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Overview
Section 618 of IDEA requires that each State submit data about children with disabilities, ages 3 through 21, who receive special education and related services under Part B of IDEA.
The purpose of these data is to provide information necessary to understand the counts for the number of occurrences in the following sections:
- The number of children with disabilities receiving special education and related services according to an individualized education program or service plan in place on the count date. This is an unduplicated count; each child is counted once and only once.
- The number of children with disabilities ages 3 through 21 served under the IDEA, Part B program, according to their educational environments.
Definitions of Key Terms
For definitions, see the WISEdash Glossary
- Child Count: The federally required collection of data for students with IEPs / ISPs. Wisconsin’s Child Count date is October 1.
Calculating Rates
- Numerator: the number of students with IEPs/ISPs in the subgroup as of the October 1 Child Count.
- Denominator: all students with IEPs/ISPs enrolled or receiving services within Wisconsin public schools as of the October 1 Child Count.
- Rate: Numerator / Denominator (reported in a percentage format)
Data Changes Over Time
- 2020-21 to Present: the grouping of students into preschool and school-age educational environments were revised such that students in Kindergarten and age five as of the October 1 Child Count are now reported in the school-age codes. Prior to this, all 3-5 year olds were included in the preschool educational environments, regardless of grade.
Data Sources
States/ entities are required to report the Child Count and Educational Environments data under Title 1, Part A, Subsection 618 of IDEA.
Part B Child Count and Educational Environments Data comes from two files:
- FS002/DG74 - The unduplicated number of children with disabilities (IDEA) ages 5 (in Kindergarten) through 21.
- FS089/DG613 - The unduplicated number of children with disabilities (IDEA) ages 3 through 5 (not in Kindergarten).
This information is submitted to OSEP via ESS by the IDEA Part B data managers in each of the 60 IDEA Part B reporting entities.
OSEP reviews and evaluates the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of the data submitted by States/ entities to meet the reporting requirements under Section 618 of IDEA. OSEP also conducts year to year change analysis on data submitted by the States/ entities. All timeliness, accuracy, completeness and year-to-year data quality checks are outlined in the EDFacts Business Rules Single Inventory (BRSI), available on the EDFacts Initiative website.
OSEP identifies a Section 618 data submission as timely if the State/ entity has submitted the required data to the appropriate data submission system (i.e., ESS or EMAPS) on or before the original due date. OSEP identifies a Section 618 data submission as complete if the State/ entity has submitted data for all applicable fields, file specifications, category sets, subtotals, and grand totals for a specific Section 618 data collection. Additionally, OSEP evaluates if the data submitted by the State/ entity match the information in metadata sources such as the EMAPS IDEA - State Supplemental Survey and the EMAPS Assessment Metadata Survey. OSEP identifies a Section 618 data submission as accurate if the State/ entity has submitted data that meets all the accuracy edit checks for the specific data collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which children are reported in the file 3-5 not in Kindergarten?
All children with disabilities (IDEA) who are ages 3 through 5 (not in kindergarten) receiving special education and related services according to an individual education program or services plan in place on the count date. This includes children enrolled in private school by a parent, but who are still receiving special education services through the LEA under a services plan.
2. Which students are reported in the file at the SEA level (5 in Kindergarten-21)?
All students with disabilities (IDEA) who are ages 5 (in Kindergarten) through 21, receiving special education and related services according to an IEP or services plan in place on the State’s/ entity’s child count date, including children who are:
- Parentally-placed in private schools who receive services under a services plan
- In correctional facilities
- In State/ entity-operated educational facilities
- In public schools
How are children with disabilities (IDEA) who receive their education in a State/ entity-operated school (i.e., State school for the deaf) reported?
In Wisconsin, the LEA retains responsibility for the education of children who receive their education exclusively at a State/ entity-operated facility, so the LEA may also report those students, depending on State/ entity procedures.
3. How are children who reside in one LEA but received services in another reported?
Students are reported by the LEA that has responsibility for the students.
