Event ID: 2763250 Event Started: 10/21/2015 7:00:00 PM ---------- Please stand by for realtime captions. >> It is a minute or two after the hour, so I guess we may as will get started. We won't cover too much in the first minute or two anyway so people won't miss out. Robbin, if you want to go ahead and start the recording. Thank you everybody for being here. This is a change in routine. We usually do this in the spring which is a silly time to do it. We should be doing it now. That was one of the suggestions I came out of the summit. We are listening to you and doing that. What I am going to do today is a couple of things. Really break this webinar into two pieces. One is we would like to share some information with you but then what we would like to do is just open it up and continue some of the informal discussions we have had over the past couple of times we have gotten together. Talking about the child count and share challenges. Share strategies. And help each other out in terms of how we get this thing done. We will spend not too much time going over the information. A lot of it is up on the website. At least for this first part of the webinar, go ahead and post your questions at any time. We use the chat box for the first part is that we will see how it goes and maybe we will just open it up for the second part so we can talk with each other. And maybe even see each other. I am not sure if that is possible Robbin, but there is not a huge number folks in the room so we might be able to do that. I think that covers the housekeeping. Down underneath the PowerPoint slide you see that there is a URL for a little really short survey about today. As I was, we would appreciate your feedback. I just wanted to point that out. It is also on the last slide I think but I wanted to point that out now. The first thing I want to do is reacquaint you with the child count homepage or group page. We have been fussing with it a bit and hopefully it will make it a bit easier to use and more obvious where things are. Right now, this is the top of the page. What I want to point out is a little joint group button. If you haven't already, we would really suggest that you do join the group. We won't be sending out a lot of notices, so you won't be overwhelmed by more notices coming into your inbox. But we do at times want to share information and it's usually important information, and at least you will make sure you get it that way. What I did want to share is the bottom part of the page. And right above the tools you can use. This PowerPoint will be put into a slide show so you can go back and look at it if you was although frankly there is no much on the PowerPoint. In this first section under tools you can use, we have put all the instructions and forms for 2015. And so that is where they are. We have been collecting and adding to materials related to confidentiality around HIPAA and [ Indiscernible ]. I'm not sure anybody else has gone there but I've added a little bit to a page on the Florida and Virgin Islands website that has some really nice materials around that. I have added that link. And I guess this was -- we need to talk about this. [ Indiscernible ] is in the process of developing a dear colleague letter. >> This is Robbin. Are you able to hear me all right on the phone? >> Yes. >> VeriFone is very choppy. I am going to walk down to your office and give you this phone to see if it is any better for people to be able to hear because your phone or so choppy it's really hard to understand. If people could hold on for just a moment. I am not sure why there is a phone issue today. Just a moment. Is that better? >> This is Shelby, that is much better. >> All right, sorry about that. Should I started over? Getting back to the letter that OSEP is in the process of putting together, it will be a dear colleague letter and it will cover a number of things but one of the things that will cover will be the deaf-blind child count and they request that folks in part B and part C cooperate. In conducting the child count. I think that would certainly help or authority the bed NCDB so we are waiting on that and hopefully we will get it sometime soon. But we don't have a specific date yet. But you know they are working on that. Another thing that folks asked for were instructions on how to add intervening services. To the old FileMaker Pro database. We have done that. With pictures. Step-by-step instructions. So if you click on FileMaker Pro and other data collection tools, you will find those directions. It is fairly straightforward. It gets a little more complex when you add the intervenor services to the one and four-page printouts. That some folks used to send out. Those are there. And I don't know if Robbin has any more she wants to say about that. She probably can't talk since she gave me her phone. Those are there in the tools you can use. With through those when you get a chance. The next set of items are the reports. Is from here and then the rest of the pages about how you can access your data. And our data. And there are several ways you can do that. Certainly there is the annual reports, that go back 11 years. We have that longitudinal redo. From 98 to 2005. And we are working on a companion piece and we will look at the child come over the last eight years. We have just up dated the interactive data maps on the website, so those are there to use. What I really wanted to focus on is this last thing. And if you have a specific kind of report or analysis you would like done, get in touch. That is one of the things that I'm here to do. Your colleagues have certainly asked in the past but then -- I am very happy to obliged so please feel free to contact me. And we will figure that out. Again, accessing the data, your data, a number of different ways I really encourage you to take advantage of those things and especially to get in contact with me if you do have specific types of analyses you would like run. We've got a lot of data sitting here. That we could look through. You may or may not have seen the post that the 2014 report as a draft report is up right now for review. We are running a little late this year. We got started late by pushing back the submission date. To get it out of the way of the APR. And then we have some states that and really unavoidable things happen that they just couldn't get it in until quite late. We are just running late. It is up there for review so if you get a chance go in and low. The barstool great, please get in touch with me. Always remember we are trying to make the count coincide with the December 1 special education child count so we can continue