The purpose of this project is to provide support to the Florida Department of Education in meeting the requirements of Indicator 7 of the State Performance Plan under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004). Indicator 7 relates to outcomes of children ages birth through five who have participated in early intervention and/or preschool special education services. Specifically, states must report on the extent to which children receiving services demonstrate positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships), the acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early language/ communication and early literacy), and the use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.

The Measuring Outcomes project is in its second year of funding and is projected to be funded through the life of the current State Performance Plan (2005-2010). The project is the fruit of a long-term collaboration between Dr. Batya Elbaum and the Florida Department of Education on issues related to statewide monitoring of special education services, accountability, alternate student assessment, and parent involvement.

The Measuring Outcomes project includes the following activities:

• developing system specifications for data collection and reporting;
• building capacity to conduct the required child assessments by organizing training workshops on administration of the state’s selected assessment tool (the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Ed.);
• developing a data capture and warehousing system for the state’s child outcomes accountability data;
• collaborating with the state leadership team on the development of procedural guidelines for local programs that must report child outcomes data;
• processing the assessment data submitted by local assessment teams;
• developing algorithms for the classification of children’s progress into the federally specified reporting categories;
• preparing reports that form the basis of the state’s Annual Performance Report on Indicator 7; and
• conducting additional data analyses to answer state-specific research questions.