About this report

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) gives every state an IDEA Part B determination, one of four categories:

Determination How it is assigned
Meets Requirements Final RDA score of 80% or higher
Needs Assistance Final RDA score of 60% to 79.9%
Needs Intervention Final RDA score below 60%
Needs Substantial Intervention No score cutoff. Assigned after a state has been in Needs Intervention for several years

The RDA (Results Driven Accountability) score is the average of a results score (student outcomes) and a compliance score (meeting IDEA’s procedural requirements).

OSEP has made determinations using the RDA framework since 2014. This report shows (1) how many states received each determination from 2014 to 2026, and (2) the 2026 determinations alongside each state’s RDA scores.

1. Determinations by year, 2014-2026

Number of states (50 states + DC) receiving each IDEA Part B determination, by year.

Number of states with each determination, by year

Year Meets Requirements Needs Assistance Needs Intervention Needs Substantial Intervention Total
2026 20 26 5 0 51
2025 19 31 1 0 51
2024 20 31 0 0 51
2023 22 29 0 0 51
2022 21 30 0 0 51
2021 22 29 0 0 51
2020 21 28 2 0 51
2019 20 31 0 0 51
2018 21 28 2 0 51
2017 22 29 0 0 51
2016 24 25 2 0 51
2015 19 30 2 0 51
2014 15 32 4 0 51

Scroll inside the table to see earlier years.

How to read this chart. Each bar is one year and always adds up to 51 (50 states + DC). The colored segments show how many states received each determination; segment sizes are printed when there is room (4 or more states). Needs Substantial Intervention is listed in the legend for completeness and shown in grey because it is not part of the score scale.

What this shows

  • Meets Requirements went from 15 states in 2014 to 20 in 2026. Since 2016 it has stayed between 19 and 24 states.
  • Needs Assistance was the most common determination in every year, ranging from 25 to 32 states.
  • Needs Intervention ranged from 0 to 5 states. No state received it in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. The 2026 count (5) is the highest in the period.
  • Needs Substantial Intervention: no state received it in any year.

Map: each state’s determination, year by year

Drag the year slider under the map (or press Play) to move through 2014-2026. Each state is filled with that year’s determination. A bright neon outline marks a state whose determination changed from the year before. Hover over a state for its name and its determinations that year and the year before. The map needs an internet connection to draw state shapes.

Fill: Meets RequirementsNeeds AssistanceNeeds InterventionNeeds Substantial Intervention

2. 2026 determinations and RDA scores

Final RDA scores are the average of compliance and results scores. The RDA score is used to give each state a determination. Meets Requirements is an RDA score of 80% or higher, Needs Assistance is a score of 60% to 79.9%, and Needs intervention is a score below 60%.

2a. Each state’s 2026 determination and RDA score

Each block is a state, ordered by its 2026 final RDA score (highest at top). Cutoffs: Meets Requirements 80% or higher, Needs Assistance 60% to 79.9%, Needs Intervention below 60%.

How to read this chart.

  • Columns are the three score-based determinations. Each block is one state, with its final RDA score; blocks are ordered by score, highest at the top.
  • Block color follows the score: each determination has its own color family (orange, yellow, green), and within it, the closer a state is to the cutoff below it, the more its color shifts toward the next-lower category’s color.
  • The bar at the top is the score scale, 50% to 100%. Each tick above it marks one state’s score; states with the same score share a darker tick. White lines mark the 60% and 80% cutoffs.
  • Needs Substantial Intervention is not on this chart, because it is not assigned by score.

What this shows

  • In 2026, 20 states met requirements, 26 needed assistance and 5 needed intervention.
  • Highest score: Florida (97.7%). Lowest: Vermont (50.0%).
  • Within 2 points above a cutoff (close to a lower determination): Alaska (60.2%), Idaho (60.7%), South Carolina (60.9%), Oregon (61.6%), Alabama (80.0%), Kansas (80.7%), Massachusetts (81.4%).
  • Within 2 points below a cutoff (close to a higher determination): Maine (59.1%).
  • States shown with the same score have exactly the same score; they are listed alphabetically.

2b. Results vs. compliance scores

The final RDA score is the average of the results and compliance scores. The dashed lines mark a final score of 80% (upper line) and 60% (lower line). States with identical scores share a point.

How to read this chart.

  • Each point is a state: across = compliance score, up = results score. The color is the state’s 2026 determination. States with exactly the same two scores share one point.
  • Because the final RDA score is the average of the two, every point on the upper dashed line has a final score of exactly 80%, and every point on the lower line exactly 60%. The lines divide the chart into the Meets Requirements (top right), Needs Assistance (middle) and Needs Intervention (bottom left) zones.
  • A state far to the right but low down is strong on compliance and weak on results, and the reverse for a state high up on the left.

What this shows

  • Check: the final RDA score equals the average of the results and compliance scores for every state (largest difference 0.005 points, from rounding).
  • In 43 of 51 states the results score is lower than the compliance score. The median results score is 70.0%; the median compliance score is 86.4%.
  • Lowest results score: Alaska (25.0% results, 95.5% compliance, Needs Assistance).
  • Lowest compliance score: New York (54.5% compliance, 55.0% results, Needs Intervention).

3. RDA history by state, 2023-2026

Each state’s results, compliance and final RDA scores for the 2023-2026 determinations, with the points earned and points available behind each percentage.

How to use it. Type a state’s name or two-letter code in the box (a list of matching states appears as you type) and press Enter or pick one from the list. California is shown first. Hover over any bar or dot for its exact score and points.

How to read this chart.

  • Bars (left axis). Each year’s bar starts at 0 in the middle. The blue part going up is the results score; the pink part going down is the compliance score. Both run from 0% to 100%, so the full bar length is results + compliance (out of 200 points).
  • Line and dots (right axis). The final RDA matrix score, 0% to 100%, which is the average of the results and compliance scores. The dashed red lines mark the 60% and 80% cutoffs on this right-hand scale.
  • The two axes are different scales. Read the bars against the left axis and the dots against the right axis.
  • Points available change between years. Results was out of 24 points in 2023 and 20 points in 2024-2026 for every state; compliance points available vary by state and year (14 to 22). So a percentage can change partly because the number of points available changed. The table under the chart shows the points.

4. Comparing RDA scores across states, 2023-2026

Each dot is one state’s final RDA matrix score in one year, colored by the determination it received that year. A thin grey line joins each state’s dots, and the state’s name is next to its last (2026) dot.

How to use it. Type a state’s name or two-letter code and press Enter (or pick it from the list) to add it; click × on a state to remove it. You can compare 1 to 5 states at a time. Hover over a dot for the final score and its results and compliance breakdown.