The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) conducts unbiased large-scale evaluations of education programs and practices supported by federal funds; provides research-based technical assistance to educators and policymakers; and supports the synthesis and the wide spread dissemination of the results of research and evaluation throughout the United States.
Highlights from NCEE (Archive)
Highlights from the Patterns in the Identification of and Outcomes for Children and Youth With Disabilities ReportUnder the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal funds supplement state and local funds to support Part C early intervention services for infants and toddlers birth through age 2 and their families and Part B special education and related services for children and youth ages 3 through 21. This study utilizes existing data collected by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies to provide a national description of patterns across time in the identification of children for early intervention and special education services, children's loss of eligibility for early intervention and special education services, and, as appropriate, comparisons of the developmental and academic outcomes for children and youth with disabilities with outcomes of samples including their nondisabled peers. This study provides background context for National Assessment of IDEA studies on program implementation and effectiveness and presents information for each age group served under IDEA – infants and toddlers (birth through age 2) identified for services under IDEA Part C, preschool-age children (ages 3 through 5) served under IDEA Part B, Section 619, and school-age children and youth (ages 6 through 21), served under IDEA Part B, Section 611.
Data sources were prioritized to include the most recent data available to describe identification and outcome patterns nationally, by state and by disability categories, and to allow for comparisons of outcomes between children identified and not identified for IDEA services. Among the data sources used for the study are the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), data from State academic assessments of children with disabilities, Section 618 data submitted by States to ED, Census Bureau population estimates, and data gathered from four national longitudinal studies of children with disabilities (National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study, Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study, Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study, and National Longitudinal Transition Study-2).
The report contains the following descriptions of identification and outcomes:
Who is identified for early intervention and special education services under IDEA? In 2005, the most recent year for which data were available for birth through age 21, states reported that 7,013,238 children ages birth through 21 years had been identified for early intervention and special education services under IDEA, including both children newly identified in the year represented by the count and children identified in earlier years who continued to receive services. Of the children reported by states as having been identified for services under IDEA, 294,714 were infants and toddlers (birth through age 2), 698,928 were preschool-age children (ages 3 through 5), and 6,019,596 school-age were children and youth (ages 6 through 21). The number of children identified for services represent 2.39 percent of all infants and toddlers (birth through age 2), 5.77 percent of all children ages 3 through 5, and 12.92 percent of all 6- through 17- year olds enrolled in school.
How has identification changed over time? The identification of children birth through age 17 for services under IDEA increased over time. For infants and toddlers identified for services under IDEA, there was an overall increase in the percentage from 1997 to 2005 (1.65 percent to 2.40 percent), with the greatest increase for 2-year-olds (2.42 percent to 3.91 percent). Among preschool-age children (ages 3 through 5) identified for services under IDEA, the percentage increased from 4.70 percent (n = 564,270) in 1997 to 5.82 percent (n = 706,242) in 2006, with increases for each age year. For school-age children and youth identified for services under IDEA (ages 6 through 17), the percentage increased from 12.31 percent (n = 5,081,196) in 1997 to 12.92 percent (n = 5,707,712) in 2005, with the 10- through 13-year olds having the highest percentage each year from 1997 to 2005 and the 14- through 17-year-olds having the largest percentage point increase in receipt of services under IDEA (1.64 points).
What are the developmental and academic outcomes of children identified for early intervention and special education services under IDEA?
- Findings from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS) show that, based on parent and teachers' reports of skills, former early intervention participants with IEPs continuing to receive special education service showed lower levels of performance across the five developmental domains (communication, cognitive, social-emotional, physical development, and adaptive skills) than their same age peers in kindergarten. In contrast, former early intervention participants without Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) performed comparably across the five developmental domains to their same age peers in kindergarten.
- From the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS), preschool-age children identified for services under IDEA did not differ from the general population of same-age children on letter and word identification skills but had a significantly lower vocabulary skills (p < .001) and applied mathematics skills (p < .001). A teacher rating of social skills also showed significantly lower social skills functioning for preschool-age children identified for IDEA services than for the general population of 3- through 5-year-olds (p < .001).
- The average NAEP test scores in fourth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics increased from 2003 to 2007 for school-age children identified and not identified for services under IDEA. In the 2003, 2005, and 2007 administrations of the NAEP, school-age children and youth identified for IDEA services had significantly lower scores than their peers not identified for IDEA services in both reading and mathematics (p < .001 for all differences).
- Nationally, 46 percent of children identified for service under IDEA (and estimated to be enrolled in schools as of 4 years earlier) completed secondary school with a regular diploma in 2005, which is 29 percentage points below the rate for children in the total population (75 percent).
