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Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center

Since 2003, SRI has provided national leadership on measuring outcomes of programs serving young children through the Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center. The ECO Center assists the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and state agencies in building measurement systems for programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families. The Center provides technical assistance and conducts research to support states in the development of high-quality child and family outcome measurement systems.

Supported by OSEP, the ECO Center is in its second five years of funding. In the first phase of ECO (2003–2008), the Center solicited input from many different stakeholder groups on issues related to designing and building state and national outcome measurement systems. After receiving the results of the stakeholder process, OSEP implemented a national reporting requirement for states. ECO developed tools and provided technical assistance to states to support them in reporting child and family data. Additionally, ECO has maintained a website to serve as a repository for information on child and family outcomes measurement including information on the OSEP reporting requirements, state developed resources, state activities, and related resource documents.

During the second phase (2008–2013), the ECO Center is focusing on the following key areas:

• Knowledge Development. The ECO Center will work closely with four to eight partner states in years 1 and 2 to develop a framework for states to use in examining their child and family measurement systems. The framework will address key components of an early childhood outcomes measurement system, such as data collection and quality assurance procedures. The framework and materials will be disseminated in years 3 through 5.
• Technical Assistance and Dissemination. ECO is carrying out a variety of group and individualized activities designed to support states in building outcomes measurement systems. Activities include hosting a national outcomes meeting, convening national conference calls, maintaining the website, forming and supporting Communities of Practice, developing a cadre of experts from other projects to provide outcomes-related TA to states, and developing online, print, and video training materials.
• Leadership and Coordination. The ECO Center has assembled a diverse group of individuals representing a variety of perspectives to inform the work of the Center. These individuals are assisting the Center by serving on the Advisory Board and Work Groups. The Center also will be coordinating with other projects and organizations who are working on issues related to early childhood outcomes measurement.

(U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, 2003-2013)

Key Staff

Lauren Barton, Kathleen Hebbeler, Sangeeta Mallik, Donna Spiker, Cornelia Taylor