COSF/Indicator 7

1. Which students require COSF data?

Students who begin receiving EC preschool services are required to have an entry COSF at or near entry into the program. It must be completed within 60 calendar days of entry.
Students who complete or leave the EC preschool after receiving at least six months of service are required to have an exit COSF. At the end of each school year, outcome data will be collected on students who have exited within the past year. The outcome data is used for Indicator 7.

2. I need to move a student from grade PK to grade K, but I get a message saying "The student requires COSF data." Now what do I do?

The following answer applies to the school year 2009-2010 only.
If the student was counted in your Indicator 7 submission in August 2009, just click the OK button and click Save again to complete the grade change.
If the student was not counted in your Indicator 7 submission in August 2009, and the student received at least 6 months of service in the EC Preschool program, you need to be sure the entry and exit COSF data are entered for the student before changing the grade. You cannot enter COSF data for a student with a grade other than PK.

3. I am confused by the message I get when I try to exit a PK student: "This student is required to have a verified Exit COSF. Please enter Exit COSF data." When a student is moving, is an Exit COSF or Interim COSF required?

The message is displayed any time you click the Exit button and indicate that the student has received services for at least 6 months. At this point in the process, CECAS doesn't "know" the reason for the Exit, so you will always see this same message. You have to make a judgment about whether the Exit COSF is actually required in each situation.
For example, if the student has moved out of state, died, or had Parental Consent revoked the Exit COSF would be required. If the student has moved to another LEA, we recommend entering an Interim COSF, just in case the student never enrolls in the new LEA. In that case, you could change the Interim COSF to an Exit COSF at Indicator 7 Count time.

4. What is the PK Services Completion Date on the Exit COSF? Is it the Last Day of PK say 6/10, or the first day of Kindergarten, 8/25, or is it the day that the Exit COSF is being completed?

The PK Services Completion Date usually is the last day the child received PK services (in a classroom, at the Service Provider location, etc.). The date the form is completed should be close to the day the services are completed.

Caution: The PK Services Completion Date determines which Indicator 7 Count Period applies to the record. The count occurs in August and covers the previous school year. Do not enter a date from a previous school year after the count for that year has been closed. For example, if you discover in September that a child will not return to services, do not enter a date from the previous June, because the count that applies to that date has been completed. If it is determined that the student will not receive EC PK services from any North Carolina public school system, use July 1 as the PK Services Completion Date.

5. Why would I copy a COSF from another LEA?

The copying function is available to provide you with flexibility when a student moves from one LEA to another. If the student moves to a new LEA with an unverified COSF, the new LEA would need to copy it in order to verify it.

1. From the COSF List screen, click the Copy link.
2. Open COSF record and click the Save button.
3. Click the Verify button.

6. For Indicator 7 child count, will the Entitlement checkbox work the same as for a December child count, that is, if I unselect the Entitlement checkbox, will it keep the record from pulling into the count?

Yes. Please do not use this feature to delete any students from your Indicator 7 count, even if there are compliance issues with the record. We are required to report progress for ALL preschool students who attend our programs for 6 months or more.

7. How are we to do a COSF for a PK student who was exited from the program since July 1, 2009 or that moved since July 1 but before the COSF module was available in CECAS?

If the student has not been picked up by another LEA, please pull the record back in as of the exit date and enter the data, then re-exit. If the student has been picked up by another LEA, please send the new LEA the COSF information to enter into the record.

8. How do I change a verified Exit COSF from another LEA to an Interim COSF when the child moves into my LEA and continues in the Preschool program?

In COSF List screen click the Show All button. All the COSFs created in the previous LEA are displayed. Click the Date link of the Exit COSF. Only the Purpose becomes editable and Save button will be visible. Change the Purpose to "Interim" and click Save. The screen is refreshed and all the fields, including the Purpose, are locked. The Cancel button will be visible to navigate back to the COSF list screen. The user can now see the New button to create COSFs as needed in the new LEA.