CL-2: A CLOSER LOOK at School Readiness:

What Does it Mean for EHS?

This will be a working session. Participants in this Closer

Look should bring the School Readiness goals from their

program (if written). Participants may also want to

bring a copy of their program’s assessment tool and

curriculum.

Thank you!

SUPPORTING SCHOOL READINESS GOALS

BIRTH TO AGE 5 – JUNE, 2012 CARLA PETERSON & SANDRA PETERSEN

YOU MIGHT BE ASKING…

I work with infants and toddlers. Isn’t it tooearly to think about school readiness?OrWhere does this program begin withschool readiness?

OrA lot is going on – but it doesn’t seemto hang together.  What is missing here?

OrThis program is doing really well! What else can they do related to school readiness?How can they be a leader in the state?

TIME FOR THE BRAIN …

• Simple circuits come first, complex circuits build on them

• Genes provide the blueprintExperiences influence whether the genes will be expressed

• A strong or weak foundation is laid for all later learning

• Center for the Developing Child• Developingchild.Harvard.org

1• Adopt and align established OHS child goals from the Early Learning Framework 

• EHS and MSHS programs use the five essential domains, the inner circle

2• Create and implement a plan of action for achieving goals

3• Assess child progress on an ongoing basis and aggregate and analyze  data 2‐3 times per year

4• Examine data for patterns of progress for groups of children in order to develop and implement a plan for program improvement

The Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework

The Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework

Promoting Positive Outcomes in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children 3‐5 Years Old

The Framework represents the foundation of the Head 

Start Approach to School Readiness. It aligns with and 

builds from the five essential domains of school 

readiness identified by the National Education Goals 

Panel (see inner circle) and lays out essential areas of 

learning and development. The Framework can be used 

to guide curriculum, implementation, and assessment 

to plan teaching and learning experiences that align to 

school readiness goals and track children's progress 

across developmental domains. The domains � and 

domain elements � apply to all 3 to 5 year olds in Head 

Start and other early childhood programs, including 

dual language learners and children with disabilities.

Five Essential Domains

• Physical Development and Health• Social and Emotional Development• Language and Literacy• Approaches to Learning• Cognition and General Knowledge

Do You Wonder Where to Start?

Step 1

1

• Adopt and align established OHS child goals from the preschool Early Learning Framework

• For EHS, create goals with family, align with IT/ELGs

– Determine if and how program curriculum targeted knowledge (align) address established goals

• Question: Is this the right curriculum/mix of curricula?

– Determine if and how ongoing child assessment tools and procedures (align) address established goals

• Question: Are they measuring what they intend for children to learn? For families to achieve?

Step 1 – Product and Process

“Focus on math” — Too broad/hard to measure— Is this the teacher or the child?

“Children will use math in every day routines to count, compare, relate, pattern and problem solve.”

– Observable– Measureable– Aligns with state ELGs at 60 months– Can be aligned with assessment items

• Child uses number names while counting to 10 • Child counts 10 objects with accuracy

School Readiness Goals: Are They Observable and Measurable?

“Promote social emotional development” – also too broad

“Children will develop positive adult-child and peer relationships.”

– Observable– Measureable

Can be aligned with assessment items– Shows interest in peers– Interacts with peers– Follows suggestions by a peer about how to

proceed with play

School Readiness Goals

“ It’s called “ Head Start School and Early Head Start Readiness goals”

What do Early Head Start School Readiness

Goals look like??????How many?

How lengthy?

Percentages?

Example School Readiness Goals

Preschool Physical Well-being and Motor Development Goals (3)

• Children will demonstrate control of large muscles for movement, navigation and balance

• Children will control small muscles for such purposes as using utensils, self-care, building, writing and manipulation

• Children will identify and practice healthy and safe habits

Motor Development Goal – Birth to 5

• Young Infants -- will coordinate some movement of body parts

• By 18 months -- will move in a variety of ways

• By 36 months -- will confidently use a large variety of movements for play andto achieve goals

• By 5 years -- will demonstrate control of large muscles for movement, navigation and balance

Preschool Social Emotional Goals (4)

• Children will engage in positive adult-childrelationships and interactions

• Children will engage in positive peerrelationships and interactions

• Children will display levels of attention, emotion, and behavior in the classroom that are appropriate to the situation and the supports available

• Children will learn and internalize (follow) classroom, rules, routines, and directions

Social and Emotional Goal – Birth to 5

• Young Infants -- will attend to interactions with adults and develop attachment relationships with one or more adults

