FLORIDA EARLY STEPS LEARNING CENTER
Learn More About Exchanging and Summarizing Progress Information
Exchange and Summarize Progress Information
Tracking progress is important for having discussions and making decisions about the extent to which a child and family are progressing toward their outcomes and whether updates or changes to their IFSP may be needed. Collaborating with families to exchange and summarize information about progress enhances the capacity of families and caregivers so that, long term, they are equipped to track their child’s development and learning, identify how to help their child learn new skills, and identify resources and supports they or their child need. There are various ongoing and periodic ways families and providers can discuss and exchange information about child and family progress.
Ongoing Progress Tracking
Sources of information for ongoing child progress tracking include
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Caregiver and provider observations of their child's participation and use of skills during their typical routines as part of FL-EPIC
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Conversations with caregivers or others who know the child well (such as a teacher at their early learning center or a grandparent who cares for the child during the day) about the child's participation and skills during regular routines that occur in these different places
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The family's 5Q Visual Models that are used as part of FL-EPIC
A family's 5Q Visual Models can be used to review a child's progress on short-term priority skills linked to their long-term IFSP outcomes, IFSP progress indicators, and IFSP strategies and action steps. Review of completed Visual Models can provide information about skills the child is now using in their everyday routines and what skills they are still learning. During each visit, as part of FL-EPIC, providers also use SOOPR caregiver coaching practices to support caregivers in answering the How Will We Know Its Working? part of the 5Q framework. Answering this question helps caregivers and providers identify how they will know when their child is using their priority skill and observe their child's progress in an ongoing way.
Periodic Progress Tracking
At specific time points, such as during IFSP periodic reviews, teams may decide that gathering and discussing additional progress information based on updated informal or formal assessments would help guide decision-making about whether to update IFSP outcomes, progress indicators, strategy action steps, or supports and services. More information about informal and formal assessments can be found in Exchange Information about Child Skills and Participation in Routines.
Periodic completion of the COS process can also provide helpful information to track a child's progress. Teams can review and synthesize ongoing progress information, such as observations of the child's skills during routines and the family's 5Q Visual Models and any assessment information since their previous COS rating. Gathering periodic "snapshot" COS ratings can help teams identify how a child is making progress relative to their same-age peers and celebrate their new skills in each outcome area. More information about the COS process can be found in Exchange Information about Child Skills and Participation in Routines.