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Definitions
The following tags are used to categorize the resources in our searchable database. Brief definitions of
each are provided.
Accountability: Federal reporting, measuring progress, and justification of public expenditures for
early intervention and early childhood special education.
APR/SPP/Federal Reporting: Annual Performance Report (APR), in which states annually provide
data on required indicators to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). State Performance
Plan (SPP) is the required plan for implementation of Part C and Section 619 services and
measurement. Both are required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Resources
with this tag also include SPP/APR supporting documents developed by ECO and OSEP.
Assessment*: The process of gathering information about a child from several sources (e.g. standard
measures, families, teachers), then organizing and interpreting this information.
Child Development: The process of children acquiring and using skills, abilities, and capacities
through early childhood. This broad term encompasses motor and physical growth and health, social
and emotional capacity, cognitive development, communication, and functional abilities to interact and
learn. Resources relate to both typical and atypical child development.
Child Outcomes Summary (COS) Process and Form: The ECO-developed process (COS) and tool
(COS Form) some states use to synthesize child-level information and translate it into categorical data
for the dual purposes of measuring children’s’ progress and federal reporting.
Communicating Results: Presenting, explaining, and interpreting state- or program-level outcomes
data to various audiences- parents, practitioners, legislators, funders, administrators, and others.
Crosswalks: Tools designed to align individual items on published child assessment tools with the
three child outcome areas in which states are required to report children’s progress to the Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Data Analysis: Examining outcomes and other data for patterns and trends and drawing conclusions
about these patterns/trends.
Data Collection: The processes that states use to gather data from children, families, and providers.
Data Quality: Improving the reliability, validity, and completeness of outcomes data, including data
collected for purposes of child and family outcomes, testing, local and federal reporting, and program
improvement.
Data Systems: Development, improvement, and expansion of state or local data systems, including
data elements, capacity or integration of multiple systems.
Early Learning Guidelines/Early Learning Standards: State or national recommendations about
benchmarks and expectations for children’s achievement and functioning at different ages or grades.
Family Outcomes: Benefits families receive related to the participation in programs for children and
families, through which program effectiveness can be assessed. Family benefits may be related to
skills such as understanding children’s strengths, abilities, and special needs; knowing their rights and
advocating for their child; helping their child develop and learn; having support systems; and gaining
access to desired services and activities in their community.
IFSP-IEP Integration: Relates to the practices of integrating Individualized Family Service Plans
(IFSPs) and Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) with child and family outcomes measurement
processes.
Integrating across Early Childhood: System capacity to overlap resources, priorities, and
approaches across early childhood special education, childcare, Head Start, and other state or national
early childhood programs.
Local Reporting: Presenting, explaining, and interpreting local outcomes data to various audiences
including funders, parents, practitioners, legislators, administrators, and others invested in the
outcomes of early intervention and early childhood special education services.
Quality Assurance: Ensuring the quality of data through data verification, documentation,
monitoring, record reviews, and/or assessing provider implementation of quality data practices.
Quality Practices: Early childhood interventions and practices recommended by professionals and
shown to be effective in positively affecting child or family skills and functioning (outcomes).
Self-Assessment Framework*: Frameworks developed by the ECO Center for states to use to
assess their capacity and effective implementation of their child or family outcomes measurement
systems.
State Approaches to Measuring Outcomes: Examples of individualized interpretations of and
adaptations to the federal requirements made by states to implement their outcomes measurement
system or components.
Target Setting: Process and guidance on setting targets for performance on many of the required
SPP/APR indicators, including the child and family outcomes indicators (C3, C4, B7).
Training/Professional Development: Approaches, guidance, and sample materials and activities
for training professionals who work in early intervention and preschool special education. Includes preservice, in-service, face-to-face, online, and other modalities.
Using Data for Program Improvement: Interpreting data patterns and trends to make informed
decisions about program areas that need improvement.
*The difference between Assessment and Self-Assessment Framework is that Assessment refers to the
testing and results of children in early intervention, whereas Self-Assessment Framework is specific to
the ECO Framework for determining where a program stands on the 7-point scale and could use
improvement