Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO)
by Teresa Kreger
February 11, 2008
Since the re-authorization of IDEA 2004, states are now required
to report outcomes data for children served through Part C and Part
B Preschool of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) as part of their Annual Performance Report to the Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of
Education.
The child outcomes that the school districts need to report to the
Texas Education Agency (TEA) address three areas of child
functioning necessary for each child to be an active and successful
participant at home, in the community, and in other places like
child care program or preschool.
The three child outcomes are: a) positive social-emotional skills refer to how children get along with others, how they relate with adults and with other children. These skills also include how children follow rules related to groups and interact with others in group situations; b) the acquisition and use of knowledge and skills refers to children’s abilities to think, reason, remember, problem solve, and use symbols and language; and c) the use of appropriate behavior to meet needs refers to the actions that children employ to take care of their basic needs, including getting from place to place, using tools (e.g. fork, toothbrush, crayon), and contributing to their own health and safety. For example, a child with non-verbal skills who learns to use a communication board to make his needs known has achieved an outcome.
We are required to measure and report on the progress children make between the time they enter a program and the time they exit in each of the outcome areas. We will assess the children’s functioning at two time points (entry and exit) to determine the level of improvement or progress in functioning between those time points. The classroom teacher and/or speech pathologist will be collecting and reporting children’s progress beginning with all of the new enrolled PPCD students this year. We know that not all children will be able to function comparable to same age peers at the end of early childhood services, but with this system we will be able to track how many have achieved or moved closer to functioning at their age expected level.
