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IDEA National Assessment Analytic Support

SRI is providing analytic support for the congressionally mandated National Assessment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. The National Assessment will assess both progress in the implementation of IDEA 2004 and the relative effectiveness of the law in achieving its purposes.

SRI will conduct four studies over a 2-year period on topics critical to achieving the purposes of the National Assessment. Topics to be studied the first year focus on documenting the academic and developmental outcomes of children with disabilities, including educational achievement and high school completion. The study is addressing the following research questions:

• What are the differences in academic and developmental outcomes between children with disabilities served under IDEA and children without disabilities—nationally, by state, and over time?
• How do academic and developmental outcomes for children with disabilities served under IDEA vary by disability category within age groups—nationally, by state, and over time?
• How do academic and developmental outcomes for children who are no longer eligible for special education compare with outcomes for children who continue to be served under IDEA?

The second study during the first year focuses on patterns of identification of students for early intervention and special education services. The study is addressing the following research questions:

• What is the variation across and within states, and across states over time, in the proportion of children identified for early intervention and special education under IDEA?
• How do disability definitions within each IDEA category vary across states, and how do rates of identification vary—overall and by age, race/ethnicity, and sex—according to these definitions?
• What proportion of children served under IDEA each year lose eligibility, and how has this proportion varied across states and over time?

Topics during the second year will focus on patterns of early intervention and special education service environments. The first study will address the following research questions:

• What early intervention, special education, and related services (type, service delivery settings, coordination with other agencies and school- or community-based services, etc.) are children with disabilities receiving?
• How do the early intervention, special education, and related services received by children with disabilities vary by the child’s age, disability category, and race/ethnicity?
• How do the environments or settings in which children with disabilities are served vary across states, over time, and by the child’s age, disability category, and race/ethnicity?

The second study in year 2 will focus on the number and characteristics of early intervention and special education personnel. The study will address the following research questions:

• How do the number (per child served) and the certification of early intervention, special education, and related services personnel vary by personnel type, across states, and over time?
• What association is there, across states and over time, between the number (per child served) of early intervention, special education, and related services personnel and the environments or settings in which children are served under IDEA, by age and disability category?
• What association is there, across states and over time, between the number (per child served) of early intervention, special education, and related services personnel and the services children receive under IDEA, by age and disability category?

(U.S. Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, 2007-2011)

Key Staff

Project Co-Directors: Jose Blackorby, Ellen Schiller

Staff: Kathleen Hebbeler, Tracy Huang, Harold Javitz, Mary McCracken