The Child Outcomes Summary Competency Check (COS-CC)

Amy Nicholas, Naomi Younggren, Siobhan Colgan & Kathi Gillaspy

2013 Improving Data, Improving Outcomes Conference

Getting to Know You

2Early Childhood Outcomes Center

What is the COS-CC?

A set of materials to assess staff understanding of the essential knowledge and skills needed to contribute to the COS process.

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 3

Purpose of the COS-CC

• To provide states with a mechanism to verify that staff have basic competencies

• To identify professional development needs

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 4

The COS Competency Check

• The COS-CC is not a training tool. – It is expected that staff

using the COS-CC would have attended training on the basic competencies prior to using the assessments.

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 5

The Development Process

• Responding to needs in the field• Workgroup process with ECO staff, state

and national experts for content validity• Release in early 2014

6Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Essential Knowledge and Skills

Includes:• General COS process information• Content of the three child outcomes• The 7-point rating scale• Age-expected child development

7Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Essential Knowledge and Skills

Does not include:• Observation of children’s skills and

behaviors• Collaborative teaming

These are essential to the COS process, but are difficult to assess.

8Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Passing the COS-CC

• Passing the COS-CC doesn’t make you an expert – it only verifies that you have the basic competencies needed to contribute to the COS discussions.

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 9

Organization of the COS-CC Package

• Two levels of information (Levels 1 & 2)– Banks of questions and answers (both levels)– Case studies and videos (level 2)

• Level 1 must be passed before moving on to Level 2.

• Instructions will be included, with options for customizing the materials for your state.

10Early Childhood Outcomes Center

COS-CCLevel 1

11Early Childhood Outcomes Center

• Over 100 multiple choice and true/false questions about:– The COS process;– The three child outcomes; and – The 7-point rating scale.

• Answer key

Administering Level 1 Questions

• 20 items for Level 1 should be chosen accordingly:– 5 questions about the COS process– 5 questions about the three child outcomes– 10 questions about the 7-point rating scale

• When selecting the questions, select questions that represent a range of content (i.e. all three outcomes, all 7 points on the rating scale).

12Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Competency Self-Check!

13Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Source: Google Image

Sample Level 1 Questions

Proceeding to Level 2

• Criteria for “passing” Level 1 are being developed.

• Considerations include:– Cut score needed to “pass” and proceed to Level 2– Providing additional opportunities to complete Level 1

items after engaging in professional development– Conducting an error analysis of the questions that

were answered incorrectly

14Early Childhood Outcomes Center

COS-CC Level 2

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 15

Include Video clips Write-ups Competency questions Rating Key (AE-IF-F) Scoring guidance (under

development)

Case StudiesPracticalHands-onAuthentic

Case Studies

• Three Early Intervention– 4, 19, and 31 months

• Three Early Childhood Special Education– 3, 4, and almost 5 years old

16Early Childhood Outcomes Center

SampleMeeting Euriah

• Video clip• Write-up• Competency Questions• Rating Key

17Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Video Clip

18Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Write-up

• Referral information• Intake (EI) / Observation (ECSE)• Birth/medical history• Evaluation (5 domains & test results)• Present levels by 3 outcomes

19Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 20

Write-up

COS-CC Level 2Competency Questions

• Outcome content– Which of the following is not a skill associated

with Outcome 1 for Euriah?• Age anchoring

– For each of the following, identify if the skill is age-expected, immediate foundational, or foundational.

• Rating– What rating should the team assign Euriah for

Outcome 1?21Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Rating Key

• Skills from– Evaluation, video, & present levels

• Organized by– Age-expected (AE)– Immediate foundational (IF)– Foundational (F)

• Rating given by number (1-7)

22Early Childhood Outcomes Center

23Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Rating Key

Terms of Use

• No changes or adaptations may be made to the case studies or videos

• Adaptations to questions for state terminology or procedures only

• Online use encouraged – without posting answers

24Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Terms of Use

• Materials available from the ECO/ECTA Center upon request

• Support available to help determine how to use materials within a state

• Acknowledgement of acceptance of terms prior to use

25Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Implementation

• Plan to have those who use the materials first participate in a learning community to share challenges and successes for implementation

• Will develop mechanisms for gathering feedback from state staff and providers completing the COS-CC

26Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Options for States to Disseminate COS-CC Materials

• Paper/pencil administration– Provide downloadable “forms” of the CC on a

secured website or distribute via email• Create an online assessment

– Examples of free options:• ClassMarker (http://www.classmarker.com) • ProProfs (http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school) • QuizStar (http://quizstar.4teachers.org)

27Early Childhood Outcomes Center

What do you think?

• What excites you about this?• What are you concerned about? • What supports and resources

will states need from ECO/ECTA in order to use the COS-CC effectively?

• How might we best use a learning community to support implementation of this product?

Early Childhood Outcomes Center 28

Need answers?

Kathi Gillaspy: kathi.gillaspy@unc.edu

Siobhan Colgan: siobhan.colgan@unc.edu

Amy Nicholas: anicholas@jhu.edu

Naomi Younggren: naomi.younggren@googlemail.com

29Early Childhood Outcomes Center