to show the huge discrepancy between background and the actual number of children with dual sensory -- >> So overall this past year there was a slight decrease in the number of kids that were reporting. Quite a few more exiting this year which we have had a bubble go through with the upper end of the age span and they are starting to exit out. And that's one reason we have had a slight decrease. Most of the past trends are continuing. Prevalence of -- syndrome continues to grow. There are over nine kids who identified as their primary etiology is charged. Surprisingly the number of kids who have a cochlear implant continues to grow. In fact, there are almost 1000 kids. More than 10% of the children on the count have a cochlear implant. Placement continues to be fairly consistent. About 60% of the children in your are in the regular classroom at least part of the day. Fairly quarter of the children and youth in the count are participating in and state assessments that are tied to regular grade level standards. We're also seeing continued growth in the number of youth graduating with a diploma. Last year we had 232. The most we have ever seen. And last year we piloted be collection of data on intervenor services. It was a pilot so very incomplete data. But we did have 400 to children and youth identified as receiving intervenor services. Which was pretty consistent with the data we collected a couple years ago through the surveys of state deaf-blind projects. That should continue to go up as more states are able to participate. >> Any questions about what is on the page or last year's report? Before we move on to the 2015 report. I am hearing some static. I am not sure where it is coming from. Robbin is typing. So onto the 2015 child count. Again, all of the instructions and forms for 2015 are available on the website. And you can get those there. As always, you can submit your data as early as you want. I think that we will probably pushback the submission date again this year to give you a little bit of breathing room around the annual performance report. So probably again mid- me. And always, if there are situations that are arriving that you know you're not going to be able to make that date, get in touch and we will work out a date that works for you and keeps us somewhat on-time in terms of getting this report prepared and out by the first of October. Know that you can always request an extension. We are pretty easy about that. Most of you know this. Sometimes we get a submission that comes in PDF or something. Is we like to have the data submitted in Excel file. We see that every year people are using different databases and the reports come out and all different kinds of ways. And often the columns don't line up with street was through 35. That is okay. Don't spend a lot of time putting them in order. We can do that. We just need to make sure that the columns are correctly titled. If you have blank cells or missing data, we can him about on our end. We typically stupid is specific variable either 999 or 2. You don't need to spend all the time entering it in. We can do it. But if you feel more comfortable doing that, go ahead. Again, you will see in the coding sheet that depending on which variable it is, if you do a 2 or a 999 that represents missing or unknown. Critical fields. Obviously we know that that data is not always complete. That is just a given. But there are some fields that are probably more important another fields. Vision and hearing loss are critical. That's why we do the deaf-blind child count. Part C, Part B and project exiting status are also very important to us. It lets us determine who should be included on the count. And that is important. We also like to have birthdays because we calculated December age. And then that helps us create other variables. And frankly intervenor services is important. OSEP is very interested in all things intervenor services and this is a big part of it. I must say that OSEP is very interested in some other things right now and that is related to access to the general curriculum and exiting school ready for the community or work or college and there are some indicators within the child count, that talk to some of those things. Part B exiting. That tell us us graduating with a diploma. Orie certificate. State assessment. Is important. And as is intervenor services. There are some other variables that are being used more broadly. To report on what is happening to the population. OSEP is very interested. Those are the variables that we really want to dead as best best we can. Again, we know that last year was a pilot. This year we would like to hopefully everybody will be able to participate. I know that there are some states that have online data collection systems, bigger systems that it's a little more challenging to have variables. But we think that with the instructions and the definition and the directions for editing FileMaker Pro that hopefully folks will be able to participate this year. One of the things that folks that that was very helpful to them last year was including the definition of intervenor services. Either as an attached page that goes out or embedding it into the form that they send out to update information. We have also put an example of a four-page form that includes the definition. I think that is in the instructions and forms link their off the page. Any questions? Now is the time to raise questions about the upcoming 2015 child count. Maurice is typing. That is a good question and that would be a question to your colleagues. I know some people use a one-page, to page and four-page. It is a mix from my understanding. If anybody -- if anybody actually uses the four-page form and you want to unmute your self and talk to Maurice about that. Go ahead. Valdez is typing, I was also going to say that at the summit last year people were talking about this. A lot of people have gone to a shorter form. They have a couple of other responses. >> This is Robbin. I am going to read those for the captioner and those that are on the phone so that they can keep up with the conversation in the chat pod. Maurice had asked we do a two-page front and back form. And asking if the four-page or have a good return rate. He said he can ask this in the census workspace. Beth Kennedy responded in Michigan we do not but I would love to see other forms. Is it possible to get those up on the NCDB site? I will let you take it from there. >> Okay. And Lynn response that we use the four-page form and organ but the only reason I get good returns is that it is returned via our state regional programs and the designated