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TATS Pre-K ESE Contact meeting

February 7-8, 2008

Over 135 participants attended the TATS PRE-K ESE Contact Meeting on Thursday and Friday, February 7and 8th in Orlando. Forty-five school districts, eight local Early Steps and fourteen FDLRS were represented. The day and a half was filled with activities and judging from the evaluations, it appears that there was enough information for two full days! The theme of the meeting was Transition.

Thursday featured opportunities to hear an update from DOE/BEESS presented by Marilyn Hibbard and DOH/Early Steps presented by Sally Golden-McCord. This was followed by break-out sessions featuring district, Early Steps and FDLRS initiatives around improving transition processes.

These included:
• Using an Interagency Council and Interagency Agreements to Support Transition – Martha Cromwell (FDLRS Springs) and Susie Collings (Pre-K ESE Contact - Marion Co. Schools. A look at how an interagency council facilitates communication and collaboration and the use of strong interagency agreements support the transition process.



• Using Data Management Systems to Improve the Transition Process - Janice Lemp (Orange Co. Schools), Elena Palmeri (Osceola Co Schools), and Roni Bader-Tables (Miami-Dade Co. Schools) Districts illustrate how good use of data can inform an effective transition process and support information sharing.
  Orange County’s Pre-K Data Base form (Excel file, 37KB)



• Family and Teacher Transition Satisfaction Survey – Transition to Kindergarten – Dolores Mendoza (Miami-Dade Co. Schools) and Dorit Weintraub (TATS FAU Facilitator) How the use of a satisfaction survey for both families and teachers gathers information to assist with transitions into kindergarten in a large school district.
  Power Point (PowerPoint file, 151 KB)
  Family Transition Survey (Word file, 364 KB)
  Family Transition Survey Results (Word file, 46 KB)
  Teacher Transition survey (Word file, 105 KB)
  Teacher Transition Survey Results (Word file, 106 KB)



• Using the BDI-2 to Improve Information Sharing for Transition – Paula Martin, Jaquleine Stevens, and Teri Szafran (Ezcambia Co. Schools) A district’s success with using the BDI-2 to improve information sharing
  Power Point (PowerPoint file, 4,437 KB)
  BDI-2 Report to Parents document (PDF file, 24 KB)



• Using the Interagency Agreement Process as a Roadmap Panel Presentation.
  
  • Communication with Community Partners – Cindy Mills (Gadsden Co. Schools) – discussion of some of the issues the team faced initially and how bringing the partners to the table has promoted continued discussion and interaction.
    Gadsden Interagency Agreement (Word file, 179 KB)
    Gadsden Transition Issues and Concerns document (PDF file, 46 KB)
    Transition Issues and Concerns document template (Word file, 33 KB)
  
  
  
  • Overcoming Issues Concerning Meeting Required Timelines – Sandy Smith (Pinellas Co. Schools), Louise Boothby-Llorente, and Lynn Moneck (Early Steps) – addressing issues around notification, BDI-2 evaluations, and data sharing.
  
  
  
  • Using the Interagency Agreement As the Basis for Joint Trainings – Debbie Jones (Desoto Co. Schools) and Eileen Welch (Early Steps) – joint training events and staff input into training needs.
    Community Awareness Survey (Word file, 50 KB)
    Educational vs. Medical Relevance Comparison document (Word file, 42 KB)
  
  
  
  • Measuring Family Satisfaction – Carol Milton (FDLRS Gateway) – Use of a survey to follow up on effectiveness of procedures outlined in the interagency agreement and making adjustments if needed.
    FDLRS Gateway Family Satisfaction Survey (Word file, 26 KB)

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On Friday morning, Dr. Beth Rous, from the National Early Childhood Transition Center presented the keynote, a broad view of what has been learned from research on transition, what constitutes an effective transition process, child and family outcomes, and specifics on addressing the SPP Indicators. In the afternoon she talked about an identified set of best practices and specific strategies to use both in Part C to Part B and Part B to kindergarten transitions.
Keynote – Power Point (PDF file, 986 KB)
Keynote – Power Point (PowerPoint 2007 file, 3,4517 KB)
Handouts with Activity Packet (PDF file, 660 KB)
Families and the Transition Process: Primary Style (PDF file, 3,425 KB)

Other Documents from the meeting are available below:
Participants List (Word file, 146 KB)

From DOE:
DOE Update Power Point (PowerPoint file, 411 KB)
Pre-K ESE Contact List – revised (Word file, 175 KB)
Proposed Rules (PDF file, 2,208 KB)
Transition Technical Assistance Paper (PDF file, 139 KB)

From DOH/Early Steps:
DOH Update Power Point (PowerPoint file, 354 KB)

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