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Kathy Hebbeler SRI International

Comprehensive Assessment in Early Childhood: How Assessments Can Shape Policy and Improve Practice. Kathy Hebbeler SRI International. Presented at State Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA ) Conference San Antonio, Texas February, 2012.

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Kathy Hebbeler SRI International

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  1. Comprehensive Assessment in Early Childhood: How Assessments Can Shape Policy and Improve Practice Kathy Hebbeler SRI International Presented at State Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) Conference San Antonio, Texas February, 2012

  2. Purpose of the assessment is a critical driver of many other decisions Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  3. Why build a statewide measurement system for young children? • Accountability • Program Improvement Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  4. More specifically…. • Improve transition [to kindergarten] • Inform instruction in the classroom • Inform parents of the child’s status • Screen for delays or disabilities • Determine the status of the population– social benchmarking Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  5. And even more purposes… • Make planning decisions at the building, district, or state level • Examine the effectiveness of the program • Growth over one year* • Performance years later (longitudinal) *Need more than an entry assessment Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  6. Decisions that follow from purposes • Who is assessed? • Who administers the assessment? • How often to assess? • [For KEA: Entry only or Entry plus?] • What kind of assessment? • Who sees the results? • Who will (or is expected to) to act on the results? Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  7. Results Matter Colorado and Nebraska Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  8. http://www.cde.state.co.us/resultsmatter/rm_system.htm Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  9. System Features • Observation-based assessment completed by teachers • Significant investment in professional development • Assessment administered several times a year to all children in participating programs • Data entered online • Different levels of reports for different audiences (child, classroom, building, district, state) • Plans to link data to K-12 Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  10. Program Improvement Purposes Inform instruction • Data on all children • No sampling • Multiple time points (Fall, Winter, Spring) • Child and classroom level reports Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  11. What was learned… • Ongoing stakeholder involvement has been critical for buy-in • Initial decision-making and ongoing feedback • Teachers have embraced the observation-based assessments • Created an assessment culture • Results filled an information void • Up to 3 years for teacher to get proficient Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  12. Program Improvement Purposes Improve transition • Receiving teacher has access to previous year’s assessments Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  13. Program Improvement Purposes Make planning decisions at the building, district or state level • Online system generates reports at the building, district, or state level • Administrators at these levels have access to the data Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  14. Program Improvement Purposes Determine program effectiveness • Multiple points of data to examine growth over the program • System will link preschool assessment data for program attendees to K-12 data Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  15. Accountability Purposes • Generate state level analyses for federal reporting (only for children in EI or ECSE) • Produce information for the state’s annual report • State has access to the data • State can analyze the data and produce many different kinds of analyses Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  16. Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  17. Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  18. Quality Indicators Components Elements Purpose Data Collection and Transmission Analysis Reporting Using Data Evaluation Cross-System Coordination a. State has… b. State has… c. State agency.. d. Representative.. e. State agency… f. State …… g. State provides… h. State has.. www.the-eco-center.org Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  19. Conclusions • Articulate the purpose(s) • Design the assessment system to align with the purpose(s) • Invest in building capacity • To collect data • To interpret and act on the data Early Childhood Outcomes Center

  20. Additional Resource Kindergarten Assessment Process Planning Report (2008) http://policyweb.sri.com/cehs/publications/WA_DEL_KRA_ProcessPlanning.pdf • Report on a process to help Washington State plan for their KEA. Early Childhood Outcomes Center

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