Louisiana's Developmental Delay Pilot Program

In an April 25, 2000, conference call for Section 619 Coordinators, Liz Borel, of Louisiana, reported on the 2-year Louisiana pilot study of extending the category of developmental delay through age 9. Twenty-eight of 66 districts participated in the study. Data was collected on the tests used, secondary exceptionality, and diagnosed impairments.

Louisiana is completing the second, and last, year of the pilot. This year, interventions and curriculum-based assessment for the 6-9 years were added to the criteria. As of December, 2,307 children were identified as DD over the past 2 years. About 10% of that number did not meet any other categorical classification. However, 41% of the total was non-categorical preschool. Louisiana has decided to adopt the criteria but will limit the age to 3 through 8 years. LEAs feel that by age 9 the students are involved in statewide assessment so students' problems need to be more defined if the student would need to have alternate assessment or modifications on that test. They also feel that the test results are more reliable at that age to classify categorically.

Districts reported confidence in identifying these children as needing special education and did not perceive the children as being "at-risk." Pupil appraisal personnel felt these were children who would have "fallen through the cracks." Teachers were accepting of the category and parents reported that the IEPs developed for the children were more individualized to meet their child’s identified needs.

Parents of children with autism were the only exception. Parents of young children with autism and the Louisiana Chapter of the Autism Society of America have expressed concern regarding the need for a categorical label to ensure appropriate services. The Louisiana Department of Education is taking this under advisement. Based on the pilot results, new criteria allow for categorical classification when appropriate.

While Louisiana noted a slight increase in child count, the increase could not be clearly attributable to the use of the developmental delay category there being other factors such as population increase which may have affected it.

For more information see the memo to pilot participants (PDF: 17kb) , including the Louisiana definition of developmental delay, criteria for eligibility, and procedures for screening and evaluation.

(2000, NECTAS Conference Call)