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DESIGNING EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS

NCSL Prekindergarten Leadership Institute
Denver, CO – June 4-6, 2006

Dr. Thomas Schultz – The Pew Charitable Trusts – tschultz@pewtrusts.org
Dr. Eugene Garcia,Arizona State University – eugene.garcia@asu.edu

SESSION OBJECTIVES

• HIGHLIGHT CURRENT STATE AND FEDERAL MANDATES & SYSTEMS

• SUMMARIZE KEY CONCERNS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD LEADERS ON  ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT ISSUES

• OUTLINE 4 MODELS FOR STATE PRE-K PROGRAM ACCOUNTABILITY

• ASK YOU 2 QUESTIONS TO HELP OUR NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD ACCOUNTABILITY

• ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

Kagan/Schultz

EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS AT-A-GLANCE

FEDERAL & STATE ASSESSMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY INITIATIVES

KEY TRENDS

• Programs and children are being assessed; programs are being held accountable.

• All states, many providers and many teachers are managing multiple systems of program and child assessments.

• State and federal-mandated child assessments are increasing.

• More assessment data on young children and programs is being reported.

CONCERNS FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERTS AND PROVIDERS

Early childhood leaders support child and program assessments, high standards, and strong accountability.

They are concerned about the costs and burdens of multiple systems of program and child assessments.

They are concerned about the implications of increasing mandates for large-scale assessments of young children:

• Are we assessing what’s important or assessing what is easy to test?

•  Can we accurately assess young English language learners?

• Will more child assessment mandates lead to “teaching to the test”?

• Are we heading towards No Child Left Behind for early childhood – “high stakes” consequences for child assessment results?

• If program funding is eventually linked to child outcomes, will programs respond by seeking to recruit fewer children from disadvantaged families?

4 STEPS FOR STATE PRE-K ASSESSMENT/ACCOUNTABILITY

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR STATE LEGISLATORS

I.                INVOLVE PROVIDERS, TEACHERS, PARENTS AND SCHOOLS

II.            FOCUS ON WHAT QUESTIONS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO ANSWER

III.       SIMPLIFY AND INCREASE COHERENCE ACROSS FUNDING STREAMS

IV.           DEVOTE EQUAL ATTENTION/RESOURCES TO

• PLANNING ASSESSMENT MANDATES
• USING ASSESSMENTS TO HELP PROGRAMS WORK BETTER

V.               BALANCE ATTENTION ON:

• HOW WELL ALL YOUNG CHILDREN ARE DOING?  
• HOW LOW-INCOME, MINORITY, AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS ARE PROGRESSING?
• ARE WE PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO ALL CHILDREN?

VI.           EXPLORE WAYS TO CONNECT PRE-K AND KG.-GRADE 3 ASSESSMENTS AND ACCOUNTABILITY

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

The Project is designing accountability strategies to improve the quality, effectiveness and credibility of state-funded early education programs serving 3- and 4-year-old children. The need for new accountability models for state early childhood programs comes from the following trends and priorities:

• An increasing focus on reducing gaps in educational achievement.
• Growing accountability efforts in public education and other federal and state programs.
• Increasing state investment in pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs.
• New state efforts to create early learning standards and manage large-scale assessments of young children.

A National Task Force of experts and state policy leaders will develop recommendations to guide state accountability planning, development and implementation efforts.  The Task Force report, due to be completed by fall, 2006, will include guidance for states in adapting, augmenting and linking three aspects of early childhood policy and management systems:

• Setting Standards -  States will be encouraged to review standards for early childhood programs, teachers and children to ensure that they are research-based, reflective of diversity of young children, and aligned appropriately with standards and assessments in use in kindergarten-grade 2 programs.

• Assessing Programs and Children – Based on the above standards, recommendations will include guidance on selecting measures and assessment tools, managing large-scale data collection efforts and analyzing new and existing data on:

          -Conditions & characteristics of children and families.
          -Program quality, classroom environments and teaching practices.
          -Children’s progress & levels of accomplishment.
          -Levels of public investment and support for quality early childhood services.

• Reporting and Using Accountability Data – Recommendations will guide states in reporting child and program performance information to a variety of audiences:

         -Reporting to local program leaders to help them improve curriculum, teaching, program services and linkages with kindergarten through grade 2 schooling.
         -Reporting to state program managers as they clarify and fine-tune standards, design technical assistance and professional development efforts and target program 
          funding. 
         -Reporting to state policymakers to contribute to their oversight and funding of early childhood programs.
         -Reporting to the public on trends in early childhood program outcomes, levels of state investment and conditions of young children.

The Project is supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Foundation for Child Development and the Joyce Foundation.  For more information contact Tom Schultz, Project Director at tschultz@pewtrusts.org or 202-552-2136, or access the Project website at www.earlyedaccountability.org.

THE NATIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD ACCOUNTABILITY TASK FORCE