IDEA Child Outcomes Highlights for FFY 2021

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What are the Outcomes?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds programs providing services designed to assist children with a range of delays and disabilities in achieving individualized developmental and functional goals. There are two types of programs. Part C Early Intervention is for children ages birth–2, and Part B Preschool is for children ages 3–5.

States report data annually to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education on three child outcomes for Part C and Part B Preschool programs:

1. Social Relationships, which includes getting along with other children and relating well with adults
2. Use of Knowledge and Skills, which refers to thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, and early literacy and math skills
3. Taking Action to Meet Needs, which includes feeding, dressing, self-care, and following rules related to health and safety

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How is Progress Measured?

The skills children master at different ages can be measured and described so that we can identify children who are developing too slowly. Children who are substantially behind their peers have developmental delays. OSEP has established five progress categories to convey developmental trajectories indicative of developmental delay. Lines a, b, c, and d represent some kind of delay in the early years, where Line e illustrates typical development, with growth in outcomes and age in months in parity. States report annually to OSEP the percentage of children in each of the five progress categories (a–e).

From the progress category data, two Summary Statements are calculated for each outcome:

• Summary Statement 1 is the percentage of children who made greater than expected growth. The summary statement is calculated from the progress categories in the following way: (c + d) ÷ (a + b + c + d)
• Summary Statement 2 is the percentage of children who exited at or above age expectations. The summary statement is calculated from the progress categories in the following way: (d + e) ÷ (a + b + c + d + e)

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National Child Outcomes Data for Children Exiting Part C and Part B Preschool in 2021–2022

National Child Outcomes Data for Children Exiting Part C and Part B Preschool in 2021–2022

Outcome	Part C Early Intervention Summary Statement 1	Part C Early Intervention Summary Statement 2	Part B Preschool Summary Statement 1	Part B Preschool Summary Statement 2
Social Relationships	66	52	79	55
Knowledge and Skills	71	42	79	51
Action to Meet Needs	69	51	79	61

Note: Data are based on 46 Part C states and 40 Part B Preschool states. Only states with high quality data were included.

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National Trends Over Time: Summary Statements by Program and Outcomes

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Conclusion

For Part C Early Intervention, a comparison of national averages from FFY 2020 to FFY 2021 showed some decreases in outcomes with an equal number of outcomes unchanged. There was a decrease in the percent of children making greater than expected progress in Action to Meet Needs, and no change in Social Relationships or Knowledge and Skills. For Social Relationships and Knowledge and Skills there was a decrease in the percent of children exiting at age expectation but no change in Action to Meet Needs.

For Part B Preschool, there was a decrease in the percent of children making greater than expected progress and exiting at age expectations in Social Relationships from FFY 2020 to FFY 2021. There was also a decrease in the percent of children exiting at age expectation for Knowledge and Skills. The percent of children making greater than expected growth in Knowledge and Skills remained the same as did both percentages for the third outcome, Action to Meet Needs.

State Part C and Part B, Section 619 annual performance reports provided key reasons for declines, including impacts of COVID-19, other data quality issues, and changes to state data collection methods. Further analyses, particularly at the state and local level, are needed to understand trends.

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Please cite as: Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, Center for IDEA Early Childhood Data Systems. (2022). IDEA Child Outcomes Highlights for FFY 2020. Retrieved from https://ectacenter.org/eco/pages/childoutcomeshighlights.asp

Developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, #H373Z190002, and a cooperative agreement, #H326P220002, from the Office of Special Education Programs. Contents do not represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

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