Inclusive Options for Early Intervention in California

In 2021, we reported that universal pre-K would be available in California. Now that transitional kindergarten (TK) is fully rolled out, it’s a good time to survey the new landscape and share what is available for early intervention from birth to age five for children with disabilities.

For insights into how to access inclusive early intervention, including the options available for California families (birth to age five), and some of the common sticking points that families face, we talked to Scott Turner, EdD, the executive director of the East San Gabriel Valley SELPA and lead technical assistance for the California Early Childhood Special Education Network (CalECSE). He also serves on the executive committee for SELPA Administrators of California. We also spoke to Heather Snipes, program support specialist at Supporting Innovative Practices (SIP) in the El Dorado County Office of Education (SIP is housed out of El Dorado and Riverside County offices).

Children with disabilities qualify for special education services under federal legislation: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Part C of IDEA applies to infants and toddlers. In California, DDS is the lead agency responsible for providing Part C. It is mostly provided through Regional Centers and through SELPAs for children with low-incidence disabilities (such as children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, are blind or have low vision, or have an orthopedic impairment).

Part B of IDEA comes in two sections: Section 619 for preschoolers ages 3–5 and Section 611 for children ages 6–22. Part B is implemented through your local school district and overseen by CDE.

These federal and state partners are committed to providing special education services for early intervention in inclusive settings — as seen in Department of Education documents from 2017 and 2023 that reference the benefits of inclusion, especially in early intervention. (See our article on inclusion in preschool.)

Once your child is identified as eligible for an IFSP under Part C of IDEA, your Early Start services will be based on your child’s goals and services.

For many children, this will be a center-based program that only students with disabilities attend.

Many children also receive itinerant services in the home, which is often the most “natural setting” for an infant. Itinerant services can also be provided within a private preschool or daycare program. In 2023, out of 61,664 infants receiving Part C services in California, only 4,041 received services in community settings, and 54,160 were served in the home.

Early Head Start is a federally funded general education child care program for toddlers whose families have incomes below federal poverty levels. Head Start programs receive federal funding but are created by local agencies, such as school districts, county education offices, and non-profits. All Head Start programs have to demonstrate that 10% of children served are children with disabilities, identified by having an IFSP. Early Head Start often achieves this proportion by identifying children who may be eligible and referring them to the Regional Center or SELPA for evaluation. These agencies may also refer families who meet the income qualifications. If they cannot meet the 10% requirement in this way, programs can waive the income requirements for a child with a disability. You can find a local Head Start program using this locator.

For children who were already being served under Part C, the initial IEP is part of the transition from Part C to Part B. For children identified as qualifying for an IEP after the age of 30 months, the assessment for an IEP and IFSP will occur simultaneously. After age three, assessment for an IEP is determined by federal and state timelines.

Placement is part of the IEP process. Based on your child’s assessments and present levels, your IEP team will agree on annual goals and services. The IEP team will then determine placement based on the least restrictive environment (LRE) in which your child’s IEP can be successfully implemented. The preference within the IEP is always for a preschool placement in which less than 50% of the students have disabilities. However, school districts are required to have a continuum of placements should the child’s needs not be met in the inclusive setting.

Expanding access to early childhood education is an important part of making inclusion possible. One barrier for inclusive education is the chronic shortage of accessible and affordable early childhood education and childcare in the state. To address shortages of affordable, accessible childcare and preschool, California has made expanding universal pre-K a priority.

UPK is the term used in California to describe the state’s push for early childhood education for all children, including children living below the poverty level, English language learners, and children with disabilities. Snipes explains that UPK “refers to the early care and education that is offered during the two years prior to kindergarten. It comprises state preschool, Head Start, private preschool, transitional kindergarten, and expanded learning opportunities.”

The UPK initiative started in 2021 with the gradual rollout of transitional kindergarten (TK) in public schools, an additional grade for children aged 4. Initially conveyed as a two-year kindergarten program, TK has evolved to become its own thing, with new play-based, developmentally appropriate learning standards.

