Each council involved will receive £150,000 a year to test reforms proposed in the SEN and disabilities green paper.
This includes a single education, health and care plan from birth to 25 years old that focuses on improving outcomes as well as personal budgets for parents of disabled children and those with SEN.
The pilot is being run jointly by the Department for Education and Department of Health.
Children's minister Sarah Teather said: "We're proposing the biggest reforms in 30 years to help disabled children and those with special educational needs so we need to make sure we get them right."
A recent consultation on the plans received 2,378 responses, a quarter of which were from parents and parents' organisations.
Teather added: "There are some interesting responses that will help us shape future policy decisions. For example, we can see that people think there should be a greater emphasis on meeting particular needs that emerge in school, just as much as identifying development problems in the early years."
Other areas involved include East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and Devon county councils, and the London boroughs of Greenwich and Bromley.
David Congdon, board member of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, supported the ambition to "create a more joined up system of support for children with SEN."
"Families with disabled children will be keen to understand how the work of the pathfinders will contribute to the way in which national outcomes will be improved," he said.
"We urge the government to publish transparent information on the findings of the pathfinders to ensure democratic accountability for families with disabled children, and to demonstrate the way in which this learning will inform any future policy and legislation."
