1. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
    2. ?
    3. CHARLIE CRIST
    4. Commissioner
    5. Background Information
      1. _
        1. Children To Be Screened

 
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
  
CHARLIE CRIST
Commissioner
September 20, 2002
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum and Instruction
FROM:
Shan Goff, Chief, Bureau of Instructional Support and Community Services
Thomas Fisher, Administrator, Assessment and Evaluation
SUBJECT:
Technical Assistance Related to the School Readiness Uniform Screening
System (SRUSS)
The purpose of this Technical Assistance Paper is to respond to questions related to the School
Readiness Uniform Screening System (SRUSS). This document is the second technical
assistance paper developed by the Department to address issues identified by school districts
during the information and training meetings sponsored by the Department during the months of
May, June, and July 2002. The intent of this technical assistance paper is to provide guidance
regarding questions that more specifically relate to implementation and administration of the
screening instruments. Some of the content of this paper is derived from the “School Readiness
Uniform Screening System Administration Manual” provided to district coordinators of
assessment on July 22, 2002, and currently available at http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/.
For additional information, please contact Victoria Wagner at 850/488-8198 (E-mail to
Victoria.Wagner@fldoe.org) or Cathy Bishop at 850/488-1106 (E-mail to
Cathy.Bishop@fldoe.org).
Enclosure
cc: District Coordinators of Assessment
District Administrators, Student Services
District Administrators, Exceptional Student Education
District ESOL Coordinators
District Contacts, School Readiness
Katherine Kamiya, Director, Readiness Partnership Board

 
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FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DIVISION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PAPER RELATED TO THE SCHOOL READINESS UNIFORM
SCREENING SYSTEM
Background Information
1.
Does the School Readiness Uniform Screening System (SRUSS) replace the
former “School Readiness Checklist.”
Yes. Districts no longer have to complete the “School Readiness Checklist.”
2.
Will districts continue to complete the data element in the automated student
information system entitled “Kindergarten Readiness”?
In prior years, school districts responded with a “Y” or “N” code for the data element entitled
“Kindergarten Readiness” to reflect whether the student was evaluated and determined
“ready” or “not ready” for kindergarten. This information was transmitted as part of the state
report. Effective with the 2002-2003 school year, the use of this element for reporting to the
state has been discontinued. However, this data element will remain available to the
districts for local accountability purposes. Districts may wish to use the element for internal
district purposes, upon receipt of the screening results from the Department of Education.
District staff members who participated in the annual meeting for MIS Directors and the
SRUSS training meetings were informed of the intent to add a new data element for the
2002-2003 school year that would capture kindergarten screening participation. We have
determined that this data element is not necessary, and, therefore, it will not be established
as originally proposed.
3.
Have revisions been made to the data element entitled “Program Participation
Prior to Kindergarten?”
Yes. Given the changes in school readiness programs based on implementation of Section
411.01, Florida Statutes, definitions of the programs in which a student participated in the
year prior to kindergarten entry have changed. The primary change is the addition of a code
for “Readiness Program Operated by Local Coalition” that now includes the programs
formerly known as Subsidized Child Care and Prekindergarten Early Intervention.
District MIS staff have been informed of the changes to data elements as described above
through the transmittal of Bulletin 02-004 on September 4, 2002.

 
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4.
Are districts still required to screen all kindergarten students for language,
articulation, fluency, and voice disorders?
No. In anticipation of the implementation of SRUSS, this requirement was removed from
Rule 6A-6.03012(3), Florida Administrative Code (FAC).
5.
Would the SRUSS meet the requirements that relate to conducting a
speech/language screening as part of the prereferral process prior to evaluation
of a student to determine eligibility for Exceptional Student Education?
No. The SRUSS is not an adequate screening for this purpose.
Children To Be Screened
6.
Should children who are limited English proficient participate in the SRUSS
screening?
In general, all children entering a public school kindergarten for the first time within the first
21 calendar days of school must be screened using both screening instruments. To provide
additional time so each child may adjust to his or her new educational setting, the
administration of the Early Screening Inventory-Kindergarten (ESI-K) to limited English
proficient students should be conducted as close as possible to the conclusion of the
SRUSS 45 calendar day administration timeline. The administration of the ESI-K should be
postponed until after the administration of the English language aural/oral proficiency test for
children who have answered “Yes” in response to any of the questions posed in the Home
Language Survey. This postponement, however, is not intended to extend the 45 calendar
day timeline for the administration of the SRUSS.
If students have been determined to be limited English proficient and do not enter on the
first day of school, there is a possibility that by the time the English language aural/oral
proficiency test is administered, the 45 calendar day timeline for the SRUSS will have
passed. In this circumstance, the ESI-K would not be conducted for the purpose of meeting
the SRUSS requirements. However, these children may be screened at a later time for the
purpose of providing additional information regarding their instructional needs.
When using either behavioral observational tool with a child who is not proficient in English,
sensitivity to the child’s cultural and linguistic diversity is vital to ensure that appropriate
observations and assessment of the child’s behavior are conducted.
7.
What types of accommodations should be considered for children who are limited
English proficient?
The ESI-K should be administered by an examiner who is bilingual and who can present the
tasks in the child’s home language. When administering the ESI-K, an alternate setting that
is quieter than the regular classroom should be considered.