In this clip, Dr. Turner explains how all the different ways to expand early childhood education and childcare might expand opportunities for inclusive education.

Universal pre-kindergarten is an overall encompassing term for expanding possibilities in preschool and transitional kindergarten. Snipes states, “As part of the larger preschool to third grade initiative, California has been focusing on expanding access to early learning and care opportunities for all children in the two years prior to entering kindergarten, with a focus on serving those who have been historically marginalized. There is also a focus on ‘mixed delivery’ within the UPK system, so families have options and are able to choose the program/format that is most appropriate for them and their child.”

See our article on recent changes to California early intervention for more information on the impact of the rollout. Here are the key takeaways:

• All children who are four years old by September 1 of each school year are now eligible for TK through their local school district. About 70% of eligible four-year-olds are enrolled, with many families preferring alternative preschool or childcare options.
• Students with disabilities are slightly more likely to be enrolled in TK, at 73% of eligible children.
• TK is optional — children in California are not required to be enrolled in school until age six.
• Some school districts still do not have a TK classroom on every elementary campus.
• TK has impacted many community-based preschool programs that have seen decreases in their four-year-old enrollment.
• At the same time, the state has expanded other preschool and childcare programs focused on families living below the poverty threshold.
• Teachers in TK have either a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential or the new PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential and must have 24 units of early childhood education training. Preschool teachers have a Child Development Permit.

In this clip, Snipes explains why the credentialed teacher is so important to the concept of TK:

Here are the key options for parents to know about where children with disabilities are educated alongside typically developing peers.

Collaborative Classrooms

An “inclusive” preschool option is also something many school districts offer. In this classroom, less than 50% of students have an IEP. For example, LAUSD has Preschool Collaborative Classes (PCC) at some of their Early Education Center (EEC) sites. This program is designed for children with moderate to severe support needs and is staffed by EEC personnel, an early childhood special education teacher, and a special education assistant. Typically, the class maxes out at 24 total students — 16 students without IEPs and 8 students with disabilities. The ratio is one adult to six students, with four adults in the room. LAUSD also offers a TK Collaborative Classroom (TKCC) for four-year-olds — but not always at the same campuses. Similarly, Long Beach offers a TKCC classroom with 8 openings for children with IEPs out of a class of 20, but it is available only at a limited number of campuses.

Co-teaching is an essential component of these classrooms and works well when the teachers share all the children. Having a special education teacher in the room at all times is definitely the best feature of collaborative programs, but often the number of students with disabilities far exceeds the natural proportions of disability in the community, and therefore the students lose some of the advantages of a truly inclusive class.

California State Preschool Program (CSPP)

CSPP is a state-funded program to expand preschool availability for families with low incomes.

• Children must be three or four years old on or before December 1 of the academic year. Four-year-olds receive priority enrollment.
• Family income must be at or below 100% of the State Median Income (SMI). For example, the threshold for a family of four is $10,612 monthly or $127,338 yearly.
• Families whose children are receiving Child Protective Services or are at risk of abuse/neglect may be exempt from income limits.
• To qualify for full-day/full-year services, parents must have a specified “need,” such as being employed, attending vocational training, or being enrolled in an English-learner educational program.
• Part-day programs (typically three hours a day, five days a week) are entirely free to qualifying families. Full-day programs may require a sliding-scale family fee depending on household income.

Students with IEPs can attend CSPP even if their family income exceeds the threshold if it helps the CSPP meet their “set aside.” CSPPs must set aside 5% of their funded slots to include students with disabilities — specifically students with IFSPs or IEPs — including students with severe disabilities. (A provision to expand the set aside from 5% to 10% was removed in the 2024–25 budget.)

