Kathleen Hebbeler Donna Spiker SRI International Presented at OSEP Early Childhood Conference

1

Early Intervention Graduates Go to Kindergarten:

Findings from the National Early Intervention Longitudinal

Study (NEILS)

Kathleen Hebbeler Donna SpikerSRI International

Presented at OSEP Early Childhood ConferenceWashington, DC December 2005

2

Questions to be Addressed Today

• What are the child and family outcomes for former recipients of early intervention when the child enters kindergarten?

• What are the child’s experiences in kindergarten and what services are being received?

3

National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS)

• Conducted by SRI International Frank Porter Graham Child

Development Institute Research Triangle Institute American Institutes for Research

• 10-year study funded by OSEP in 1995

4

Study Design

• Longitudinal. NEILS followed children and families from the time they enter early intervention through kindergarten.

• Families were recruited when they enrolled in early intervention for the first time.

• Families were recruited from September 1997 to November 1998.

5

NEILS Findings Presented Today

• Today’s findings based on telephone interviews with family member conducted when:

Child began early intervention (N=3200; 96%)

Child was 36 to 40 months of age (N=2584; 77%)

Child was entering kindergarten (N=2298; 69%).

• Asked a series of questions about child’s behavior, health, and development.

• Last round of family kindergarten interviews was completed in December 2004.

• Data are weighted to represent the nation.

6

Who are the Infants and Toddlers Entering Early

Intervention?

7

Key Findings

Children are more likely to begin services before 8 months and after 18 months than in the time in between.

When children begin early intervention is strongly related to the reason why they are eligible for services.

There is no typical child in early intervention.

8

Key Findings

Children in early intervention are: In poorer health than the general population

of infants and toddlers16% fair or poor health compared to 2.3% for

general population)

More likely to be boys (61%)More likely have been born at low birth

weight

32% vs. 8% general population

10% of children in EI are under 1000 grams

9

Percentage of Infants & Toddlers Entering Services by Age at Entry *

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36Age in Months

Per

cent

* Age at development of the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

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Eligibility for Early Intervention Services

Diagnosedcondition

20%

Developmental delay64%

At-risk16%

11

Eligibility by Age at Entry

32

75

91

36

16

6

32

93

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

>12 months 12-24 months < 24 months

Developmental Delay Diagnosed Condition At-risk

12

Child Outcomes at Kindergarten

13

Key FindingsMany former EI participants are doing well

at kindergarten.

About half are reported to no longer have a delay or disability.

A minority of children continue to have difficulties with use of arms or legs.

A higher proportion of children have difficulties with communicating, relating, and behavior.

Health is improving but a minority of children continue to have health problems.

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Use of Arms and Hands

79

15

6

76 78

18 16

6 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Entry 36 months Kindergarten

Perc

ent

Uses both normally A little trouble A lot of trouble/ no use

15

Use of Legs and Feet

80

14

6

7573

1619

98

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


Perc

ent

Uses both normally A little trouble A lot of trouble/ no use

16

Communication: How Well Child Makes Needs Known

60

26

14

42

19

36

2622

18

0

38

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Perc

ent

Communicates well A little trouble A lot of trouble Skipped < 12 mo

17

Health Status

11

716562

182323

1316

0

20

40

60

80

100

Entry 36 Months Kindergarten

Perc

ent

Excellent/ Very Good Good Fair/ Poor

18

Health (Continued)

• Activities limited by health problem – 17%

• Currently taking medication for a condition or problem – 32% Taking medication for

behavior/mood/activity/attention – 22%

• Use any kind of medical device – 12%

19

At kindergarten child has a condition or delay that affects

development

Yes52%

No48%

20

Age at IFSP by Has Delay or Disability at

Kindergarten 57

48 5043

52 50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Birth < 12 months 12 < 24 months 24 to < 31 months

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Has condition No condition

21

Reason for Eligibility by Has Delay or Disability at

Kindergarten

49

75

35

51

25

65

01020304050607080

DevelopmentalDelay

DiagnosedCondition

Risk Condition

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Has condition No condition

22

Uses Legs/Feet and Arms/Hands as Well as Other Children

6266

9294

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Legs and feet Arms and hands

Perc

ent

Disability at kindergarten No Disability

23

Fine Motor Tasks

69

93

56

87

22

6

30

1290

14

20

20

40

60

80

100

Disability at K No Disability Disability at K No Disability

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Does it well Does it but not well Not at all

Use spoon without spilling

Copy a circle

24

Communication Tasks

67

94

44

82

113

27

137

1

14

3

15

2

15

20

20

40

60

80

100


% o

f ch

ildre

n

Does it well Does it but not well Not at all No spoken words

Uses 4-6 word sentence

Tells about events in story in sequence

25

Knowledge and Concepts

67

94

68

92

113

1267

1

20

2

15

20

20

40

60

80

100


% o

f ch

ildre

n

Does it well Does it but not well Not at all Column 4

Gives first and last name

Has concept of 3

26

How well does child learn, think, and solve problems

10

2229

60

37

1525

4

0

20

40

60

80

100

Disability at K No Disability

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Better than other children As well as other childrenSlightly less well than other children Much less well than other children

27

Exposure to Literacy: Looks at books on own

59 63

18 2115 14

82

0

20

40

60

80

100


Everyday 3-6 days week Once or twice Never

28

Social Skills and Behavior

39

79

44

80

32

16

32

1419

4

16

510

28

10

20

40

60

80

100


Typical for age Mild difficulty/ inappropriateModerate difficulty/ inappropriate Severe difficulty/ inappropriate

Social skills Appropriateness of behavior

29

Social Integration: Invited to another child’s house in last

week

14

313444

51

26

0

20

40

60

80

100


3 or more days Once or twice Never

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Kindergarten Experiences

and Receipt of

Special Education

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Key Findings

Transition to kindergarten has gone well for most but not all children.

