ECO Resources: Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF)

Background

Documents on these pages provide the ECO Center's current thinking on the use of the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF). The COSF is a draft and may still undergo revisions based on feedback from the field. Updated versions of the COSF will be released as they are developed. We do not expect the COSF to change radically, although we want states to understand that the COSF is under development and much more research is needed on its use. All versions of the Summary Form will be dated. Continue to check the ECO web site for revisions. For PowerPoint or Word versions of any of the resources, please email a request to staff@the-eco-center.org.

For COSF training materials, please see ECO professional development resources and state-developed COSF materials.

COSF Validation Study

The ECO Center is currently funded by the Institute of Education Sciences to conduct a series of validation studies on the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF). The 4-year project started on July 1, 2009. This project will carry out five studies to examine and increase the validity of data from the COSF process. We will be recruiting states that are using the COSF to participate in the study. Please check back for more information about this project, or email staff@the-eco-center.org.

Child Outcomes Summary Form Data Community of Practice

The ECO Center has also formed a Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) Data Community of Practice as a way for interested individuals to share data experiences using the COSF. The group has focused on issues of analysis and interpretation of COSF child outcomes data. The group meets via conference call several times a year and in person, when possible, at national meetings. State Part C and Section 619 staff are invited to participate; to join please let us know at staff@the-eco-center.org . Other interested individuals should contact their Part C coordinator or Section 619 coordinator to request permission to participate.

Child Outcomes Summary Form Training Consortium

The training consortium links states and providers who are using the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF). The group meets several times a year on COSF training topics of common interest. If you are interested in joining the Training Consortium or finding out more, contact us at staff@the-eco-center.org. You may also contact Robin Rooney directly at robin_rooney@unc.edu.

COSF and Instructions

Overview and Instructions

In this overview, frequently asked questions and answers illustrate the ECO Center's current thinking on the use of the Child Outcomes Summary Form.

The following paper provides instructions on how to use the Child Outcomes Summary Form including: basic directions for filling out the form, definitions of the outcomes ratings, and scoring methods and considerations.

The following document provides definitions for each of the 7 ratings on one page.  COSF teams may wish to use the one-pager as a reference during rating discussions.  The definitions were updated in May 2009, with input from the COSF Training Consortium.  The definitions are also available in the Instructions on the Use of the COSF, as described above. 

The decision tree was created as a tool for training in the use of the COSF. The tree is a series of questions about the extent to which a child exhibits age-appropriate skills and behaviors in each outcome area. Responses guide the user to a specific rating category on the 7-point scale. The decision tree was updated in May 2009 based on input from the COSF Training Consortium.

Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF)

The Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF), below, affords a means by which providers can summarize information collected from multiple sources to address the three outcomes.  The COSF’s 7-point rating scale is used to determine the extent to which a child's functioning on each outcome is appropriate given his or her age, and whether that child made progress toward age appropriate behavior. The COSF is intended for local, state, and federal data collection, reporting, and program improvement.

Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) with Supporting Evidence Boxes

ECO developed the following version, the COSF with Supporting Evidence Boxes, based on feedback from COSF users who needed additional guidance for documenting the COSF rating.  Instructions for using this version of the COSF can be found below.   Please see Guidance for using the COSF with Supporting Evidence Boxes.

Given the importance of documenting the COSF rating for quality assurance purposes, this document guides the user in writing specific examples of functioning, depending upon the rating given, in the COSF with Supporting Evidence Boxes.



For COSF training materials, please see ECO professional development resources and state-developed COSF materials.

Calculating Progress

How Data from the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) Can Be Used to Address the OSEP Reporting Requirement

This document explains how the information produced from the Child Outcomes Summary Form (COSF) can be used to classify a child into one of the 5 reporting categories that make up the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) reporting requirement on child outcomes.

Getting from COSF Ratings to the OSEP Reporting Categories:  COSF Calculators
  • Tutor Version - The Excel file below was designed to show what OSEP reporting categories are generated from all possible combinations of COSF ratings at entry and exit.  Open the file and be sure you are in the worksheet labeled "Tutor." Follow the instructions to see how a combination of COSF ratings leads to one of the 5 OSEP reporting categories.  The tutor allows you to experiment with various combinations of outcomes ratings and progress question answers to see what OSEP category each combination produces. 
  • Analytic Version for 150+ cases - The Excel file below can be used (or adapted for use by someone who knows excel) with large data sets of COSF ratings to generate OSEP data for child outcomes (i.e., the data that must be submitted to OSEP every February). Open the file and be sure you are in the worksheet labeled "Data." Please note that fictitious data for three cases have been posted in this version just to serve as exemplars of the kind of data that may be entered into this file. Prior to entering actual data, please be sure to delete the rows with the fictitious data to avoid that information becoming part of your data set. Follow the instructions and enter your data in the different cells. Once you enter all of your data, go to the tab labeled "OSEP Category Totals" and you will find percentages calculated for the different OSEP reporting categories under outcomes 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

    To add additional rows to the data set, please follow these steps: 1) A Security Warning Box will pop up when you open the file. Click on the "Enable Macros" button in that box. 2) Enter data in cell B 21. 3) Keeping the cursor/tab in cell B21, press *Ctr-R*. A row will be added above this cell with all macros enabled such that you can enter data. Once you enter the data, the OSEP progress categories will be calculated automatically for all 3 outcomes.

    • ***Please send comments or feedback to staff@the-eco-center.org .***

Getting from COSF Ratings to the OSEP Reporting Categories: COSF to OSEP Summary Tables

The following document contains 3 tables. The first two tables show the OSEP reporting category generated from all possible combinations of COSF ratings at entry and exit. The third table presents combinations of entrance and exit ratings that are impossible and provides explanations for why.

Professional Development

The ECO Center has a number of training materials available related to the Child Outcomes Summary Form. Most can be found on our Professional Development page, where you will find information about preparing for training, conducting a pre-training needs assessment, and a sample training agenda.

Other sections of the professional development page include:

  • General topics. These include "Why collect outcomes data?", "Understanding the Three Child Outcomes", and "Assessing the Three Child Outcomes".
  • COSF Topics. Sessions include "Practice Using the COSF", "Involving Families in the COSF Process", "Quality Assurance", and others.
  • Training Activities. Materials and instructions are provided for small- and whole-group activites related to using the COSF. Materials include video and written case examples; topics include calculating OSEP Progress categories, COSF team discussion demonstation, and review of family participation.

Elsewhere on our website, the ECO Center has a number of State-developed COSF materials that are available as a resource for others to adapt and use.