SRI International to Lead Technical Assistance Center for Early Childhood Special Education Outcome Measurement Systems
Menlo Park, Calif. —December 11, 2008— SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, today announced it will lead the Technical Assistance Center on Outcomes for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool Children with Disabilities. SRI was awarded this five-year cooperative agreement to improve implementation of state outcome measurement systems for early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education programs (ECSE) by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
The new Center builds on the work of the previously funded OSEP Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center and will be led by SRI, the University of North Carolina’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, the Research Triangle Institute, and the University of Connecticut. The focus of the new Center’s work will be to assist states in building high-quality outcomes measurement systems that can be used to evaluate program effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Major activities will include identifying evidence-based practices related to outcomes measurements and providing technical assistance to states to collect high quality data that will support the development and learning of young children with disabilities.
“Although many states have made remarkable progress in reporting outcomes data, much remains to be done to ensure the information that states are collecting is of the highest quality,” said Kathleen Hebbeler, Ph.D., SRI International program manager, Community Services and Strategies. “We look forward to working with state agencies across the country to develop effective approaches to data collection that will ultimately benefit young children with disabilities and their families.”
SRI and its ECO Center partners have been working closely with OSEP on accountability improvements since 2003. Previously, the Center identified a set of child and family outcomes — benefits experienced as a result of services received, provided states with information to make decisions about selection of measurement strategies, and assisted states with early implementation. The continuation of the work of the ECO Center is the next step toward greater accountability and improved programs for EI and ECSE. The outcomes being measured reflect the goals of EI and ECSE programs — to enable young children with disabilities to be active and successful participants during the early childhood years and in the future in a variety of settings, home, school, and the community, and to assist their families to support their children.
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About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. SRI, which was founded by Stanford University as Stanford Research Institute in 1946 and became independent in 1970, has been meeting the strategic needs of clients and partners for more than 60 years. Perhaps best known for its invention of the computer mouse and interactive computing, SRI has also been responsible for major advances in networking and communications, robotics, drug discovery and development, advanced materials, atmospheric research, education research, economic development, national security, and more. The nonprofit institute performs sponsored research and development for government agencies, businesses, and foundations. SRI also licenses its technologies, forms strategic alliances, and creates spin-off companies. In 2007, SRI’s consolidated revenues, including its wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, Sarnoff Corporation, were approximately $450 million.