Many CSPP programs are operated by a third party, rather than by the school district. It should be possible for IEP-related services to be served within the CSPP, and many programs have built-in services. This is an important discussion for the IEP team, so ask to include CSPP in your IEP meeting.

CSPP can be combined with other public options; for example, a student might attend an SDC class and CSPP for after-school care, or the student might be enrolled in TK and CSPP for a full day, as long as the attendance times do not overlap.

Head Start

Head Start is a federally funded general education childcare program for children whose families have incomes below federal poverty levels. Head Start programs receive federal funding but are created by local agencies, such as school districts, county education offices, and nonprofits, who have to match 20% of the funding. Head Start uses a Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework to ensure high-quality and developmentally appropriate childcare.

All Head Start programs for ages 3–5 have to demonstrate that 10% of children served are children with disabilities, identified by having an IEP. Head Start often achieves this proportion by identifying children who may be eligible and referring them to the school district for evaluation. School districts also often refer families who meet the income qualifications to Head Start. If Head Start programs cannot meet the 10% requirement in this way, they can waive the income requirements for a child with a disability. You can find a local Head Start program using this locator. In 2024, there were 55,506 childcare slots in Head Start programs in California.

Head Start programs are usually operated by a third party, rather than the school district, but it should be possible for IEP-related services to be served within the program. Staff also integrate IEP or IFSP goals into daily activities, ensuring access to tailored therapies and modifications at no cost. This is an important discussion for the IEP team, so ask to include the Head Start program in your IEP meeting.

Private and community preschool

Families with children without disabilities who may not qualify for Head Start and CSPP based on income use a variety of community-based options for preschool, including home-based childcare or preschools offered by their workplaces, religious organizations, nonprofits, and co-ops, in addition to private businesses. In many instances, these preschools and childcare programs will accept a child with a disability and may be more convenient for families than public preschool programs.

In some circumstances, when the school district is not able to provide an appropriate inclusive placement, school districts will pay for private preschool and collaborate with the provider to deliver IEP services and supports within that program, or the services can be delivered at a separate location. For more information, see the reimbursement section in our article on private school.

When a child with a disability is “parentally placed” in a private school, there are some limited circumstances in which a district may provide equitable services for IDEA Part B, either by collaborating with the provider to deliver IEP services using itinerant providers and supports within that program or by providing services at a separate location.

Check to make sure your community preschool is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and licensed by the California Department of Social Services.

Regular TK general education classroom

Many claims were made during the rollout for TK that this could make inclusive settings more accessible. If your child has an IEP, they do not necessarily need a special TK classroom; special education and related services can be provided in a regular general education TK classroom with either push-in or pull-out supports.

While IDEA has a strong preference for placement in general education settings with services and supports, California schools have a long history of educating children with disabilities separately. Therefore, families often are not offered the general classroom as an option in their initial IEP meeting. Parents may need to advocate for their child to be educated in the least restrictive environment and to be placed in the general TK classroom with appropriate supports and services. Special education is often provided in inclusive settings by a resource specialist, a credentialed special education teacher who is trained to provide support in general education but often has little experience in early childhood education.

These options provide limited or no opportunities for interaction with typically developing peers, but they aim to offer more specialized supports for children with disabilities.

Special day class (SDC) special education preschool

Many school districts offer an SDC preschool class in which all students have disabilities. The class may be part of a preschool or parent-funded child development program where there are children without disabilities in other classrooms. CA Education Code § 56441.5 requires SDC preschools to have a higher adult-student ratio than regular preschool programs (1:12 and up to 18 students with an aide) depending on the level of need.

Many school districts have different types of SDC classrooms, such as mod-severe and mild-mod, and likely have a ratio determined by their SELPA. For students with severe disabilities, a 1:5 adult-to-student staffing ratio is mandatory, with a total classroom cap usually set at a maximum of 10 to 12 students per session.

The teacher is an education specialist with a credential in early childhood special education (ECSE) and may specialize in mod-severe or mild-moderate.

