Preschool LRE Data Collection (Section 618 of IDEA)
NDSS Comments
National Down Syndrome Society
National Down Syndrome Congress
October 15, 2005
These comments are provided on behalf of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and
the National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC). NDSS and NDSC are nonprofit organizations
with more than 200 affiliates nationwide representing the more than 350,000 Americans who
have this genetic condition.
We very much appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the Notice of Proposed
Information Collection Requests on the revision to the 618 data reporting requirements as
published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2007.
Our comments address the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) proposed changes to
the 618 reporting requirements as they relate to the settings in which preschool children receive
their special education and related services. Inclusive educational opportunities are critically
important for preschool aged children with disabilities. Moreover, federally-funded research
clearly shows that inclusive opportunities benefit young children with and without disabilities.
When the OSEP monitoring system was revised several years ago to the Continuous
Improvement and Focused Monitoring System, states started using the 618 data collected for
critical indicators like Preschool LRE for program improvement and by OSEP for accountability
for federal funds. The progress that states were beginning to make in preschool LRE was very
exciting. However, that progress slowed down, and in some cases came to a halt, when the
preschool LRE data collection changed recently. Instead of measuring where IDEA services are
provided, under the current (and proposed) system LEAs and states are measuring where
children are attending preschool or day care, etc. even if the parents are paying for the placement
and even if the child is not receiving special education services in that setting. In fact, the form
clearly states "Child's attendance at an early childhood program need not be supported through
IDEA, Part B funding". Additionally, if the child attends a Regular Early Childhood Program,
the child is to be reported in that environment, even if the child receives his/her special education
services in other environments. The point of the monitoring provisions in IDEA, and the point of
the OMB GEPRA and PART processes, is to have accountability for federal funds and programs
- not to identify and measure what parents are doing for their children. We strongly oppose
"credit" being given for attendance in programs paid for by parents.
We have serious concerns about the proposed changes and recommend that the data categories
for reporting be revised to reflect data categories originally established in 1998-1999 that
OSEP adopted for reporting preschool LRE settings, with the modifications made in 2003.
The framework for collecting Preschool LRE data has been in place since 1976. There have
been several iterations and modifications in the structure of the data and the categorical criteria
used. With each iteration there has been a "fine tuning" to the data collection process. The
changes for the most part have resulted in providing states with the ability to collect strong data
that can be used for program improvement and accountability. The 618 reporting requirements
historically have provided states with supportive data they have been able to use with their LEAs
and state plans around enhancing inclusive opportunities for young children with disabilities.
However, recent changes created an entirely new direction for states that made it difficult for
them to track their programmatic activities, to examine their progress and to set programmatic
priorities. The proposed changes do not solve that problem and in fact only add to it.
Section 616(a)(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to
report on quantifiable indicators in the monitoring priorities specified in the statute. One of these
priority areas included in the statute and its implementing regulations is provided at 616(a)(3)(A)
- "Provision of a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment." The
intent of the statute is to identify where children are placed and are receiving services under
IDEA and whether these placements and services are in accordance with the LRE provisions.
We do not believe the OSEP proposed changes to the 618 data reporting requirements will
enable states to collect data they can meaningfully use for setting state-level priorities. It is
critical that states be able to set priorities based upon data as required by regulation. The OSEP
proposed changes to reporting requirements continue to reflect data on the settings in which
children spend their day unrelated to the provision of a FAPE supported by the public agency.
We recommend that the previous data collection tables be used that reflect where services
are provided, and that information also be collected on who is paying for the placement the parents or the school district - in order to meaningfully use this data to improve the
provision of FAPE in the LRE. Using the previous data collection form would allow states and
LEAs to move forward with collecting and analyzing the data for developing targets and
strategies for continuous improvement, using baseline data from previous data collection.
Currently, the monitoring reporting, data analysis, target-setting and improvement planning is on
hold for preschool LRE - which is a real tragedy for these young children with disabilities and
their families - and for the professionals who want to make improvements in preschool LRE.
We have seen interesting public comments from The Division for Early Childhood of the
Council for Exceptional Children on the 618 data collection. We encourage OSEP to convene a
stakeholder group to consider how data could be better used to support program improvement for
young children with disabilities and request to be included in such a stakeholder group.
Thank you again for this opportunity to comment. If further information is needed, please
contact:
Stephanie Smith Lee
Senior Policy Advisor Director of Governmental Affairs
National Down Syndrome Society, National Policy Center
Susan Goodman
Director of Governmental Affairs
National Down Syndrome Congress