Especially for Families

Welcome to the Early Childhood Outcomes Center website. The ECO Center is committed to including the concerns and voices of parents and families throughout our work. Parents participate in many ways to guide our work: family members serve on our advisory board, participate in workgroups, and present and participate in our annual conference. This page provides links to areas of our website that parents and family members of young children might find particularly helpful.

Background Information:

  • Watch a video overview to the three child outcomes.
  • Peruse frequently asked questions about outcomes measurement on the ECO Q & A page.
  • Find out more about the federal requirements for measuring outcomes for young children with disabilities
  • Listen to an orientation on child and family outcomes here (1hr 16min).
  • See the PACER Center article, Measuring Outcomes Helps to Track Your Child's Progress [link]

Throughout the US, states are developing systems to measure outcomes for young children and their families. Families may be involved in this process by participating in stakeholder groups, advisory groups, or workgroups in their state. If you would like to know more about activities in your state, you can:

Child Development Resources:

  • The ECO Center page Age-expected resources has links to materials on typical child development.
  • The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has materials on age-expected development on their website Learn the signs. Act Early. They have many additional materials on child development for families, including:
    • Milestone Moments [PDF] is a 42-page booklet including milestone checklists and tips to help parents support their child's development from age 2 months to 5 years, and guidance about what to do if developmental concerns arise.
    • The CDC has also developed a brochure on tracking your child's developmental milestones, available in both English [PDF] and Spanish [PDF].
  • PBS' The Whole Child: ABCs of Child Development webpage is an easy-to-use website full of useful information as well as expected developmental milestones in the areas of physical, social/emotional, cognitive, and communication.

Other resources that may be of interest include:

  • The TA Alliance for Parent Centers (http://www.taalliance.org/). This site has resources including contact information for Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) in each state.
  • Delaware's Building Blocks manual offers information on why and outcomes are measured.