About half of those who participated in EI are receiving special education or therapy services at kindergarten.

Some are receiving services outside of the public schools

About ¾ of those in EI had IEPs developed at age 3 but only less than ½ received services continuously between EI and kindergarten.

Parents are positive about their special education kindergarten experiences but not as positive as they were about EI.

32

How transition to kindergarten has gone

58

30

94

0

20

40

60

80

100

Very easy Somewhat easy Somewhat hard Very hard

33

Receiving special education or therapy through the public schools

at entry to kindergarten

Yes51%

No49%

34

Currently receiving special education or therapy through the

public schools and disability status

Not receiving special

education, has disability

12%

Not receiving special

education, no disability

37%

Receiving special

education, has disability

40%

Receiving special

education, no disability

11%

35

Currently receiving special education or therapy through the public schools or private sources

Private only5%

Neither44%

Public and private12%

Public only39%

36

(Only for children receiving public special education at K) Where child

spends time at school

612

39

13

27

0

10

20

30

40

50

All in regular class working only with regular teacherSpecialists come into regular classMost of time in regular class; taken out someSome time in regular class; some time in special classEntire day in special class

37

Special services received in kindergarten

80

57

39

59

0 20 40 60 80 100

Speech therapy

Occupationaltherapy

Physicaltherapy

Specialeducation

Percent

38

Feelings about amount of special education or therapy

through public schools

3

74

22

10

20

40

60

80

100

More than needed About the right amountLess than needed Enough of some, not others

39

Feelings about quality of special education or therapy through public

schools at K/EI at 36 months

41

60

52

42

30

38

136 7

3 1 21 2 10

20

40

60

80

Kindergarten Therapy through EI Other EI

% o

f ch

ildre

n

Excellent Good Fair Poor Mixed

40

(Only for children receiving special education at K) Feelings about time with typically developing children

2

83

15

0

20

40

60

80

100

Too much time About the right amount of time Not enough time

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Services Between Early Intervention and Kindergarten

• 77% report an IEP was developed for the child around 3 years of age 69% of them were receiving special

education or therapy through the public schools at kindergarten

• 63% report child has received services through the public schools sometime between EI and kindergarten

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Services Between Early Intervention and Kindergarten

• 45% report child has received services continuously between EI and kindergarten

• Among those who received preschool services through public schools, speech therapy (76%) most frequent service

• 21% report child received services not paid for by the public schools between EI and kindergarten

43

Family Outcomes

and Perceptions

at Kindergarten

44

Key Findings

Family outcomes at kindergarten are positive and very similar to family outcomes at 36 months.

Some families have a difficult time dealing with their child’s behavior at both time points.

The only exception is that at kindergarten families feel less confident in their ability to work with professionals and advocate for their child.

45

Family Knows How to Help Child Learn and Develop

64 67

32 31

3 21 0.50

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

36 Months Kindergarten

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

46

Difficulty Figuring Out What to Do about Behavior

12 13

2420

34 3331

34

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40



47

Know How to Work with Professionals and Advocate for What

Child Needs

65

50

31

40

38

1 30

10

20

30

40

50

60

70



48

Have Relatives or Friends Who Help the Family Deal with Problems

41 4041 39

1215

7 7

05

1015202530354045



49

Family Has Little Chance to Take Part in Community

Activities

12 11

24 23

36 35

2832

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40



50

Family’s Overall Life Situation Now

67 70

23 22

9 7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80



51

Child’s Overall Life Situation Now

70 71

23 22

7 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80



52

Expect Family’s Life Situation Will Be…..

81 80

16 17

3 20

102030405060708090



53

How Far in School Do You Expect Your Child Will Go…..

2

1815

36

30

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Less than HS HS Vocational/ 2Yr. Degree

College GraduateDegree

Perc

ent

54

Early Intervention Retrospective

55

Key Finding

At kindergarten, families still are pleased with the quality of early intervention education services and see it as having had an impact on their child’s development and on their family.

56

Quality of Help Family Received Through EI

62

29

52 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Excellent Good Fair Poor Some OK

57

Effect of EI on the Family

63

2016

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Much Better Somewhat Better About the Same Worse Off

58

Impact of EI Services on Child Development

73

21

5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Lot of Impact Little Impact No Impact

59

Conclusions

• Early intervention is serving children with a variety of different conditions and delays.

• In addition to having a delay or disability, EI participants differ from the general population in ways that probably have consequences for long term outcomes (e.g., poor health and poverty).

• By kindergarten, about half of those who received early intervention are no longer considered to have a disability. We need to do more analyses to have a better sense of

who these children are and how they differ from those who are still considered to have a delay or a disability.

60

Conclusions• Many former EI participants are experiencing

good outcomes at kindergarten. A small proportion of those who no longer have a delay or disability have indicators of possible future difficulties.

• Problem areas are communication, relating to others, and behavior.

• About half of the children are no longer receiving special education services.

• Most family outcomes are positive, especially their hope for the future and their expectations for their children.

• At kindergarten, most families see EI as having had a positive impact on their children and families.

61

NEILS Web Site:www.sri.com/neils

Documents

Kathleen Hebbeler Donna Spiker SRI International Presented at OSEP Early Childhood Conference