Early Childhood Outcomes
| Joan Finck | 9/22/06 | I have had several people ask me about the Early Childhood Outcomes forms. Some of these people have been from outside my AEA, so I'm pretty sure we aren't the only ones in a quandary. Let me tell you the question I'm hearing and how I have been handling it. I realize there has been a Uniform Data Entry Practices training done on these ECO forms. However, some of us feel there is at least one unanswered question regarding them, and I'm thinking these may be getting entered in a variety of ways anyway. The question centers around the Initial IFSP or IEP, when Outcomes are entered only from the top section of the form. For an Initial, it is a snapshot of the child's skills and behaviors at the time of the Initial. For the Annual or Exit, the bottom is also completed measuring the progress. The concern arises around the dates that get entered for the Initial. The Data Entry Procedures identifies the End date to be entered as the IFSP End Date. However, for the Initial, since it is a snapshot of that day, shouldn't the end date be the same as the begin date? The progress will be recorded later using the same begin date and the end date of the IFSP. If you could clarify this for us across the state, I'm sure a lot of us would greatly appreciate it, as it appears to be causing a great deal of confusion. Thanks for your help with this. |
| Toni Van Cleve | 10/4/06 | Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this issue. The date on the ECO form is the Meeting Date on which the form is filled out. It does not require entry of that date into IMS. The data needed for IFSP and ECO outcomes do not require the collection of a beginning and ending date. The state ECO report will filter for dates that match the “Count” year, rather than dates for individual students. |