4. How are counts of children reported by Age (Early Childhood) or Age (School Age)?
Children are reported according to their discrete age, based on each child’s age as of the child count date. 5-year-olds who are in Kindergarten should be reported in FS002 "Age 5 (School Age)" and 5-year-olds who are not in Kindergarten should be reported in FS089 "Age 5 (Early Childhood)" under the permitted value abbreviations “AGE05K” and “AGE05NOTK” respectively.
5. How are counts of children reported by racial ethnic (RE)?
The federal government requires racial and ethnic data to be reported using 7 permitted values, which are:
- AM7 – American Indian or Alaska Native
- AS7 – Asian
- BL7 – Black or African American
- HI7 – Hispanic/Latino
- PI7 – Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- WH7 – White
- MU7 – Two or more races
6. How are counts of children reported by English Learner status (both)?
Students who meet the definition of English learner students in the EDFacts Workbook are reported as English learner students. Students who do not meet that definition should be reported as non-English learner students.
7. How are counts of children reported by disability category?
Report students by one of the disability categories that are listed in the EDFacts Workbook.
8. How are children reported by developmental delay?
Wisconsin defines developmental delay for children ages 3 through 9. Only children ages 3 through 9 are reported in the developmental delay disability category, and then only because Wisconsin educators use diagnostic instruments and procedures to measure delays in physical, cognitive, communication, social, or emotional, or adaptive development. Although federal law does not require that States/ entities and LEAs categorize children according to developmental delay, because this category is required by State law, the data report these children in the developmental delay category.
9. How is a child with more than one primary disability reported?
If a child has only two primary disabilities and those disabilities are deafness and blindness and the child is not reported as having a developmental delay, that child must be reported under the permitted value “deaf-blindness.”
A child who has more than one primary disability and is not reported under the permitted value "deaf-blindness" (as explained in the bullet above) or as the permitted value of developmental delay must be reported under the permitted value “multiple disabilities.”
10 How are counts of children reported by Educational Environment (IDEA) Early Childhood?
The chart below explains the permitted values used for early childhood educational environment.
| Type of Program | Setting | Permitted Values |
|---|---|---|
| Children Attending a Regular Early Childhood Program At Least 10 Hrs Per Week | And Receiving the Majority of Hours of Special Education And Related Services In The Regular Early Childhood Program | Services Regular Early Childhood Program (at least 10 Hours) |
| Children Attending a Regular Early Childhood Program At Least 10 Hrs Per Week | And Receiving the Majority of Hours of Special Education And Related Services In Some Other Location | Other Location Regular Early Childhood Program (at least 10 Hours) |
| Children Attending a Regular Early Childhood Program Less Than 10 Hrs Per Week | And Receiving the Majority of Hours of Special Education And Related Services In The Regular Early Childhood Program | Services Regular Early Childhood Program (Less Than 10 Hours) |
| Children Attending a Regular Early Childhood Program Less Than 10 Hrs Per Week | And Receiving the Majority of Hours of Special Education And Related Services In Some Other Location | Other Location Regular Early Childhood Program (Less Than 10 Hours) |
| Children attending a special education program (NOT in any regular early childhood program) | Specifically, a separate special education class | Separate Class |
| Children attending a special education program (NOT in any regular early childhood program) | Specifically, a separate school | Separate School |
| Children attending a special education program (NOT in any regular early childhood program) | Specifically, a residential facility | Residential Facility |
| Children attending neither a regular early childhood program nor a special education program (Not included in rows above) | And receiving the majority of hours of special education and related services at home | Home |
| Children attending neither a regular early childhood program nor a special education program (Not included in rows above) | And receiving the majority of hours of special education and related services at the service providers location or some other location not in any other category. | Service Provider Location |
11. What are regular early childhood programs?
A regular early childhood program is a program that includes a majority (at least 50 percent) of nondisabled children (i.e., children not on IEPs). This may include, but is not limited to the following:
- Head Start
- Preschool classes offered to an eligible pre-kindergarten population by the public school system
