Review written procedures every year with appropriate school-based personnel to ensure that school teams have awareness of services that are available to families and how to obtain them. This training offers an overview of Federal and State child find requirements as well as practical suggestions to coordinate child find activities in school districts and charter schools.

• Training for School Based Personnel

• Public communications campaign suggestions-e.g., posters, pamphlets, displays, billboards, toll free-numbers, web sites, videos, TV, radio, newspaper releases, and advertisements
• Preparation of printed materials
  • Sample infographic from Head Start
  • Early Childhood - Giraffe / Primera infancia - jirafa
  • AZ Find Brochure / AZ Buscar Folleto
  • Memo for health care providers, day care centers, and community organizations

• Screening Guidance
• Sample Screening Form
• Sample Referral Tracking Form
• Referral for Early Intervention Birth to 2 Years, 10 1/2 Months

Schools annually report the percentage of children who were receiving Arizona Early Intervention Services (AzEIP) and were determined eligible for preschool special education services.  The Five Year Preschool Transition Data Chart shows the percentage of children who transitioned by the time they were three years old, a compliance requirement of the IDEA. ESS Data Management has provided guidance on data entry for Preschool Transition to reflect general instructions and the reasons for delay that are deductible or not deductible.

• Arizona's IDEA Policy and Procedures for Preschool Transitions  The primary goal of this Policies and Procedures document is to enhance outcomes for young children with disabilities who transition from IDEA Part C to Part B services by monitoring compliance with the requirements of IDEA through general supervisory authority and by providing training and technical assistance to PEAs statewide in order to enhance PEA capacity and systems.
• Frequently Asked Questions About Preschool Transition from Data Management
• The Arizona Early Intervention Program Policies and Procedures, in alignment with federal and state regulations and Department policies
• Programmatic Monitoring Alert (May 2021)

• Service Coordination- IDEA Part C requires that each infant or toddler with a disability must be provided with a service coordinator who will facilitate the development of a transition plan to preschool, school, or other services (34 CFR §303.34).
• The Local Education Agency must participate in transition planning conferences arranged by Arizona's Early Intervention Program, the Part C lead agency.
• Review of Existing Documentation Best Practices This document can be used as a checklist during transition planning to gather key Part C information for consideration during the Part B evaluation and eligibility determination process.
• Transition Conference Summary form (sample) The Transition Conference Summary helps the team to document attendance and record needed next steps prior to evaluation and IEP development.

The Early Childhood Special Education unit supports AzEIP and Public Education Agencies (PEA) through its alerts and technical assistance system to ensure that children receiving Early Intervention services have an IEP by the time they are three years old. For support, contact the C2B Inbox. 

• Find My Local AzEIP Provider
• Transition Guide for Families
• Transition Video to Share with Families

U.S. Dept of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) published the Preschool Dear Colleague Letter in 2017 to describe the least restrictive environment, placement options, data reporting, and funding requirements.

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) provides a quick overview of federal guidance regarding inclusion of children with disabilities in this one page flyer, Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs (2019)

IDEA Regulations for Least Restrictive Environment

Arizona has had increases in the number of children who are receiving their special education services in regular early childhood programs. Some of the most recent data is described within this Chart and table of preschool environments 2016-2021. Schools have increasingly made inclusive learning a focus of their efforts over the past 6 years. More children are now included in regular early childhood classrooms, defined as a classroom in which the majority of children are non-disabled. As school districts focused on expanding funding strategies, delivery of specially designed instruction, parent engagement, and administrative leadership, more children have moved into inclusive settings.

A Local District Preschool Inclusion Self-Assessment is one tool that can help schools to identify strengths and needs regarding approaches to including children with disabilities in their preschool programs. 

IEP teams can use these guiding questions during the IEP meeting to help with identifying supports, services and appropriate environments that will be beneficial for the child: Team Decisions for Preschool Special Education Services: Guiding Questions (2014) 

To improve the tools and resources offered by states to schools and by administrators to educators, elements such as research, discussion questions, and references to regulations can help prompt discussions: Determining Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Placements for Preschool Children with Disabilities: Reference Points and Discussion Prompts (2014)

ECTA’s 2018 update of the Preschool Inclusion Finance Toolkit 2018 contains more details and examples of funding requirements and strategies that promote early childhood inclusion.