Special day class (SDC) TK

Many districts have expanded their school-age SDC classrooms to incorporate the TK grade. Since elementary school SDC classrooms typically serve a grade band, many schools have expanded the grade band to include TK (e.g., SDC TK–1, 2–3, and 4–5 or two classrooms, TK–2 and 3–5).

NPS and NPA schools

Some children with disabilities need special supports that are available only through non-public school (NPS) or non-public agency (NPA) providers. These placements can be funded by your school district when the IEP team determines that an NPS or an NPA provider is the only way to meet your child’s unique needs. This is largely dependent on what your school district has to offer.

For example, some Southern California families have advocated to attend CHIME Institute Preschool (an NPA) because the local district has not had available inclusive options. Most NPSes are limited to children with disabilities — for example, the Help Group’s Young Learners Preschool in Los Angeles. These schools must be registered with the state, which maintains this NPS list.

Since TK was initially presented as a two-year kindergarten program, TK teachers often adapted a kindergarten curriculum that was not developmentally appropriate, and many experts worried that four-year-olds were being subjected to a curriculum that was too academic. The new PTKLF standards are built on preschool learning foundations and are intended to be play-based and focus on the development of skills through structured intentional play and child-directed exploration.

PTKLF has two age bands (early foundations for 3–4.5 years and later foundations for 4–5.5 years) that track the transition from preschool into TK and kindergarten. Learning foundations for younger children are set out in the California Infant-Toddler Learning and Development Foundations

Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP)

Tied to the PTKLF and the California Infant-Toddler Learning and Development Foundations is an assessment that looks similar to state testing for older children: the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP). The DRDP (originally developed in the 1990s and updated in 2025) is a standardized assessment that is used by California schools to assess children’s development from early infancy up to kindergarten entry.

The DRDP is used in childcare settings that are subsidized by the CDSS. The DRDP is required for all children enrolled in CSPP for at least 10 hours per week and all students with a disability enrolled in CSPP, regardless of the hours per week they attend. It is also required for students aged 3–5 served by public schools (and charter schools) with an IEP or IFSP, even in TK and kindergarten. It is not required for general education students in TK through third grade.

Parents might worry that the DRSP is being used to “force” development or that testing might be used to exclude their child from participating in the full continuum or moving forward through grade levels.

In this clip, Snipes explains that the development of the new PTKLF has been focused on ensuring that TK is developmentally appropriate and works with children’s natural curiosity. It’s also intended to reflect the diversity of development found in any early childhood education setting.

DRDP levels are based on child development research, but because children develop at different rates, they reflect your child's individual progress — not their age or grade. It is a strength-based assessment that considers the child’s demonstrated mastery of specific skills and behaviors. The assessment is completed by teacher observation while the child is in preschool going about their normal activities, so if done correctly, the child will not know that they are being assessed. Teachers assess each child based on observable evidence of learning and development, rather than relying on assumptions tied to age or grade level.

In this clip, Snipes explains how the DRDP can support educators in early childhood settings:

The DRDP is one part of the Desired Results System, which is used to see how well early childhood programs support children and families. The system focuses on six desired outcomes that reflect the quality of the childcare or preschool program, not the standards that your child is expected to meet. A key part of the Desired Results System is family involvement. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to be active partners in supporting their child’s development. This was also an important conclusion of the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care: Making California for All Kids (2020): that early childhood education must be focused on families.

Most importantly, families should know that the DRDP is not designed to be used for placement. Your child does not have to meet a level of development in order to move forward to a TK or kindergarten classroom or to be included in a general education setting.

Expanding access to early learning

One of the goals of UPK was to create more accessible opportunities for younger children to access education. Snipes explains, “The intention is to provide more access to quality early learning and care for all children in order to build strong social-emotional foundations that will support academic competence once they enter elementary school, either in TK or kindergarten.”

