Center for on Outcomes for Infants, Toddlers,
and Preschoolers with Disabilities (ECO)

The need for information about outcomes for young children with disabilities continues to grow as local, state, and federal policy-makers demand data about what programs are accomplishing for young children with disabilities. The development of outcome measurements systems is a daunting task because of both the technical and practical challenges involved. The prospect of various public and private entities independently undertaking the development of outcome measurement systems is inefficient at best and likely to result in a plethora of approaches, some possibly technically unsound. It also holds little hope of ever being able to aggregate data from one level to the next (for example, state to national).

To bring together the diverse groups working in this area and to supply them with a solid knowledge base from which to proceed, SRI International in conjunction with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and the University of Kansas propose to create a national center on outcomes for young children with disabilities. The goal of the proposed center is to promote the development of a set of outcome measures that can be used in local, state, and national accountability systems to (1) track the status of children with disabilities ages birth through five and (2) track outcomes related to their families.

Achieving this goal requires sound information, consensus among the diverse groups with a vested interest in outcomes measurement, and training and technical assistance in development of outcomes measures. Recognizing this, the objectives of the center are:

1. To develop a knowledge base about current practice in outcomes measurement for young children with disabilities and their families through the development of research syntheses on outcome measurement, the conduct of annual surveys, ongoing communication with other groups working in the area, and other research.

2. To build consensus for a set of outcome measures through convening of stakeholder groups and collaboration with other agencies and organizations working on outcomes for young children.

3. To promote the adoption of improved policies and practices regarding outcome measurement through technical assistance and dissemination.

The relationship between these objectives will be iterative in that research will provided to inform the consensus building among the stakeholder groups and serve as the basis for technical assistance. The stakeholders groups also will help identify gaps in the knowledge base and evaluate the feasibility of proposed approaches and these will be used to guide future research activities. Information will be collected about the work being done by the stakeholders and the collaborators and this information will increase the knowledge base about current practices and be shared through the training and technical assistance.

The Center will undertake a variety of activities related to research, training and technical assistance, and collaboration and leadership including surveys of state practices, commissioning of research, convening of stakeholder groups and production and dissemination of written materials. Through these and other related activities, the center will establish itself as visible and credible resource, contributing much needed information and coherence to the advancement of outcomes measurement for young children with disabilities.