ECTA's Early Childhood Programs Comparison Worksheet helps programs identify critical elements of programs offered across the state that can be included in Memorandums of Understanding. 

One approach to supporting inclusive programs and classrooms is to determine the costs of major operational components. The following tables provide a list of factors to consider as programs calculate the major costs of an individual classroom. The table may be modified to add indirect or other costs.

Braiding Funds: How Districts Can Create Inclusive Placement Opportunities for Young Children with Disabilities: This quick excerpt from the toolkit provides examples of the various ways in which districts and partners can braid funds to create inclusive placement options for young children.

Several professional organizations define the elements of high-quality preschool programs, and the State Education Agency offers services and supports to implement these practices. The National Association for Education of the Young Child references topics such as “Creating a Community of Learners”, and “Teaching to Support Children’s Development”.

The Division of Early Childhood, a professional organization for early childhood special education, describes recommended practices such as a focus on transitions, children’s interactions, and teaming and collaboration.

The Arizona Department of Education’s Early Childhood Unit published the 3rd edition of the Program Guidelines for High Quality Early Care and Education: Birth through Kindergarten, its recommended practices.

Each of these organizations provides information and support to ensure that all children have access to quality learning environments, an integral component for ensuring that children develop to their fullest capacity.

Grisham-Brown J, Pretti-Frontczak K, Hawkins SR, Winchell BN. Addressing Early Learning Standards for All Children Within Blended Preschool Classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. 2009;29(3):131-142.

Green KB, Terry NP, Gallagher PA. Progress in Language and Literacy Skills Among Children With Disabilities in Inclusive Early Reading First Classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. 2014;33(4):249-259.

Odom SL, Buysse V, Soukakou E. Inclusion for Young Children with Disabilities: A Quarter Century of Research Perspectives. Journal of Early Intervention. 2011;33(4):344-356.

Odom, S. L. Viztum, J., Wolery, R. A., Lieber, J., Sandall, S. R., Hanson, M., Beckman, P. J., Schwartz, I., & Horn, E. (2004). Preschool inclusion in the United States: A review of research from an ecological systems perspective. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 4, 17-49. 

Strain, P.S. (2017). Four-Year Follow-Up of Children in the LEAP Randomized Trial: Some Planned and Accidental Findings. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.

• Preschool children with disabilities served under the categories of Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment, Developmental Delay, Preschool Severe Delay or Speech Language Impairment enter preschool at three years old (or as early as two years 9 months if it is in the best interest of the child) and exit when the child is five years old, or earlier if the child no longer needs special education. School Finance describes age requirements and validation for funding: the minimum age to begin Kindergarten is a child who is five years old before September 1st or five years old by January 1st with board approval. 
• While it is a parent's decision whether to accept or decline the offer of a free appropriate public education, the IEP team annually develops and recommends an individualized educational plan for the child. The plan must include how children with disabilities will have meaningful access to the State's academic content starndards for the grade in which the child is or will be enrolled. IEP goals must be aligned with grade-level content starndards for all children with disabilities. OSEP DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER on Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) (November 16, 2015)
• IEP teams do not have authority to retain children with disabilties, please refer to school district board approved policies regarding retention of children in preschool.

Preparation of resources and engaging in activities to transition to Kindergarten benefits families if the activities occur throughout the year. Rich resources are available with examples of preparation actvities from Head Start and the Early Childhood Education unit.