A recent PPIC report on the UPK rollout concluded that TK is still underutilized by families, with only 70% of eligible families enrolled. Students with disabilities had a slightly higher enrollment rate at 73%. Anecdotally, many districts are finding that families with children aged 3–5 under Part B are excited to have TK as one of the many options for public preschool, in addition to CSPP and Head Start.

UPK is meant to add choices — not replace existing programs

Snipes explains that the goal of UPK is to give families more choices — not to replace existing preschool programs. Snipes breaks this down: “It’s important for families to understand that they are not required to send their child to transitional kindergarten if they are happy with the early care and education program their child is enrolled in. Many families choose to stay with their home childcare provider, private, state, or Head Start preschool program all the way up until kindergarten because it’s the setting they feel is best for their child. However, many programs within the UPK system offer limited hours or have fees associated with them, so families are choosing to send their children to transitional kindergarten out of necessity, either because it offers transportation or extended hours or it is free.”

Some communities are seeing unintended effects

At the same time, some districts have noticed unintended effects. Anecdotally, families who want to stay in a community preschool setting are finding that the classroom is depleted, losing many of their four-year-old students due to so many families choosing the TK option. That means children with disabilities who remain in preschool may increasingly be learning alongside younger children, ages 2.5 to 4, rather than with peers closer to their own age.

Advocates also worry that as more four-year-olds leave private preschools for TK, fewer private preschool placements will be available, making it harder to secure a publicly funded private preschool placement through due process.

While the rollout of UPK has created more opportunities in some communities, access remains uneven.

California is making progress, but there’s still a long way to go:

• During the 2023–24 school year, only about one-third (34.14%) of California children aged 3–5 with an IEP received services in a regular early childhood education program, while more than 43.27% attended a separate special education classroom.
• Although those numbers have improved over the past several years, California continues to lag behind many other states when it comes to inclusive preschool opportunities.
• Only eight states have a higher percentage of three to five-year-olds educated in a separate classroom, the highest being Idaho with 66%.
• In contrast, states like Vermont and Arkansas have fewer than 1% of children ages 3–5 with IEPs in separate classrooms.

How the state is encouraging districts to expand inclusion

Under IDEA, states must report data to the US Department of Education to monitor the state and local education authorities’ compliance with the law. To encourage more inclusive preschool options, the California State Board of Education increased targets for IDEA Indicator 6. This measure tracks how many children ages 3–5 with disabilities receive services in a regular early childhood education program.

The way inclusion is measured also differs by age:

• Preschool (ages 3–5): a “regular” classroom is one where at least 50% of students do not have disabilities.
• School-age students (kindergarten and up): inclusion is measured by how much time a student spends in a general education classroom, rather than by the number of students with or without disabilities.

The expansion of TK confused district administrators that were not sure whether to measure four-year-olds as preschoolers using Indicator 6 or the more complex Indicator 5, which is used for children in kindergarten and up. (You can check out how well your school district does on Indicator 6 at this website.)

Dr. Turner explains in this clip how Indicator 6 has encouraged districts to develop collaborative classrooms for the preschool age group:

A note on funding to support inclusion

Creating inclusive early childhood programs requires resources, and both experts emphasized the funding available to help school districts expand these opportunities. In addition to funding associated with TK — such as school facilities funding and Early Education Teacher Development grants — districts can also apply for the Inclusive Early Education Expansion Program, which specifically supports the inclusion of young children with disabilities in early learning settings. Districts can also receive technical assistance through the Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) project and the California Early Childhood Special Education (CalECSE) initiative.

Not all “inclusive” programs look the same

Notably, in the 2023–24 school year, California was not yet meeting this target, but the percentage of children educated in regular early childhood education programs has increased rapidly over the previous three years.

However, some advocates worry that the focus on meeting this measure may encourage programs where students with disabilities are grouped together with built-in supports, rather than creating truly inclusive classrooms where every child receives the support they need alongside their peers.