consultants follow-up with them. Deanna from Minnesota in Minnesota we use the four-page and have about a 60% return rate. I don't know if 60% is considered a good rate or not. Again, there was discussion about this at the summit last summer and I think going back and looking at the notes, I think most people are going to a shorter form. A one or two page form. And whether that has got a higher return rate, I don't know but it is certainly -- probably less daunting when it gets to a school district. And yes, we can -- if people would like to send in the forms they are using, we can put them up on the website for people to look at. Absolutely. We would encourage that. You can just -- if you would like to do that, you can probably just e-mail them to me and I will put them up. I will put them up in the -- under the tools you can use section. Guts more tapers here. We will wait and see. Kelly from South Carolina, we have good success with calling the school district special ed office and having a data person walk through updates with us by phone. Is that a problem at all? >> No. And Michael for Louie -- from Louisiana, you just commented that a simpler form would be less daunting to the school district. Are most people sending forms to schools or families? That's a good question. That would be a question for the group. Brian from California says we are sending to schools here in California. Schools in South Carolina. Arkansas sends to the local education agencies Jennifer, both. Michelle from New Jersey, schools. School districts in Mississippi. Minnesota. Oklahoma, schools first and families. When, send it to our regional programs. Only on request to families for others. Michael, it sounds like there is a bit of a mix but mostly to the local schools. We have some more folks typing. Michael replies I've run into problems with families not being aware that they are on the registry. Is that an issue in other states? Good question. It has [ Indiscernible ] implications, I would guess. Lynn, always go to the IEP team in the regional program and staff who serve these kids. One of the things that we will do is we will capture the comments in the chat pod and repost those as well. So they are a little more accessible. Toady for Mississippi. We know our family signoff so they know we're on the registry so we don't put on the registry without decimals the family is -- almost the family is not involved at all. Maurice from California, we don't require parental notification but we never contact families from census data without their permission. So we have opened things up. Is it still working to use the chat pod? I think there are maybe enough of us here in the room that it might get a little awkward with everybody on the phone out once. So maybe this isn't a good way to continue. Thank you, you don't have to make me so big. Michelle, sorry Michelle. A few years ago we began to require parental signature for eligibility forms. For the same reason. So are there other questions that folks have? Now is the time to get them on the table. Hopefully this kind of process of sharing knowledge sharing their approach is helpful. It seems to have been in the past. That was one of the goals of today so thank you very much for sharing. >> Maurice. Ken Nancy D be let us know when the dear colleague letter goes out and give us a copy so we know what SCA's are being told? Absolutely. And I am not sure exactly sure of the logistics, but the letter me -- I am not sure whether they will be sending it out directly, or they will be sending it out to us and we will share with you and you can share it. I am not sure we have work out those logistics yet Maurice, but yes, as soon as it is ready, you'll get a copy. Michelle, we'll be addressed to the SCA or part B and C and cities? I think it is going to be -- the intense one we talk through what it would -- what this letter might do is yes, it would go -- they would be addressed to the SCA bellyache, the agency and possibly others. Within the state. Maybe higher education. Think OSEP. We certainly don't have to go until 1:00 or 4:00 depending on where you are. But we will stay here as long as people still have questions. Tony is typing. Tony writes, I have two questions. One, are they referring back to the deaf by -- deaf-blind grants in the letter also? Yes, I believe they are. And secondly, regarding the new four-page form the post online. I noticed that under the definition for intervener you asked the question about the student have a one-on-one the signed instead of using the term intervener. Yes. And the reason we -- the reason the definition reads that way is that in some states, the term intervener is not used. Even though someone may have gone through intervener training. So it is a definition issue. And if we need to -- I have to go back and look at that form. I think it was to distinguish somewhat between intervener services provided by someone trade versus it would actually been called I'd intervener. That was -- that did come up in our discussions at summit. And therefore, the importance of having the fold definition of what intervener services mean. Because you are right. They do have a lot of there are a lot of one-on-one assistance that have no training and that is not an intervener. We may need to come back and look at the definition. And make sure that it still during what we needed to do. In this context of collecting data to the child count. I am going to look at that for right now. I see. I see a problem. Just come up that needs be fixed. It does need to say intervener, not one-on-one. Thank you for pointing that out. Thank you. All right, do we have any more questions? Again, as soon as we do get the dear colleague letter we will make sure that people have access to it. As well as any information about how OSEP has disseminated it. Typing again. Yes, agreed. It will serve many purposes. And it is an important statement. And we're really pleased that they're willing to do this for us. All right. Again, you see the link to the really short -- if you don't write anything you can finish it in about 30 seconds. If you write anything, it will take a bit longer but it is a really short feedback on today. I really appreciate everybody being here and sharing with each other. That is a great thing to do and these chances to do that really benefit everybody. Again, we will take the comments in the chat pod and clean him up and put them on the website as well. So you can actually read the mall. Thank you all very much. Have a great rest of your day. I will stay on a little bit longer to make sure its another question those come through. [ Event Concluded ]