action in those school districts in which data indicate noncompliance. |
2005-11 |
SEQA |