Transition and School Readiness

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Transition and School Readiness

• The State of the Evidence and Recommended
  Practices

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Today We Will.

• Discuss the purpose and status of NECTC studies
• Share Child and Family Outcome Framework
• Share Identified Transition Barriers for Children
  from Diverse Populations
• Present and Discuss Standard Practices

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Purpose of National Early Childhood Transition
Center (NECTC)

• To investigate and validate practices and
  strategies that enhance the early childhood
  transition process and support positive school
  outcomes for children with disabilities.

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NECTC Conceptual Framework
Figure 1 Contextual Factors
Figure 2 Key Elements of the Transition Process
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NECTC Conceptual Framework
Figure 3 Transition Outcomes for the Child and
Family
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The State of the Evidence
Articles sent for review N Met Criteria
Child Focused Studies 33 27
Family Focused Studies 17 16
Policy Studies 6 6
Meet Criteria for Levels of Evidence Identified
Literature Review and Annotation will be
available January 2007.
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Empirical Research Findings

• Use of transition policies and practices has
  modest positive effect on
• Academic achievement at the end of K
• Parent-initiated school involvement
• Predictors of academic success at end of 1st
  grade
• Childrens health and social/emotional
  development
• Children from low-income families receive fewer
  transition supports
• Key indicators of a successful transition
• Positive and mutually supported linkages between
  stakeholders
• Use of developmentally appropriate practice
• Positive attitudes towards school from families

HP 6
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Transition Barriers for diverse populations

• Children from Culturally Diverse Backgrounds and
  their Families
• Children with Significant Disabilities and their
  Families

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Participants and Response Rates
State Focus Forum Participation N N for Delphi Survey N
CA Site 2 Significant Disabilities Family 10 Provider 16 Admin 12 38 Family 5 Provider 10 Admin 9 18 63
CT Significant Disabilities Family 6 Provider 16 Admin 13 35 Family 8 Provider 3 Admin 6 17 49
TOTAL 73 35
CA, Site 1 Cultural diversity Family 10 Provider 9 Admin 11 30 Family 5 Provider 6 Admin 7 18 60
IL Cultural diversity Family 9 Provider 8 Admin 6 23 Family 5 Provider 4 Admin 6 15 65
NM Cultural diversity Family 13 Provider 13 Admin 16 42 Family 5 Provider 3 Admin 9 17 40
TOTAL 95 50
Total Total Family 48 Provider 61 Admin 59 168 Family 28 Provider 26 Admin 37 91 54
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Delphi Mapping
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Findings

• 25 Barriers Rated 6.0 or Above Scale
• Ratings for Cultural Diversity
• 3.65 7.14 56 (N 15) at 6.0 or higher
• Ratings for Significant Disabilities
• 3.6 - 7.22 46 (N 18) at 6.0 or higher
• A total of 8 barriers were rated 6.0 or higher
  for both populations

Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
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Top Barriers for Children From Culturally Diverse
Backgrounds Their Families
RANK BARRIERS Mean
1 Recruiting and retaining staff who are familiar with the language and culture of the families served. 7.14
2 It is challenging to assess children from non-English speaking families. 6.96
3 There are changes in frequency and intensity of services as children transition into new environments. 6.87
4 There is a shortage of available health providers, therapists and teachers in rural areas resulting in a wait for services. 6.83
5 There is a lack of support for families who have difficulty getting their child to multiple appointments or attending IEP meetings because this requires them to miss work 6.597
6 Families dont have supports to become advocates dont understand rights under IDEA, IEP process, and role in transition process. 6.595
7 Physicians other providers who dont work in schools provide recommendations for programming not consistent with ed model. 6.51
8 Schools dont always know information about following school year, such as number of classrooms name of teacher. 6.45
9 Communication gap among families, teachers, therapists, including the use of jargon. 6.38
10 There is a lack of funding available for therapies across all transitions. 6.37
11 There are philosophical institutional differences between all environments (early intervention, preschool, kindergarten). 6.37
12 There is limited time available to engage in meetings, evaluations, preparation activities, etc. prior to the transition. 6.30
13 Lack of training for regular education staff, teachers paraprofessionals, who work with children transitioning to preschool K. 6.28
14 Lack of adequate communication relationships among referral sources, teachers, health care providers therapists, etc. including regular meetings among difference agencies. 6.26
15 There is a discrepancy between traditional cultural beliefs and educational services, especially concerning special education services. 6.17
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Top Barriers for Children with Significant
Disabilities Their Families
RANK BARRIERS Mean
1 There are changes in frequency intensity of services as children transition into new environments 7.62
2 Families have fears and anxieties about the transition process their child's move to the next environment. 7.28
3 There is a shortage of therapists available to provide intervention across transitions. 7.14
4 Lack of training for regular education staff, teachers and paraprofessionals, working w/ children transitioning to preschool K. 6.95
5 There is a lack of funding available for therapies across all transitions. 6.74
6 Schools do not always know information about the following school year, such as number of classrooms name of teacher. 6.59
7 Communication gap among families, teachers, therapists, including the use of jargon. 6.53
8 Staff changes during transitions that result in discontinuity of services. 6.50
9 There is a lack of alignment of curriculum between environments. 6.43
10 There is a lack of support for families who have medically fragile children need respite care. 6.41
11 Children may receive less special education services after transitioning into preschool or kindergarten. 6.40
12 There is limited time available to engage in meetings, evaluations, preparation activities, etc. prior to the transition. 6.34
13 Families dont have supports to become advocate do not understand their rights under IDEA, the IEP process, their role in the transition process. 6.31
14 There is a lack of home visits for families children transitioning to kindergarten. 6.29
15 Pediatrician other health professionals delay providing families with a referral to early intervention services or do not provide an accurate diagnosis because they seem uninformed about children with disabilities 6.21
16 Staff across agencies are unfamiliar each other's the roles responsibilities. 6.14
17 Scheduling for evaluations is difficult due to coordination of many different people's schedules. 6.12
18 There is a lack of support for families who have difficulty getting their child to multiple appointments or attending IEP meetings because this requires them to miss work. 6.09
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Top Barriers for Both Populations
BARRIERS IDENTIFIED FOR BOTH GROUPS CULTURALLY DIVERSE SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES
There are changes in frequency and intensity of services as children transition into new environments 6.87 7.62
There is a lack of support for families who have difficulty getting their child to multiple appointments or attending IEP meetings because this requires them to miss work 6.60 6.09
Families do not have the supports to become an advocate do not understand their rights under IDEA, the IEP process, their role in the transition process. 6.595 6.31
Schools do not always know information about the following school year, such as number of classrooms name of teacher 6.45 6.59
Communication gap among families, teachers, therapists, including the use of jargon 6.38 6.53
There is a lack of funding available for therapies across all transitions 6.37 6.74
There is limited time available to engage in meetings, evaluations, preparation activities, etc. prior to the transition 6.30 6.34
Lack of training for regular education staff, both teachers and paraprofessionals, who are working with children transitioning to preschool and kindergarten 6.28 6.95
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Identifying Transition Strategies
N 1335
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Key NECTC Findings on Social Transition Practices

• Standard Practice
• Global transition practice that reflects shared
  understanding of the intent of the practice and
  that all staff regularly and consistently
  implement
• Strategies
• specific activities selected as a means to
  implement a Standard Practice across staff and/or
  programs
• Four major areas of practice
• Interagency Structure
• Continuity and Alignment
• Communication and Relationships
• Child and Family Preparation and/or Adjustment

HP 11
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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary)
Interagency Structure

1. Primary contact person for transition identified
   within each program or agency.
2. Referral processes timelines clearly specified.
3. Enrollment processes timelines clearly
   specified.
4. Program eligibility processes timelines clearly
   delineated.

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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary)
Interagency Structure

1. Staff family members actively involved in the
   design of transition processes systems.
2. Families meaningfully participate as partners
   with staff in program- and community-wide
   transition planning efforts.
3. Agencies develop formal mechanisms to minimize
   disruptions in services before, during, after
   the transition of the child and family.

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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary)
Continuity and Alignment

1. Community- program-wide transition activities
   timelines identified.
2. Conscious transparent connections made between
   curricula child expectations across
   programs/environments.
3. Transition plans developed that include
   individual activities for each child and family.
4. Children have opportunities to develop practice
   skills they need to be successful in the next
   environment.

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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary)
Communication Relationships

1. Methods in place to support staff-to-staff
   communication both within across programs.
2. Staff roles responsibilities for transition
   activities clearly delineated.

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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary) Child
and Family Preparation and/or Adjustment

1. Staff follow-up on children after the transition
   to support their adjustment.
2. Staff know key information about a broad array of
   agencies services available within the
   community.
3. Individual child family transition meetings
   conducted.
4. Transition team members share appropriate
   information about each child making a transition.

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Social Practices Identified (Preliminary) Child
and Family Preparation and/or Adjustment

1. Families are aware of the importance of
   transition planning have information they need
   to actively participate in transition planning
   with their child.
2. Families needs related to transition assessed
   addressed.
3. Families have information about are linked with
   resources services to help them meet their
   specific child family needs.
4. Families actively participate in gathering
   information about their childs growth
   development.

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Next StepsLinking Research and Evidence
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• Questions or Comments

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For More Information

• Caroline Gooden
• Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute
• University of Kentucky
• 126 Mineral Industries Building
• Lexington, KY 40506-0051
• Phone [phone]
• Toll Free 866-742-4015
• Fax [phone]
• EmailCaroline.Gooden_at_uky.edu
• http//www.ihdi.uky.edu/nectc