• Head Start transition to Kindergarten 
• Administrator and teacher video describing transition practices
• Paving the Way to Kindergarten for Young Children with Disabilities
• Arizona's School Readiness Framework

• Parent Involvement Video Transition to Kindergarten
• Parent Information Network Transition to Kindergarten

A Guide to Itinerant Early Childhood Special Education Services

SY 2020

• Recorded Training Session 1 - Itinerant Model September 2020

• Recorded Training Session 2 - Itinerant Model October 2020

• Recorded Training Session 3 - Itinerant Model November 2020

• Itinerant Model Presented at the National Early Childhood Inclusion Institute (2017)
• Project Direct Consultation Resources
• Responsibilities of Itinerant ECSE Professionals
• Coaching and Teamwork
• IECSE Teacher FAQ's
• PIECES: Performance Indicators for Itinerant Ealry Childhood Education Sepcialists--Program Practices Assessment
• Practice Profile on Itinerant Model- a document that helps pracitioners make the model "teachable, doable, learnable, assessible".

Page revised 8/2/21

Learning Experiences and Alternate Programs for Preschoolers and Their Parents 

• History of LEAP 
• LEAP Preschool Model Video 1
• LEAP Preschool Model Video 2

1) Inclusion: Inclusion begins full-time from day one in LEAP Preschool classrooms. Children with ASD are provided with the necessary level(s) of prompting, classroom and curricular adaptations and modifications, and general support to participate immediately in peer-mediated social skill intervention.

2) Classroom Environment: LEAP classrooms begin with establishing a high quality setting for typically developing children. LEAP has been implemented effectively in classrooms utilizing a variety of preschool models and curricula including, the Creative Curriculum for Preschool – 4th Edition (Dodge, Colker & Heroman, 2002), High Scope and Head Start programs. Systematic intervention is embedded throughout typical preschool routines (e.g., circle time, free play/centers, snack, small groups, etc) with the aim of offering hundreds of meaningful, socially relevant learning opportunities every day.

3) Peer-Mediated Intervention: Typically developing children play a major intervention role in LEAP. The typically developing children are provided with comprehensive social skills training such that they can facilitate the social and communicative behaviors of peers with ASD. This systematic, peer-mediated instruction has been shown to produce a day-one intervention effect for the children with ASD (Strain & Schwartz, 2009).

4) Data and Data-based Decision Making: Learning objectives are written such that teaching continues until generalized behavior change is achieved. Learning objectives are further described according to relevant prompting hierarchies. Program data are collected on children’s behavioral movement towards the rigorous standard of independent, generalized performance, not in terms of percent correct, trials accomplished or similar indices. Data are reviewed daily and strict decision-making rules demand intervention changes in the absence of clear behavior change.

5) Program Intensity: Intensity in the LEAP model is not defined by hours per week that individuals are paid to deliver service. We believe that the algorithm defining intensity is complex and includes, for each developmental domain of concern, the following factors:

• number of meaningful opportunities to respond;
• the functionality of objectives chosen;
• the selection of an instructional method that maximizes children’s engagement and minimizes errors;
• the competence of staff to deliver with fidelity the chosen intervention; and
• the use of data systems and decision-making rules that minimize children’s exposure to less-than-optimal interventions.

6) Use of Evidence-based Strategies: LEAP is unique in that we utilize a variety of science-based intervention approaches, including:

• peer-mediated interventions;
• errorless learning (prompting);
• time-delay;
• incidental teaching (naturalistic teaching);
• pivotal response training;
• picture exchange communication system (PECS) (Frost & Bondy, 1994); and
• positive behavior support.

We believe the enormous heterogeneity of ASD precludes the use of one or a few instructional approaches.

7) Parent Skill Training: Skill training for families focuses on providing adult family members with the behavioral teaching strategies sufficient for them to experience less stress and more pleasure in daily routines such as meals, bedtime, dressing, and community outings. All LEAP sites develop a method for sharing information on key behavioral strategies with parents or care-givers.  Programs generally use one, or a combination of, the following strategies to share information, a) group parent training meetings, b) in-home visitation by program personnel, c) self-study modules with teacher follow-up.

• Four-Year Follow-Up of Children in the LEAP Randomized Trial: Some Planned and Accidental Findings
• The LEAP Preschool Model: Pre-Planned, Targeted Strategies for Active Meaningful Engagement