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8.
Should a child who has been identified as a child with a disability be screened?
What type of accommodations should be considered?
Again, in general, all children entering public school kindergarten for the first time within the
first 21 calendar days of school must be screened using both screening instruments.
However, the ESI-K screening instrument may not be appropriate for some children with a
disability, including those children who are blind or have low vision, children who are deaf or
hard of hearing, or those children with significant cognitive deficits or physical impairments.
In these circumstances, the behavioral screener should be administered since it is a tool
that is based on the teacher’s observation of the child in the context of ongoing classroom
activities.
If use of the ESI-K is inappropriate for a child with a disability, the “non-participation field” on
the ESI-K scan sheet should be marked “other” and submitted.
When administering the ESI-K, an alternate setting that is quieter than the regular classroom
should be considered.
9.
Will kindergarten children who are receiving an “Opportunity Scholarship”
participate in the SRUSS program?
No. Since these children will not be enrolling in public kindergarten, they will not be included
in the SRUSS program. Some private schools implement screening activities as a part of
their routine procedures for entering students. Opportunity scholarship students may be
included in such activities.
Examiners
10. Who may administer the screening instruments?
The screenings should be administered by individuals who have received appropriate
training in the administration of the screening instruments provided by the district.
For the ESI-K, it is most desirable that the child’s kindergarten teacher administer the
screening. This will provide an opportunity for the teacher to have direct knowledge of the
child’s performance. Having this information will benefit the instructional planning that the
teacher conducts. Since this may not be possible in all circumstances, other school district
personnel who could serve as examiners include, but are not limited to, guidance
counselors, members of school diagnostic teams, and instructional paraprofessionals.
Since both behavioral screening instruments are based on observations of the child within
the context of the daily classroom routine, the kindergarten teacher is the most appropriate
examiner.

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11. What strategies are districts using to facilitate administration of the ESI-K by the
kindergarten teacher.
School district administrators and principals may wish to consider the following strategies to
facilitate the opportunity for kindergarten teachers to administer the ESI-K for the children in
their classrooms.
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When classroom instructional aides are available, the aide supervises the class while
the teacher administers the ESI-K to an individual child in a quiet place away from
the classroom activity. The teacher intentionally schedules two to three blocks of
time each day for a two-to three-week period to use for the purpose of conducting
the screening.
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Other school instructional staff members (e.g. art, music, physical education
teachers) are scheduled to come into the kindergarten classroom for a special
project or activity. The kindergarten teacher uses this time to administer the ESI-K.
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A substitute teacher is hired to “float” among kindergarten classes, supervising the
class while the kindergarten teacher schedules blocks of time to be used to screen
individual children.
Screening Results
12. If a child refuses several tasks on the ESI-K and the screening is discontinued,
should the scannable answer sheet be submitted?
Yes. The answer sheet should be submitted with the tasks refused marked under the “R”
column on the answer sheet.
13. What action should be taken if the result of the ESI-K screening is “rescreen?”
“Rescreen” indicates that there may be other factors that influenced the child’s performance
during the screening. The publisher’s manual recommends that the child be rescreened a
second time within eight to ten weeks. However, the results of the second screening
would
not
be submitted as part of SRUSS. Teachers should consider this result as an opportunity
for the teacher to further monitor the child’s performance and determine any specific
instructional needs.
14. What action should be taken if the result of the ESI-K screening is “refer?”
“Refer” means that a child’s performance during the screening did not demonstrate age
appropriate development. This should alert the kindergarten teacher to consider
implementing strategies to bridge the developmental gap for the child.
If a child’s score on the ESI-K was in the “Refer” category
AND
administration of the
behavioral screening instrument identified significant concerns for the child, an academic
improvement plan and/or administration of one of the reading diagnostic program
instruments may be appropriate strategies for consideration.

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15. Which student identifying number should be used on the demographic side of the
scannable documents?
Either the student’s social security number or the Florida student number identifier is
acceptable. If the nine digit Social Security number is used, an “X” should be gridded in the
final column. The Florida student number identifier is the district assigned number.
Questions regarding the Florida student number should be referred to the district
assessment coordinator.

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