Some districts have also created separate TK special day classes instead of expanding general education settings. As a result, some children may move from an inclusive preschool to a more restrictive TK setting.

This can create challenges as children move into elementary school. If a child’s IEP team is used to a preschool or TK classroom with built-in supports, they may view a separate special day class (SDC) as the closest equivalent in K–5, rather than considering whether the child can succeed in their neighborhood school with appropriate supports in the least restrictive environment (LRE), meaning the classroom and campus they would attend if they did not have an IEP.

Changing mindsets is part of the challenge

For parents, a professional’s hesitation about inclusion can often feel like a rejection of their child. But in Snipes’s experience, that hesitation is usually rooted in a misplaced fear of letting the child down.

Snipes tells us, “One of the greatest teaching teams I’ve ever met was a special educator who was so protective of her kids and her contained setting and a general educator who said, ‘I don’t have this kind of training. I don’t know if I can do it.’ And when they started working together, they created such a beautiful system. It’s a place where kids and parents of kids with disabilities go to the general educator and vice versa, and they operate like a family, and it’s just so beautiful when they’ve been given that space to have that conversation and work together. I think that it’s remembering why we’re doing the work and that oftentimes people who have never spoken to each other have the same fears and the same desires, and it’s all around wanting the best for kids.”

In her experience, many general educators in early childhood settings need support to adapt to the mindset of inclusion. Part of building inclusive programs is helping educators recognize the universal supports that benefit all children: “It all goes back to . . . the mindset of knowing that you’re already running an inclusive program because you’re striving for high quality. You’re already embedding a lot of universal supports, and sometimes [the teacher’s reluctance to adopt inclusive practices] is just out of fear. And it’s not necessarily out of fear of the child themselves. It’s out of the fear of, ‘This is new to me, and I’m not sure. I don’t want to fail a child that comes into my program or into my setting.’ So part of that mindset is reinforcing expertise. What we see is a child comes to them in their classroom and they say, ‘Oh, they’re wonderful. They’re a leader in our classroom. They need way less than what I thought, and I’ve learned so much from them.’ So it really is addressing the mindset to begin with. . . . We’re not judging a book by its cover. Get to know them. . . . The first thing that we talk about should be the general education setting for every child, period. That’s in law, but it should also be in practice,” she says.

In this clip, Snipes shares with us how she approaches the mindset shift that inclusive education requires:

Finding an inclusive preschool or TK placement often requires planning ahead and knowing what options are available. If you are looking for an inclusive placement, it is important to start your transition process early so that you have time to resolve any disagreement on placement. If you are touring different preschool options, our article on How Teachers and Parents Can Facilitate and Model Inclusion contains a checklist of what to look for.

These key takeaways can help you understand your choices, ask informed questions, and advocate for the supports your child needs.

You may have more inclusive options than you’re told about

Many parents report that in their transition from Part C to Part B, the district offers only a separate preschool classroom. Without access to inclusive public preschool, families are often unaware of the option of providing special education within an inclusive setting. Since public options like Head Start and CSPP are targeted at families living below the poverty threshold, many families with children with disabilities are unaware that these programs exist and that they have a responsibility to serve children with disabilities.

The existence of “inclusion programs” such as collaborative classrooms (which may be oversubscribed or distant and therefore unavailable) often deters parents from asking for something simpler and more aligned to the original ideal of inclusive education—that is, just having the child placed in an ordinary preschool or TK classroom with itinerant support pushed in. Perhaps the existence of an inclusion program fosters a myth that only a collaborative classroom program can provide sufficient support.

Ironically, the same section of federal special education regulations (34 CFR § 300.115(b)) that districts often cite to support the case that they have to offer a “full continuum of alternative placements” also demands that they consider supplementary supports and services delivered in a regular classroom. Since the districts claim that a collaborative classroom is a “regular early childhood education program,” it should not be seen as a distinct IEP placement from a regular preschool or TK classroom.

