The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) issues guidance to support District of Columbia local education agencies (LEAs) in carrying out obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Consistent with Section 618 of IDEA, LEAs must collect and report data to OSSE to support state-level data reporting. The US Department of Education (USED) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires each state, including the District of Columbia, to report annually on performance measures outlined in the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR). Indicator 7: Preschool Outcomes measures outcomes for preschool students in three areas: positive social-emotional skills, acquisition and use of knowledge and skills and use of appropriate behaviors.

To support Indicator 7 data collection and reporting, the District of Columbia adopted the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process as defined by the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center. This guidance document establishes state-level criteria and processes for data collection, analysis and reporting of student-level COS data. The COS process is a team-based process for summarizing information about a child’s functioning in the three outcome areas to measure how students make progress following the provision of early childhood special education services.