Tag Archives: Program Planning

The Integration of Early Childhood Data: State Profiles and a Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education 

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12/8/2016

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) announced the release of a report that will help states refine their capacity to use existing administrative data from early childhood programs to improve services for young children and families. The report covers key considerations when states integrate data and highlights progress in eight states that are actively developing and using early childhood integrated data systems (ECIDS). The report discusses technical assistance and other resources available to states as they develop their ECIDS.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, Early Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/early-childhood-data

Understanding Data Use for Continuous Quality Improvement in Head Start: Preliminary Findings

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4/28/2015

Understanding Data Use for Continuous Quality Improvement in Head Start Brief summarizes common themes across two studies of local Head Start programs and a multidisciplinary literature review. The brief provides preliminary evidence that Head Start programs experience similar challenges and facilitators to data use for continuous quality improvement as those experienced in other fields including leadership, analytic capacity, commitment of resources, professional development, a culture of collaborative inquiry, a continuous cycle of data use, organizational characteristics, and environmental characteristics. The brief provides an overview of the findings and poses questions for future research to better understand the relationships between the elements examined, the extent to which particular Head Start characteristics do create differences in the facilitators and impediments as compared to other fields, and the extent to which data use strategies actually result in measurable improvements in quality.

Source: Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/understanding-data-use-for-continuous-quality-imp-head-start-prelim-findings

Engaging Families of Children with Disabilities: Systematically Planning to Create Positive Experiences and Meet Expectations (Webinar)

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November 4, 2015 2:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Inclusion means more than providing high quality services to children with disabilities. It involves building strong partnerships with families. Each family member learns about and confronts the disability of their child in different ways. All families are complex, but these complexities grow with the added stressors of accommodating unexpected challenges that come with disability. High quality early care and education programs partner with families to ensure their children access the most effective services. Learn more about the experiences of families of children with disabilities and find out what they are looking for from programs.In addition, consider the programmatic systems that need to be in place to support families of children with disabilities. Program administrators will learn about strategies including professional development for staff, partnerships with early intervention and preschool special education providers, and resources necessary to fully include families in your program.Engage families of children with disabilities in meaningful ways to promote children’s school readiness and improve their outcomes. All families want the most for their children and will do all they can to support them. Finding ways to meet their needs and support them in this process creates a partnership that benefits everyone.

Source: Early Childhood Investigations Webinars

Available at: http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/presentations/engaging-families-of-children-with-disabilities-systematically-planning-to-create-positive-experiences-and-meet-expectations-amanda-schwartz/

Using What You Know To Plan For Child Success: Data-Drive Decision Making in Early Childhood Environments (Webinar)

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Tuesday, Oct 20, 2015 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EDT

Please join Penn Foster and Amanda Schwartz, Ph.D. for Using What You Know To Plan For Child Success: Data-Drive Decision Making in Early Childhood Environments. When working with young children and their families, you constantly learn about the families you serve. Learn a way to formally collect this information, analyze it, and use it to make decisions that will improve child and family outcomes. Data-driven decision making helps you target what children and families need most, and identify what strategies will work best. This session will offer you a better understanding of how to collect and use information you already collect about children and families to improve your environment and instruction.

Source: Penn Foster Education

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1563357469912327425

Health Manager’s Orientation Guide

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2/2015

Whether you are new to Head Start, are new to the role of health manager, or have been a health manager for a while, this guide was developed to be a resource tool for you. This section provides a brief overview of Head Start health management. It also looks at the important role Head Start plays in fostering a culture of health and wellness for Head Start children, families, and staff.

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, National Center on Health

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/health/health-services-management/health-managers-orientation-guide

Data Use for Continuous Quality Improvement: What the Head Start Field Can Learn from Other Disciplines – A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework 

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1/22/2015

This report summarizes research on the processes, facilitators, and impediments to data use for continuous quality improvement; develops a conceptual framework representing the elements of data use for continuous quality improvement; provides linkages between the disciplines from which the literature was drawn and the Head Start field; and suggests areas for future research. The review reflects seminal and current works that originate in empirical and professional sources in the fields of educational leadership and management, health care management, nonprofit leadership and management, public management, and organizational learning and development. The resulting conceptual framework describes the elements of leadership, analytic capacity, commitment of resources, professional development, a culture of collaborative inquiry, a continuous cycle, organizational characteristics, and environmental characteristics.