Don’t let class size alone discourage you

Early Start separate classrooms are limited to a 1:5 adult-to-child ratio. It’s a big leap when a parent moves to Part B to imagine their child in a CSPP classroom with 24 children and perhaps 6 adults.

If your child needs extra support, an aide isn’t the only option. For many parents, the barrier to inclusion may be safety, either because of medical needs or behavioral needs, such as a child with a tendency to elope. Districts are often reluctant to increase adult-to-student ratios by adding a classroom aide or a 1:1 paraprofessional within classrooms that already have additional adult support. There may be many reasons for their reluctance beyond the difficulties that districts have with employing aides — including genuine concerns that the aide may contribute to learned dependence.

Toilet training is not required for TK or CSPP

The new TK rollout forbids districts from excluding a child (with or without an IEP) on the grounds that they are not toilet trained. Many districts have been challenged by the geography of the school. The key is to repurpose a kindergarten classroom with a self-contained bathroom for TK and have the kindergarten students travel to the bathroom. Districts were also offered TK classroom building funds. CDE issued this toolkit for school staff regarding toileting in TK.

CSPP programs also cannot exclude children because they are not toilet trained.

In this clip Snipes provides advice for parents who may be troubleshooting inclusive preschool and TK:

Be aware of reassessments

With the expansion of universal pre-K, many young children experience several transitions in just a few years. An infant receiving home-based early intervention may move to a center-based program at age two, then to a district preschool at age three, followed by transitional kindergarten (TK) and kindergarten at age four. Each transition means new teachers, therapists, classmates, and routines.

Another transition families may encounter is a reassessment. Although reevaluations typically happen every three years, some districts reassess children when they move from preschool to TK. This can be confusing, especially since districts don't always interpret TK the same way.

When presented with a plan for reassessment:

• If you don't expect your child's eligibility to change, ask whether the reevaluation can be based on existing records and current progress rather than new testing.
• Recommend that providers summarize their findings and focus on the strengths and challenges that the new IEP team will find useful.
• If possible, invite a representative from your child's new school or program to the meeting. If placement hasn't been decided, ask whether representatives from all potential placements can attend. If your child is staying at the same school and moving up a grade, only the current IEP team typically participates.
• If there's a chance your child could lose eligibility, ask to review the assessment reports before the meeting. If you disagree with the results, you can request an independent educational evaluation (IEE).
• Remember that assessments determine eligibility and services, not placement. Placement decisions should be based on whether your child is making progress toward their IEP goals and what supports they need to succeed.

Usually after the initial IEP, a reassessment is due every three years — called a "triennial." Dr. Turner explains why districts might need to do re-evaluations before the triennial is due:

Three top takeaways for parents navigating early intervention and the transition to Transitional Kindergarten (TK) in California:

1. Inclusion is a right, not a "bonus": even if your district initially only offers separate, restrictive classrooms, federal law supports your child’s placement in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). You can advocate for your child to be educated in general education settings (like a general TK or community preschool classroom), which may be built in supports (a collaborative classroom) or can be supplemented with itinerant or push-in supports, rather than accepting a segregated special day class.

2. Transitional kindergarten is optional: you are not required to enroll your child in TK if you feel their current placement—whether it's a private, state, or Head Start preschool—is the best fit. Since families have different needs regarding hours, transportation, and environment, remember that UPK is intended to offer more choices, not to force a single path for your child.

3. You can streamline reassessments during transitions: moving from preschool to TK often triggers repetitive evaluations, but you do not necessarily need to subject your child to a full reassessment. If it is unlikely your child will be found ineligible, you can advocate for the process to be based on a "review of records" from the previous year rather than undergoing a full, repetitive evaluation.

Resources

For families wanting more information, Snipes shares her padlet about all things early intervention as well as the SIP website. Dr. Turner recommends that families visit the CalECSE page.