News & Updates

In Spring 2025, California 3-year-olds with speech language impairments and those with sensory differences (deaf, hard of hearing, or visually impaired) were on track in Language and Literacy at rates comparable to a nationally representative sample of all 3-year-olds.

Authentic observation is the practice of watching and listening to children in their natural routines and environments—without staging, testing, or interrupting—to capture a genuine picture of their learning, development, and interests.

The new school year offers a fresh start for educators, children, and teams, with the DRDP serving as a key tool for observing, reflecting, and guiding intentional instruction. By engaging in authentic observation, collaborative reflection, and data-driven planning, educators can integrate assessment seamlessly into daily practice to better support each child’s growth.

This recorded webinar demonstrates how the DRDP informs present levels of performance or development on the IEP or IFSP, breaking down long term goals into next steps in instruction, and connections to the California Early Learning Foundations. Also highlights how the authentic assessment process used to complete the DRDP, along with the resulting reports, provides a rich profile of a child’s learning and development. (36:05)

With the inclusion of Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten, DRDP submissions now represent a more complete picture of early learning progress!

The Fall 2024 DRDP policy expansion now requires assessments for all children ages 3–5 with IEPs in Preschool, TK, and K, leading to a significant increase in DRDP submissions.

This interactive timeline describes the process of observing, documenting, rating, and submitting DRDP data for special education.