The purpose of this page is to share resources and strategies used to support service coordinators around child outcomes.  The first portion of this page includes resources that have been developed on a state or national level and/or are currently in development and in DRAFT phase.  If you scroll down towards the bottom of the page you will find a place to post your comments, questions and challenges you are facing with child outcomes as you prepare/support service coordinators as well as a place to share the things that you are doing that seem to be working well.

Child Outcomes Resources:

EITP Resource Page on Child Outcomes: https://illinois.edu/blog/view/6039/114618

Blended Service Coordination Training Resources - Section 7 on IFSP Development: https://illinois.edu/blog/view/6150/465601

COS Toolkit on ECTA’s website: http://ectacenter.org/eco/pages/costeam.asp

Outcomes 3 New: This is a document that can be shared with families during intake to help them understand the different kinds of outcomes that we talk about in early intervention.

COS Policy/Procedure: This is the newly developed draft of the child outcomes procedures that will be in the CFC Procedure Manual when it is next updated.

Measuring Outcomes Draft: This is a document that could be used to prepare a family to participate in an IFSP meeting. It talks about the outcomes that we examine in early intervention, how we use the information we collect, and how they can participate in developing/discussing outcomes.

These are the items in the Appendix:

• Team Discussion: This document provides a sample “script” for describing the outcomes process and facilitating the outcomes conversation.
• Definition of Ratings: This document provides a description of each point on the child outcomes rating continuum.
• Decision tree (one sided): This decision tree includes a series of a yes-no questions that a team can answer to determine the child outcomes rating and culminates with a verbal description of each point on the rating scale that can be used to summarize the team’s discussion.
• Decision tree (divided): This decision tree has the same pieces as the one sided version but it splits up the scale based on the answer to the first question about the child’s demonstration of age-expected skills. Some people thought this might be helpful in narrowing down the points on the scale for the discussion and might be less overwhelming for the family to look at if the child was not, in fact, showing any age expected skills.
• Decision tree with buckets: People like this version because it contains a visual by each of the points on the scale.
• Age-expected resources: This document provides links to a variety of age-expected resources that teams might want to use to prepare for the child outcomes discussion or to have handy as an aid to help families understand what children typically do at a variety of ages.
• Outcomes by age range: These age anchors can help teams describe what skills/behaviors might be expected related to the three outcomes for any given year (0-12 months, 13-24 months, 25-36 months). A coordinator may want to highlight/underline the skills as the team discusses the child’s skills and behaviors. They can then compare what they are hearing to what is expected to get an understanding of how many foundational, immediate foundational, and age-expected skills the child is demonstrating.
• Immediate Foundational Skills: This document can help teams understand the terms used for the child outcomes ratings. It describes foundational, immediate foundational, and age-expected skills and how these relate to each other.
• Discussion Prompts: These prompts can help a team have a richer discussion about the skills and behaviors that are related to the three child outcomes. It can help the team include the family in the discussion and make sure that the team is covering the full breadth of skills that are included for each outcomes.
• Consensus Building: This document provides some suggestions for helping teams that are struggling with agreeing on a rating. It gives ideas for additional questions that can be considered in order to help team members understand each other’s perspective and where there are points of agreement/disagreement.
• Documentation: This section is still under development, but it will eventually help a service coordinator determine what should be included in Cornerstone to support a team’s rating.

Teaming & Collaboration within Child Outcomes: 

Integrating Child and Family Outcomes in the IFSP Process - This one page document shows all the places within the IFSP process (starting at referral and intake) that service coordinators collect information from families that will assist in the determination of child and family outcomes.

COS – TC Quality Practices - The content is intended for those providers who have completed the COS Process Module: Collecting & Using Data to Improve Programs, as well as for trainers supporting teams in the COS process. By providers we mean professionals working with children and families in early learning and development programs to improve outcomes for young children with disabilities.

COS – TC Quality Practices Materials

The Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process requires strong team collaboration. Based upon an easy-to-use checklist, the COS Team Collaboration (COS-TC) Quality Practices materials can help those who implement, supervise, or train on the COS process promote the use of team collaboration practices.

Target audiences for the COS-TC Quality Practices materials are:

1. Providers/teams who are using the COS process to collect child outcomes data and ​​who have completed the DaSy/ECTA COS Process Module: Collecting & Using Data to Improve Programs; and
2. Trainers and other program staff who want ideas for planning and facilitating professional development on team collaboration in the COS process, and identifying program improvement opportunities

COS-TC Checklist serves as a mechanism for those who implement, supervise, or train on the COS process to identify, observe, and assess quality team collaboration practices in COS implementation

COS – TC Trainer’s Guide provides suggestions for trainers on how to support practitioners in understanding and using the Child Outcomes Summary-Team Collaboration (COS-TC) Quality Practices. It is designed for individuals who deliver training to early intervention (Part C) staff and/or early childhood special education (Part B preschool) staff involved in the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process.

Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Teaming and Collaboration Checklist includes examples of verbal and written communication skills for building team relationships needed to work together effectively and gather/convey vital information for providing services and supports for children and families.

Child Outcomes Teaming & Collaboration - Overcoming Challenges Interactive Document - developed by CFC SC Trainer Forum members to help capture challenges and suggestions/resources to consider as you help SCs overcome these challenges.

Things I'd like to share around this topic include:

Group members are encouraged to share the tools, resources and strategies they have found helpful as they prepare and support new and existing service coordinators around this topic.  To add something to this page please click edit, add your suggestions and/or follow up comments/questions, and click save.  Please remember to add your name so we know where posts are coming from if there are follow up questions over time.

Challenges we have around this topic include:

If you are seeking support with this topic please feel free to add something about the support you seek and the strategies you have already taken to overcome the challenge. Please click edit to add to this page and click save when finished.  Please also remember to add your name so we know where posts are coming from.