OSWEGO COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
DENNIS P. NORFLEET, M.D.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH
70 BUNNER STREET, OSWEGO, NY 13126
PHONE 315.349.3545  FAX 315.349.3435
Oswego County
Guide for Determining Eligibility for Children with Behavioral Concerns
This guide was developed by a sub group of the Oswego County Preschool Workgroup. The sub
group consisted of Carlo Cuccaro, Fulton School Psychologist, Amy DiVita, Oswego Director of Special
Programs, Laura Jenkins, OT and Clinical supervisor for Little Lukes, Janet McKnight, Preschool Special
Education teacher for Oswego County BOCES, Diane Nethercott, Head Start, Margaret Smith,
Psychologist for Oswego County BOCES, Kathy Pitcher, Municipal Representative and Tammy Thompson,
Director of Programs for Children with Special Needs. The group represented those with many years of
working within the preschool setting as well as school age setting and is representative of direct line
staff, school psychologists and administrators. This guide was developed to help create some
consistency among the nine school districts in Oswego County and give CPSE’s concrete information that
will help the committee in making a determination about a child’s eligibility when behavioral concerns
are the only component that appears to be of concern related to preschool special education.
The evaluation of challenging behaviors in young children can be particularly daunting. The group
of professionals gathered together for the current workgroup believes that the assessment of behavior
in preschool children should be valid, reliable, and connected to interventions. The technical adequacy
of early childhood measures is highly variable. It is the ethical responsibility of all assessors to ensure
that the measures they administered have demonstrated validity for the purposes for which they are
used. Given the problem-driven nature of many assessments, and the frustration often experienced by
parents and/or teachers before referring a child, it may take a concerted effort on the part of assessors
to identify areas of strength. Assessment across developmental areas (e.g., communication,
interpersonal relationships), strategic interviewing to identify areas of emerging knowledge, and asking
parents and teachers/caregivers about the child’s strengths are ways of ensuring that a more complete
picture of the child is obtained.
When behavior is a significant concern, the following factors need to be considered:
 To the greatest extent possible, a thorough observation is strongly recommended. If the
child is in a preschool, daycare or other organized setting for any period of the day,
observations in these settings are ideal. If the child is at home, it is still important to do
an observation outside of the testing situation. If the referral concern includes
behavior, firsthand observation of the child’s behavior, while understandably difficult
due to time and constraints, is very desirable. Please report both on the behaviors
observed by the evaluator as well as those reported by the teacher and/or parents.
Multiple sources of behavioral data are crucial.
 Use of standardized behavioral assessments is strongly encouraged. Examples include,
but are not limited to:
 Vineland Adaptive Behaviors Scale -2 (the maladaptive scales) (2005)
 Behavior Assessment System for Children-2nd Edition (Teacher and Parent version)
(2004)
 Social Skills Improvement System (2008)
 Vineland SEEC
 Psychological evaluation should include a parent /teacher interview that addresses the
behaviors including:
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An observable measurable definition of the concerning behavior (s)
The duration of the behavior
The intensity of the behavior
The frequency of the behavior
Possible causes/triggers of the behavior
You may find it helpful to use one or both of the tools (Family FBA interview form and
Teacher FBA interview form) attached to this document to guide in guiding your
questions to parents and teachers. Please keep in mind, these are not required, only a
suggestion in helping you frame your questions as you are evaluating a child.
 An evaluation should include the educational impact of the behaviors on the child’s
readiness skills that may include:
_____ Paying attention for short periods to adult directed activities
_____ Beginning to share with others
_____ Listening to stories without interrupting
Recommended assessments to measure a child’s readiness skills include, but are not
limited to:
BSRA (Bracken School Readiness Assessment) (2002)
DAYC (Developmental Assessment of Young Children) (1998)
Boehm Test of Basic Concepts – 3 (2001)
The most current edition of these tests must be used.