IDEA Child Outcomes Highlights for FFY 2020

---

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

---

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)

---

National Child Outcomes Data for Children Exiting Part C and Part B Preschool in 2020–2021

National Child Outcomes Data for Children Exiting Part C and Part B Preschool in 2020–2021 Note: Data are based on 45 Part C states and 41 Part B Preschool states. Only states with high quality data were included.

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	53	78	56
Knowledge and Skills	71	44	79	52
Action to Meet Needs	70	51	79	61

---

National Trends Over Time: Summary Statements by Program and Outcomes

---

Conclusion

For Part C Early Intervention, a comparison of national averages from FFY 2019 to FFY 2020 showed increases in some outcomes and decreases in others. There was an increase in the percent of children making greater than expected progress in Social Relationships and Knowledge and Skills, and an increase in the percent of children exiting at age expectations in Social Relationships. There was no change in percent of children exiting at age expectation in Knowledge and Skills. For the third outcome, Action to Meet Needs, there was a decrease in both the percent of children making greater than expected growth and percent of children exiting at age expectations.

For Part B Preschool, there was no change in the percent of children exiting at age expectations in Social Relationships from FFY 2019 to FFY 2020, and a decrease in national averages in all other outcomes.

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.

---