Promoting Positive Outcomes for Children with Disabilities: DECs New Recommendations for Curriculum,

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Promoting Positive Outcomes for Children with
DisabilitiesDECs New Recommendations for
Curriculum, Assessment and Program Evaluation

• Beth Rous, Ed.D,
• Marilou Hyson, Ph.D.
• DEC Webinar
• May 7, 2009

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Goals for Today

• Consider the larger context for supporting all
  young childrens positive outcomes.
• Receive an overview of the DEC paper on
  Recommendations for Curriculum, Assessment and
  Program Evaluation.
• Consider connections and alignment between DECs
  recommendations and the position statement of
  NAEYC and NAECS/SDE
• Discuss implications and challenges for
• Professional Development,
• Practice,
• State and Local Policy

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Handout for Today
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NAEYC NAECS/SDE POSITION STATEMENT ON
CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT, AND PROGRAM EVALUATION
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NAEYC NAECS/SDE POSITION STATEMENT ON
CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT, AND PROGRAM EVALUATION

• 2003 revision of 1991 position
• Responded to emerging issues, new research, and
  policy challenges
• Guided by committee of leaders from both
  organizations, other experts, extensive feedback
  from the field
• Includes specific recommendations and indicators
  of effectiveness
• Available from www.naeyc.org in brief and
  expanded versions, and a Where We Stand summary
• Endorsed by DEC

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http//www.naeyc.org/about/positions/cape.asp
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THE CHALLENGE MAKING THIS HAPPEN FOR EVERY
CHILD
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Response to the Challenge
http//www.dec-sped.org/index.aspx/About_DEC/Posit
ionConcept_Papers/Promoting_Positive_Outcomes
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BACKGROUND

• Developed to serve as a companion document to the
  2003 NAEYC NAECS/SDE position statement
• Addresses the same three components curriculum,
  assessment, and program evaluation
• Completed in 2007
• Intended audience is early childhood
  administrators and personnel who work with young
  children with disabilities
• Endorsed by NAEYC

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• KEY RECOMMENDATIONSAND INDICATORS OF
  EFFECTIVENESS

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Getting Where We Want to BeAligning for
Better Outcomes
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CURRICULUM

• DEC INDICATORS
• Multiple means of
• Representation provided
• Engagement available
• Expression supported
• Programs adopt curriculum goals that are clear
  and shared by all
• Curriculum is comprehensive
• Programs strive to build maintain successful
  partnerships as curriculum is implemented.

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE INDICATORS
• Children are active engaged
• Goals are clear shared by all
• Curriculum
• is evidence-based
• builds on prior learning experiences
• is comprehensive
• Professional standards validate the curriculums
  subject-matter content
• Content is learned through investigation
  focused, intentional teaching
• The curriculum is likely to benefit children

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ASSESSMENT

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE Indicators, cont.
• Assessments use multiple sources of evidence
  gathered over time
• Screening is always linked to follow-up
• Use of individually administered, norm-referenced
  tests is limited
• Staff families are knowledgeable about
  assessment
• DEC INDICATORS
• Assessment involves family-professional
  partnerships
• Assessments should be developmentally and
  individually appropriate and educationally
  significant.
• Special care should be taken to ensure adherence
  to professional ethics and practices.

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE Indicators
• Ethical principles
• Assessment instruments are used for their
  intended purposes
• Assessments are appropriate for ages other
  characteristics of children
• Assessment instruments are in compliance with
  professional standards of quality
• What is assessed is developmentally
  educationally significant
• Assessment evidence is
• used to understand improve learning
• gathered from realistic settings and situations
  that reflect childrens actual performance

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PROGRAM EVALUATION

• DEC INDICATORS
• Evaluation efforts conform to evaluation
  standards including utility, propriety,
  feasibility, accuracy.
• Logical approaches for conceptualizing
  conducting program evaluations are used.
• Correspondence exists between program
  goals/objectives evaluation questions
  methods.
• Evaluation efforts employ participatory models.
• more

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE INDICATORS
• Engages in regular evaluation for continuous
  improvement
• Is guided by the goals identified by program,
  families, other stakeholders
• Examines a comprehensive set of results
  (families, staff, community), not just
  child-oriented outcomes
• Uses scientifically valid evaluation designs,
  guided by a logic model
• more

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PROGRAM EVALUATION

• DEC INDICATORS
• Program evaluation describes what happened to
  participants.
• Data collection is efficient reliable.
• Measures used in program evaluation yield
  reliable valid scores for young children with
  disabilities their families.
• Program evaluation data are used to inform
• decision making.
• continuous improvement.
• more

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE INDICATORS
• Uses multiple sources of data
• Uses sampling when individual childrens data are
  being used as part of large-scale program
  evaluation
• Ensures that safeguards are in place if
  standardized tests are used as part of
  evaluations more

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PROGRAM EVALUATION

• DEC INDICATORS
• Program evaluation is alert to unforeseen
  positive or negative consequences of a program.
• Evaluation results are presented in formats
  relevant to diverse stakeholders.
• Program evaluators distinguish between formal
  efficacy research program evaluation.

• NAEYC-NAECS/SDE INDICATORS
• Emphasizes childrens gains over time when child
  assessments are used as part of program
  evaluation
• Ensures that well-trained individuals conduct
  evaluationsin fair and unbiased ways
• Publicly shares evaluation resultswith families,
  policymakers, and other stakeholders

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Reflecting on the Indicators

• Questions or Comments about the Indicators?
• To what extent are the NAEYC and DEC indicators
  well-aligned?
• What do the DEC indicators add, specific to
  children with disabilities and their families?
• What are the implications and challenges of the
  DEC indicators for
• Professional Development,
• Practice,
• State and Local Policy

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Taking It Home

• What needs to be done to make this document
  relevant and useful to ALL?
• Early Childhood Educators
• Early Interventionists
• Early Childhood Special Educators
• Families
• Administrators
• Policymakers

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Questions
Click here to submit a question
To submit a question Click the QA icon in the
header Individual questions can be submitted
to Marilou Hyson mhyson_at_naeyc.org
Enter question text here
Click submit to send
Beth Rous brous_at_uky.edu