IFSP Quality

• The individualized family service plan is the backbone of early intervention services delivered under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
• Studies have shown that IFSPs are often child instead of family centered, with nonfunctional outcomes, and a pile-on of disjointed services.
• Key practices for developing high-quality IFSPs are
  • Conducting an ecomap
  • Conducting a Routines-Based Interview
  • Integrating various sources of child assessment
  • Developing functional outcomes
  • Making thoughtful service decisions
    

Research

• U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences. “TEIDS Plus: Integrating quality assurance and data-based decision making to enhance IFSP quality, implementation, and child and family outcomes” (4 years).
  • Robin McWilliam, Siskin Children’s Institute, PI
  • Pat Snyder, University of Florida, Co-PI
  • Robyn Ridgley, Middle Tennessee State University, Investigator
  • Jacque Davis, Vanderbilt University, Project Coordinator
  • This study is being conducted in Tennessee, using the Tennessee Early Intervention Data System
    • Jamie Kilpatrick, Tennessee Department of Education
    • Jill Richardson, Tennessee Part C Training Director
• McWilliam, R. A., Ferguson, A., Harbin, G. L., Porter, P., Munn, D., & Vandiviere, P. (1998). The family-centeredness of individualized family service plans. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18, 69-82.
• Buysse, V., Bernier, K. Y., & McWilliam, R. A. (2002). A statewide profile of early intervention services using the Part C data system. Journal of Early Intervention, 25, 15-26.
• Jung, L. A., & McWilliam, R. A. (2005). Reliability and validity of scores on the IFSP Rating Scale. Journal of Early Intervention, 27, 125-136.
• McWilliam, R. A. (2005). Assessing the resource needs of families in the context of early intervention. In M. J. Guralnick (Ed.), A developmental systems approach to early intervention (pp. 215-234). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Consultation, Training, and Technical Assistance Opportunities

CTTA is available on IFSP development.

Future Directions

• The TEIDS-Plus study will be concluded in 2011, at which time the next steps in studying the use of learning objects on an early intervention data system will be determined.
• Studies on the following specific practices within the IFSP development process need to be conducted:
  • Ecomaps
  • RBI
  • Incremental service decision making
  • Functional outcomes