Source: Urban Institute

Available at: http://www.urban.org/research/publication/data-use-continuous-quality-improvement-what-head-start-field-can-learn-other-disciplines-literature-review-and-conceptual-framework

Foundations for Excellence: Planning in Head Start

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1/2015

The Office of Head Start National Centers have produced this series of papers to support programs in developing and implementing their planning systems. They may be useful to Head Start leaders and management teams, including governing body and Policy Council members.The Head Start planning systems and related activities are an essential part of program operations. Thoughtful planning has always been critical to successful programming. However, it becomes even more important as programs shift from an indefinite grant period to a five year project period. Federal Oversight of Five Year Head Start Grants (ACF-IM-HS-14-02) and the five year grant applications require programs to describe and define:

  • Long-term goals they will accomplish during the five-year period
  • Short-term objectives
  • Expected outcomes that are aligned with the goals and objectives
  • Data tools and methods for tracking progress towards their goals, objectives, and expected outcomes

Grantees report on this progress in their yearly continuation applications over the course of the five year project period.These papers can help programs develop plans for tracking their progress in a meaningful way.

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/operations/foundations

Health Services to Promote Attendance

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1/2014

From the first day of enrollment, a young child’s attendance matters! Good attendance leads to lifelong learning and positive habits necessary for school and work. When young children are chronically absent from Head Start, Early Head Start, or child care, often they are likely to continue to be chronically absent in elementary school.1 Others may drop-out as they get older.2 Absenteeism decreases children’s opportunity to engage in learning, impacting their development in all domains of the Child Development and Early Learning Framework. (See Making the Link Between Health and School Readiness to learn more about the impact of health on child development).

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/health/school-readiness/strategies/promoting-attendance.html

Foundations for Excellence: Planning in Head Start

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The Office of Head Start National Centers have produced this series of papers to support programs in developing and implementing planning systems.

The Head Start planning system is an essential part of program operations. Thoughtful planning is critical as programs shift from an indefinite grant period to a five year project period. Federal Oversight of Five Year Head Start Grants (ACF-IM-HS-14-02) and the five year grant application require programs to describe:

  • Long-term goals they will accomplish during the five-year period
  • Short-term objectives
  • Expected outcomes that are aligned with the goals and objectives
  • Tools and methods for tracking progress

Grantees also must report on their progress in their yearly continuation applications.

Using the Planning Papers

Head Start leaders can use the planning papers to:

  • Ensure a shared understanding of program planning
  • Review and discuss training plans with management teams, T/TA providers, and governing body, Tribal Council, and Policy Council members
  • Set goals, write objectives and outcomes, and develop action plans
  • Evaluate current goals, objectives, and action plans

Accessing the Papers

Get started by reading the Introduction and downloading the papers. The strategies and templates in the papers can help program develop plans for tracking progress.

You also can download the entire Foundations for Excellence: Planning in Head Start booklet.

Questions?

To learn more, contact the National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations at PMFOinfo@edc.org or (toll-free) 1-855-763-6647.

via Office of Head Start Resource.

Knowing the Numbers: Accessing and Using Child Welfare Data

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September 3, 2014

Data can be an incredibly powerful tool for child welfare advocates, policymakers, and program administrators in their work to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families. From identifying target population characteristics and needs, to documenting program or service outcomes, to assessing a policy’s effect, using data to inform efforts to help children and families thrive is critical. Data can play an invaluable role in helping to highlight the need for a program, service, or policy, or to communicate about how a particular population is faring. They provide objective evidence to “make the case.”This brief, authored by Sharon Vandivere and Kerry DeVooght at Child Trends,  provides an overview of data sources that are useful to the child welfare community specifically and answers the following questions: What are the major data sources? What can I do with the data/what can they tell me? How do I access them both the public-use datasets with child-level information, as well as summary data?

Source: State Policy Advocacy & Reform Center

Available at: http://childwelfaresparc.org/brief-knowing-the-numbers-accessing-and-using-child-welfare-data/