Kathy Hebbeler, ECO at SRILynne Kahn, ECO at FPG

Christina Kasprzak, ECO at FPGCornelia Taylor, ECO at SRILauren Barton, ECO at SRI

National Picture –Child Outcomes for Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education: Implications and Use

DEC Conference, San Francisco, CAOctober, 2013

Overview

• 2011-2012 national numbers • Trends for the last 4 years• State approaches and data quality

2

Ultimate Goal for EI and ECSE

“To enable young children to be active and successful participants during the early childhood years and in the future in a variety of settings – in their homes with their families, in child care, preschool or school programs, and in the community.”

Based on the ECO stakeholder process when identifying 3 functional outcomes

3Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Entire document available at http://projects.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/assets/pdfs/ECO_Outcomes_4-13-05.pdf

4Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Understanding the Three Child Outcomes

Three Child Outcomes

• Children have positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships)

• Children acquire and use knowledge and skills (including early language/ communication [and early literacy])

• Children use appropriate behaviors to meet their needs

5

Child Outcomes Step by Step

• Available at:

http://projects.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/pages/videos.cfm

6Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Outcomes Are Functional

Functional outcomes: • Refer to using skills to accomplish things that

are meaningful to the child in the context of everyday life

• Refer to an integrated series of behaviors or skills that allow the child to achieve the important everyday goals

7

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Children Have Positive Social Relationships

• Involves:– Relating with adults– Relating with other children– For older children, following rules related to groups or

interacting with others• Includes areas like:

– Attachment/separation/autonomy– Expressing emotions and feelings– Learning social rules and expectations– Social interactions and play

8

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Children Acquire and Use Knowledge and Skills

• Involves:– Thinking– Reasoning– Remembering– Problem solving– Using symbols and language– Understanding physical and social worlds

• Includes:– Early concepts—symbols, pictures, numbers, classification,

spatial relationships– Imitation– Object permanence– Expressive and receptive language and communication– Early literacy

9

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

Children Take Appropriate Action to Meet Their Needs

• Involves:– Taking care of basic needs– Getting from place to place– Using tools (e.g., fork, toothbrush, crayon)– In older children, contributing to their own health and

safety• Includes:

– Integrating motor skills to complete tasks– Self-help skills (e.g., dressing, feeding, grooming,

toileting, household responsibility)– Acting on the world to get what one wants

10

Early Childhood Outcomes Center

OSEP Reporting CategoriesPercentage of children who:

a.Did not improve functioningb. Improved functioning, but not sufficient to move

nearer to functioning comparable to same-aged peers

c. Improved functioning to a level nearer to same-aged peers but did not reach it

d. Improved functioning to reach a level comparable to same-aged peers

e. Maintained functioning at a level comparable to same-aged peers3 outcomes x 5 “measures” = 15 numbers

11

Illustration of 5 Possible Paths

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56Age in Months

Sco

re

Maintained functioning comparable to age peersAchieved functioning comparable to age peersMoved nearer functioning comparable to age peersMade progress; no change in trajectoryDid not make progress

The Summary Statements

1. Of those children who entered or exited the program below age expectations in each outcome, the percent who substantially increased their rate of growth by the time they turned 3 [6] years of age or exited the program.

2. The percent of children who were functioning within age expectations in each outcome by the time they turned 3 [6] years of age or exited the program.

13Early Childhood Outcomes Center

14

Approach Part C (N=56)

Preschool(N=59)

COS 7 pt. scale

42/56 (75%) 37/59 (63%)

One tool statewide

8/56 (14%) 9/59 (15%)

Publishers’ online analysis

1/56 (2%) 6/59 (10%)

Other 5/56 (9%) 7/59 (12%)

State Approaches to Measuring Child Outcomes – 2011-12

3 Methods Methods for Calculating National Estimates

1. All states averaged (each state weighted as 1)

2. All states weighted by child count3. States with the highest quality data

weighted by child count to represent all states*

15*The data we will be presenting for the national picture

Identifying States with Quality Data

Criteria for high quality data:• Reporting data on enough children

– Part C – 28% or more of exiters– Preschool – 12% or more of child count

• Within expected patterns in the data– category ‘a’ not greater than 10% – category ‘e’ not greater than 65%

16

Number of States that Met Criteria for Inclusion in the National Analysis

17

08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12

Part C 19 29 39 33

Preschool 15 33 36 39

18

social relationships knowledge and skills action to meet needs0

20

40

60

80

100

7077 76

7174 76

6873 73

6672 73

Part C: Greater than Expected GrowthTrends Across 4 Years

2008-09 (19 states) 2009-10 (29 states) 2010-11 (39 states) 2011-12 (33 states)

Ave

rage

Per

cent

age

Acr

oss

Stat

es

19

social relationships knowledge and skills action to meet needs0

20

40

60

80

100

6154

6162

546061

555960

5259

Part C: Exited Within Age ExpectationsTrends Across 4 Years

2008-09 (19 states) 2009-10 (29 states) 2010-11 (39 states) 2011-12 (33 states)

Ave

rage

Per

cent

age

Acr

oss

Stat

es

20

social relationships knowledge and skills action to meet needs0

20

40

60

80

100

83 83 8283 82 8281 81 8181 81 80

Part B Preschool: Greater Than Expected GrowthTrends Across 4 Years

2008-09 (15 states) 2009-10 (33 states) 2010-11 (36 states) 2011-12 (39 states)

Ave

rage

Per

cent

age

Acr

oss

Stat

es

21

social relationships knowledge and skills action to meet needs0

20

40

60

80

100

5951

6759

52

6760

53

6659

53

66

Part B Preschool: Exited Within Age Expecta-tions

Trends Across 4 Years

2008-09 (15 states) 2009-10 (33 states) 2010-11 (36 states) 2011-12 (39 states)

Ave

rage

Per

cent

age

Acr

oss

Stat

es

Additional Analysis

Additional analysis run to determine if child outcome data varies:• By exiters no longer eligible• By percent served

22

Social Relationships Knowledge and Skills Action to Meet Needs0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

55

45

52

61

52

61

66

58

66

Part C: Exited Within Age Expectations by Exiters Not El-igible for Part B

<20% (n=22)20-30% (n=21)30 or greater % (n=13)

Aver

age

Perc

enta

ge A

cros

s Sta

tes

23

Social Relationships Knowledge and Skills Action to Meet Needs0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

63

52

70

5652

6564

56

65

5248

586054

67

Part B Preschool: Average Percentage Who Exited Within Age Expectations by State Percent Served

<5.2% (n=9)5.2-5.7% (n=9)5.7-6.5% (n=8)6.5-7.5% (n=14)>7.5% (n=12)

Aver

age

Perc

enta

ge A

cros

s Sta

tes

24

Good News!

• Consistent data over time• Increasing number of children in the child

outcomes data• Increasing number of states in the ‘quality’

data for child outcomes

25

Current Emphasis

• Data Quality– Increasing the number of children/families in the data– Pattern checking to identify data quality issues– Training, guidance, supervision, etc.

• Use of Data for Program Improvement– Linking data to other data– Interpreting data at the state and local levels– Making plans for improving systems and services

26

27

• 2-page highlights

• Fall webinars

28

Find more resources at:

http://www.the-eco-center.org