The Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process is a team process for summarizing information on a child’s functioning in each of the three child outcome areas using a 7-point scale. With the COS process, a team of individuals who are familiar with a child (including parents) consider multiple sources of information about his/her functioning, including observation and results from other assessments. Additionally, the COS process allows early intervention and early childhood special education programs to synthesize information about children across different assessment tools to produce data that can be summarized across programs in the state, as well as across states for a national picture.

Does your state use the COS process to collect child outcomes data? If so, then you know that both new and experienced practitioners can benefit from participating in high-quality professional development (PD) activities. You’ll want to join us Wednesday morning to learn about the national resources that are available to support training and TA on the COS process, and learn how they can be embedded into various PD opportunities, such as webinars and face-to-face trainings. You will also hear from state PD/TA staff about their experiences with implementing various aspects of comprehensive COS training programs, including supporting practitioners with strengthening skills around typical development, and assessing practitioner competency of the knowledge and skills needed to accurately determine COS ratings through a team process. If you’re in need of ideas to build or enhance your COS process training program, you won’t want to miss this session!

Guidance for Implementing Effective Training and TA on the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) Process
Wed., Aug. 15, 8:30-10:00 a.m. in Salon 3