Incorporating Early Childhood into
Longitudinal Data Systems:
What, Why and How
Kathy Hebbeler, ECO at SRI International
Lynne Kahn, ECO at FPG
Presented at the OSEP Leadership Conference,
Washington, DC August 2009
Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center
• Initially, a 5-year project funded by OSEP in
October 2003.
• Funded again October 2008 for another 5 years.
• Provide national leadership and technical
assistance to states to advance the
implementation of high-quality outcomes
systems for early intervention and preschool
special education programs.
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
2
Can your state answer these
questions?
• What percentage of children who received early
intervention services are receiving special education
services in kindergarten?
• For how many years do children who first receive special
education services as preschoolers receive special
education services? How many receive services in
Grade 1? Grade 3?
• What percentage of children who received special
education services as preschoolers are reading at grade
level in Grade 3?
– How does this percentage differ across districts or regions?
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
3
States have exciting new data about
EC Special Education programs!!
• In February, 2010, states will report data
to OSEP on the effectiveness of their Part
B Section 619 programs (APR Indicator
B7)
• This data can provide a foundation for a
longer look at children’s success in school
and in life
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
4
New information on the progress
children make in EC programs
• What you will know:
– Which children
leave preschool
619 services
functioning at age
expectations
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
• Questions you can ask:
– What percentage of
these children later
receive SpEd services?
– How do these children
perform on
assessments in Grade
3? Grade 8? HS?
– Do they graduate?
5
New information on the progress
children make in EC programs
• What you will know:
– Which children
increase their rate
of growth with
preschool 619
services, but don’t
catch up to age
expectations
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
• Questions you can ask:
– Do these children continue
to catch up in Sp Ed
services in the early
grades?
– How long do these children
continue to be eligible for
Sp Ed services?
– How do these children
perform on Grade 3
assessments? Grade 8? 6
New information on the progress
children make in EC programs
• What you will know:
– Which children
leave preschool
619 services with
the most
significant service
and support
needs
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
• Questions you can ask:
– What proportion of the
time do these children
participate in regular
classrooms in grade 3?
Grade 8?
– What proportion
participate in statewide
assessments?
7
Where the new information
comes from
• OSEP Reporting Requirements: Child
Outcomes (Indicator C3 and B7)
• % of Children who make progress in:
– Positive social emotional skills
(including positive social relationships)
– Acquisition and use of knowledge and
skills (including early language/
communication [and early literacy])
– Use of appropriate behaviors to meet
their needs
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
8
OSEP Child Outcome Reporting:
Categories of Child Progress
Percentage of children who:
a. Did not improve functioning
b. 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 sameaged peers
3 outcomes x 5 “measures” = 15 numbers
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
9
Illustration of 5 Possible Develomental Trajectories (i.e, the OSEP
Reporting Categories)
70
60
Score
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
Age in Months
Maintained functioning comparable to age peers
Achieved functioning comparable to age peers
Moved nearer functioning comparable to age peers
Made progress; no change in trajectory
Did not make progress
Children Identified for Services Under IDEA
by Age (2005)
Number
600,000
N = 7,005,463
Infants and toddlers N = 294,714
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
Age
Total
number
0
1
41,865
2
3
158,404
94,445
4
5
245,526
153,320
6
7
9
453,485
361,130
299,772
8
411,206
10
11
503,519
487,806
508,789
12
13
513,795
14
15
17
484,057
521,054
519,151
16
519,394
18
19
209,320
417,249
20
21
28,590
60,238
13,348
(From IDEAdata.org)
Changing service needs
Status of former
early intervention
recipients in
Kindergarten
No IEP
35%
IEP
54%
(from the National Early
Intervention Longitudinal
Study (NEILS))
Disability,
No IEP
11%
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
www.sri.com/neils/
12
Changing Service Needs
Among 3, 4, and 5 year olds receiving
special education,
– One year later, 16% were no longer receiving
special education
– A year after that, another 13% were no longer
receiving special education
(from the Pre-Elementary Longitudinal Study (PEELS)
www.peels.org
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
13
Hypothetical Language Acquisition Rates for
Three Groups of Children: Change in
Developmental Trajectory (Progress toward
Closing the Gap)
70
Langauge Score
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
Age in Months
Typically developing children
Typically developing children (lower)
Children with delays without intervention
Children with delays after intervention
56
Math and reading achievement at the
beginning of kindergarten by socioeconomic
status
IRT Scaled Test Score
30
27.2
24.1
25
20
17.5
19.1
21
19.9
21.3
23.6
17.4
15.1
15
10
5
0
Math
Low
Low Middle
Reading
Middle
High Middle
From: Inequality at the Starting Gate (data from ECLS-K)
High
Early Childhood Matters
• Intervene early to reduce the gap
– Is this happening in your state?
