Head Start Children Finishing First Grade: Preliminary Data on School Identification of Children at Risk for Special Education

Although Head Start has a mandate to serve children with disabilities as at least 10% of its population, few systematic data are available on identification of children in various disability categories in the years immediately following their preschool experience. In the study reported here, two cohorts of 4,161 children across 30 sites were followed through first grade as part of a larger study on transition assistance. At-risk status was assessed at the beginning of kindergarten by developing research diagnostic criteria (RDC) for four major special education categories using clinical cut-off points on language, achievement, and social skills measures and indicators of speech or mental health problems on parent interviews. The school identification of study participants in each RDC was determined by a search of school archival records in the spring of first grade. Only 26% of the children meeting RDC in the four major categories were identified by the schools, and little concordance was observed among categories. Findings are discussed in relation to disability categories, with particular reference to assumptions about underidentification of children with emotional or behavioral disorders.