- Private preschools
- Group child development center or child care
12. What are special education programs?
A special education program is a program that includes less than 50 percent nondisabled children (i.e., children not on IEPs). This may include, but is not limited to the following:
· Special education classes in
- Regular school buildings
- Trailers or portables outside regular school buildings
- Child care facilities
- Hospital facilities on an outpatient basis
- Other community-based settings
- Separate schools
- Residential facilities
13. How is percentage of time in calculated (5 in Kindergarten-21)?
To calculate the percentage of time inside the regular classroom, divide the number of hours the child spends inside the regular classroom by the total number of hours in the school day (including lunch, recess and study periods). The result is multiplied by 100.
Time spent outside the regular classroom receiving services unrelated to the child’s disability (e.g., time receiving EL services) should be considered time inside the regular classroom.
Educational time spent in age-appropriate community-based settings that include individuals with and without disabilities, such as college campuses or vocational sites, should be counted as time spent inside the regular classroom.
14. How are student counts reported by Educational Environment (IDEA) School Age (5 in Kindergarten-21)?
Students with disabilities (IDEA) are reported by the setting in which the students have been placed for educational services. Below are the definitions of the permitted values:
- Inside regular class 80% or more of day (RC80). These are children who received special education and related services outside the regular classroom for less than 21% of the school day. This may include children placed in:
- Regular class with special education/related services provided within regular classes
- Regular class with special education/related services outside regular classes
- Regular class with special education services provided in resource rooms
- Inside regular class no more than 79% of day and no less than 40% of the day (RC79TO40). These are children who received special education and related services outside the regular classroom for at least 21% but no more than 60% of the school day. Do not include children who are reported as receiving education programs in public or private separate school or residential facilities. This may include children placed in:
- resource rooms with special education/related services provided within the resource room
- resource rooms with part-time instruction in a regular class
- Inside regular class less than 40% of the day (RC39). These are children who received special education and related services outside the regular classroom for more than 60% of the school day. These data do not include children who are reported as receiving education programs in public or private separate school or residential facilities. This may include children placed in:
- self-contained special classrooms with part-time instruction in a regular class
- self-contained special classrooms with full-time special education instruction on a regular school campus
- Separate School (SS) – These are children who received education programs in public or private separate day school facilities. This includes children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, at public expense, for greater than 50% of the school day in public or private separate schools. This may include children placed in:
- public and private day schools for students with disabilities
- public and private day schools for students with disabilities for a portion of the school day (greater than 50%) and in regular school buildings for the remainder of the school day
- public and private residential facilities if the student does not live at the facility
- Residential Facility (RF) – These are children who received education programs and lived in public or private residential facilities during the school week. This includes children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, at public expense, for greater than 50% of the school day in public or private residential facilities. This may include children placed in:
- public and private residential schools for students with disabilities
- public and private residential schools for students with disabilities for a portion of the school day (greater than 50%) and in separate day schools or regular school buildings for the remainder of the school day
- These do not include students who received education programs at the facility, but do not live there.
- Homebound/Hospital (HH) – These are children who received programs in homebound/hospital environments. This includes children receiving special education and related services in hospital programs or homebound programs. Do not include children whose parents have opted to home–school them and who receive special education at the public expense.
- Correctional Facilities (CF) – These are children who received special education in correctional facilities. These data are intended to be an unduplicated count of all children receiving special education in short-term detention facilities (community-based or residential) or correctional facilities.
- Parentally-placed in Private Schools (PPPS) – These are children who are enrolled by their parents or guardians in regular parochial or other private schools and whose basic education is paid through private resources and who received special education and related services at public expense from a local education agency or intermediate educational unit under a services plan. Children enrolled in private school by a parent, but who are still receiving special education services through the LEA, may have a services plan rather than an IEP. These children should be included.
- Include children whose parents chose to home-school them, but who receive special education and related services at the public expense.
- Do not include children who are placed in private schools by the LEA.