– Where?
– With which children?
• How do you know EC services are making a
difference? For how long?
• Effective early childhood services cannot
inoculate children against poor
instruction later.
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
16
A State Example: Colorado’s
Results Matter
Purpose
to positively influence
the lives of children
and families by using
child, family, program
and system outcomes
data to inform early
childhood practices
and policy
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
Components
• Authentic Assessment
• Longitudinal
Analysis
• Family Outcomes
• Service and Program Quality
Measures
• Professional Development
17
Longitudinal Data
CSAP Outcomes for Children Funded by CPP in 1996-97 Denver Public Schools
Reading
CPP
District
Writing
Students Scoring
Proficient or Advanced
60%
Reading
Math
Writing
50%
Math
40%
Science
Science
30%
20%
10%
0%
3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
9th 10th
4th 5th 6th 7th
8th 9th 10th
5th 6th
7th 8th 9th 10th
8th 10th
Grade
Thanks to Nick Ortiz of Colorado’s Results Matter and John Crawford of the
Denver Public Schools for these data.
Longitudinal Data
5th Grade CSAP Outcomes for Multiple Cohorts of CPP Children Denver Public Schools
Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced
CPP
60%
District
Reading
50%
Math
Writing
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Thanks to Nick Ortiz of Colorado’s Results Matter and John Crawford of the
Denver Public Schools for these data.
Making Good Use of Data:
Some Necessary Ingredients
• Set of good questions
• Data set with the required elements
• Analytic capability to analyze the data to
address the question
• Commitment to use the information for
program improvement
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
20
Information Infrastructure:
Data Needed for Program Improvement
WHO
SERVICES
OUTCOMES
QUALITY
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
COST
21
Where is your state now?
WHO
SERVICES
OUTCOMES
What do you have?
How much is linked?
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
22
Tracking
outcomes
over time
Grade 2
Grade 1
Kindergarten
Preschool
Building Longitudinal Data Sets
Need a data
set that
includes
general and
special
education*
Goal: Include data
on young children
with disabilities
(starting at birth) in
the data set
*because of the movement in
and out of special education
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
24
Resources
Data Quality Campaign
www.dataqualitycampaign.org
DQC just beginning to focus on early
childhood
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
25
Funding Sources
for Longitudinal Data Systems
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
26
Statewide Longitudinal Data
Systems Grants (IES)
• $250 million
• Grants are for 3 to 5 years for up to $9
million; due November 19, 2009
• 2005 – 14 states; 2007 – 12; 2009 – 27
• Many states planning to include
preschool
• http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
27
Other funding opportunities
• State Incentive Grants (i.e., Race to the Top)
- $4.35 billion
• Title I Funds - $13 billion
• Head Start - $1 billion
– State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood
Education
– “develop recommendations for a unified data
collection system for public early childhood
programs and services throughout the state”
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
28
• See Data Quality Campaign’s Roadmap
http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/files/DQCroadmap_singlepgs_FINAL_with_links.pdf
for more information
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
29
Extraordinary Opportunity
Special education leadership needs to:
• Work to ensure Part C and 619 are/will be
part of the state’s early childhood data
system
• Work to ensure early childhood data
are/will be linked to K-12
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
30
Visit us at
www.the-eco-center.org
31
EC Outcomes Data: new data
showing program effectiveness
• Question 1: How many children changed growth
trajectories during their time in the program?
• Summary Statement 1: Of those children who
[entered the program] below age expectations in
each Outcome, the percent who substantially
increased their rate of growth by the time they
turned 6 years of age or exited the program.
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
33
EC Outcomes Data: new data
showing program effectiveness
• Concept 2: How many children were functioning
like same aged peers when they left the
program?
• Summary Statement 2: The percent of children
who were functioning within age expectations in
each Outcome by the time they turned 6 years of
age or exited the program
Note: In February 2010, states will set targets for the
percentages in these summary statements
Early Childhood Outcomes Center
34