A new study of young children who receive early interventions or special education services in Oregon reports that the most common problem areas for these youngsters are phonological awareness, numbers and operations, and the use of knowledge and skills. The researchers found that of the 16 key areas that children need to succeed in school, these three areas had the highest percentages of children assessed as functioning below age-level, regardless of the child's primary disability, gender, or ethnicity.

The study from REL Northwest— Analysis of the Developmental Functioning of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education Populations in Oregon— analyzed data from the Oregon Early Childhood Assessment System on children's ability to perform different tasks. The assessment measures if children perform above, at, and below age-expected skills levels.

According to Gary Nave, the study's principal investigator, "The Early Childhood Unit at the Oregon Department of Education asked Education Northwest to analyze the data collected in the system to identify where children are doing well and where they need additional support." Nave and co-authors Vicki Nishioka and Arthur Burke also looked for similarities and differences between subgroups of children based on their primary disability, gender, race/ethnicity, and primary home language. "Researchers typically analyze data for differences between groups of children, "says Nave, "but one of the most interesting findings in this study was that the patterns were quite similar across all of the subgroups as to which outcome measures had the greatest and least percentages of kids below age-expected skill levels."

One of the differences between groups of children in the study was that a higher percentage of boys than girls performed below age-expected levels on 15 of the 16 state outcome measures. This was true for children receiving early intervention services (for infants to two-year-olds) and older children receiving early childhood special education services (for three- to five-year-olds). In addition, approximately twice as many boys received services, which may reflect the fact that girls tend to have higher levels of language skill, cognitive development, and social competence at younger ages than boys.

Another finding from the study is that a higher percentage of Hispanic children from homes where Spanish is the primary language were below age expectations than Hispanic children from homes where English is the primary language. This was true for all outcome measures, not just those directly related to language development. "This is an interesting finding, but we can't explain the reason for it or even confirm that it represents real differences between these two groups," says Nave. "The results could be related to the assessment instrument or might reflect the need for more professional development for service providers. This is an area that may have potential for additional research."

Developing and using data systems to monitor child outcomes across time is a strong priority at both state and federal levels. According to Nave, the report from REL Northwest provides one example of the potential application of these data systems to learn more about children's developmental functioning levels. "Hopefully, the results from the report can serve as one source of information to Oregon when considering materials, training, and technical assistance for service providers," he said.