The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development requires that the district report on the progress of special education children, measured by three Early Childhood Indicators. This is reported on the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF). The following areas need to be reported: Positive Socio-Emotional Skills, Acquiring and Using Knowledge and Skills, (includes language and pre – literacy), Taking Appropriate Action to Meet Needs (e.g. Self – Help).
- Entrance performance is completed when any child, under 5½, first enters a special education program with an IEP
- Exit performance is reported when a child exits special education, or turns 6, whichever occurs first
It is the case manager’s responsibility to administer formal assessments and complete this data entry. Formal assessments that can be used can be found here.
When a child is entering preschool from an Infant Learning Program (ILP), the exit data reported by ILP can be used as the entrance data for preschool. If a child transfers into the district from another district in Alaska, you may use the entrance data from the sending district for your entrance data. If child enters our district from out of state, you may use entrance data received from the sending state if it aligns with our requirements. Otherwise, you may need to retest or review evaluation documentation for entrance data. If a child enters preschool through child find, you will be responsible to test for entrance data within thirty (30) school days of program entry.
Exit data is collected either when the student is no longer eligible for special education or just prior to the student turning 6. The exit COSF will most often be completed by the kindergarten case manager.