• By 18 months -- will relate to adults as they function in a variety of roles

• By 36 months -- will understand that others have thoughts, feelings, and preferences that are different from their own

• By 5 years -- will engage in positive adult-child relationships and interactions

Preschool Language and Literacy Goals (4)

• Children will use and comprehend increasingly complex and varied vocabulary

• Children will use and comprehend oral language for conversation and communication

• Children can identify and discriminate the sounds within words, as separate from the word itself

• Children use and understand print as a meaningful and organized symbolic system of communication

Language and Literacy Goal – Birth to 5

• Young Infants – will communicate through expressions, gestures, sounds, words, and signs

• By 18 months -- will communicate with language

• By 36 months – use language to tell about events

• By 5 years -- will use and comprehend increasingly complex and varied vocabulary

Preschool Approaches to Learning Goals (3)

• Children will show an interest in varied topics and activities, an eagerness to learn, creativity, and independence in their interactions with activities and materials

• Children will demonstrate persistence and sustained attention when working with materials, activities, and information

• Children learn and use words and concepts that parallel the information available in activities and materials

Approaches to Learning Goal – Birth to 5

• Young Infants – will regulate and prolong attention

• By 18 months -- will maintain interest in interactions or exploration during waking hours

• By 36 months – will maintain attention long enough to complete activities and experiences that interest them

• By 5 years -- will demonstrate persistence and sustained attention when working with materials, activities, and information

Preschool Cognition andGeneral Knowledge Goals (3)

• Children will use math regularly and in every day routines to count, compare, relate, identify patterns and problem solve

• Children use observation, manipulation, asking questions, making predictions, and developing hypotheses to gain a better understanding of information and activities in their surroundings

• Children will increase their skills in remembering information and in being aware of their own thinking

Cognitive Goal – Birth to 5

• Young Infants -- will remember that people and objects exist even when they are out of sight (person or object permanence)

• By 18 months -- will use understanding of cause and effect to predict events and solve problems

• By 36 months -- will predict what will happen next and have ideas about what caused an event

• By 5 years -- will use observation, manipulation, asking questions, making predictions and developing hypotheses to gain a better understanding of information and activities in their surroundings

Family Engagement

• Solicit input• Share plan and

progress• Engaged in

planning for their children

Staff and Community Buy In –Close the Achievement Gap

STEP ONE

Establish School Readiness Goals

Do they address the Five Essential Domains?

Do they accurately reflect child development and the families being served?

Can I observe them?

Can I measure how close we are getting to them?

STEP 2

2

•Create and implement a plan of action for achieving goals

STEP TWO

Planning and implementing

Family Engagement Framework

School Readiness In Action

• Young infants (by 9 months) are able to:– Regulate and prolong attention– Remember past events– Bring curiosity, collection of information, problem

solving• Indicators – the infant

– Is awake and alert for increasing amounts of time– Shows interest in other people, objects, and

his/her own body– Begins to predict steps of routines– Uses different actions/modalities in exploring

objects and interacting with people

Engaging Families In School Readiness

• Programs support families in recognizing, understanding and encouraging these foundational skills

• Parents demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness through– Engaging interactions during waking periods– Providing predictable routines and

environments– Providing safe opportunities to explore

objects and play with people

• Do you have a plan of action?• Do you have a written plan for children (e.g.,

curriculum, school schedule, home visit schedule, assessment schedule)?

• Do you have a written plan for families (e.g., schedule of parent education events, schedule of family service worker visits, distribution of family newsletters, etc.)?

• Do you have a written plan for your program as a whole (e.g., professional development plans, in-service days, policy council meetings, etc..)?

CHECKLIST FOR STEP 2

STEP 3

3

•Assess child progress on an ongoing basis and aggregate and analyze  data 2‐3 times per year

Using data to inform teaching: the Assessment‐Instructional Cycle

Observation

Documentation

Interpretation ‐ Hypothesis setting

Instruction/Experiences

CHECKLIST FOR STEP 3

• Have we prepared a data collection plan that is appropriate to our questions and goals?

• Do we provide training and support for data collectors?

• Is data collection embedded within ongoing activities as appropriate?

• Are data collection efforts distributed across the year at appropriate times?

• Do we have a data analysis plan?

• Do we meet our data collection and analysis timelines for Office of Head Start reporting and to meet local program requirements?

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CHECKLIST FOR STEP 3

CHECKLIST for sharing information.

• Do we have a plan for sharing data with:– Teachers – Parents– Staff – Policy councils/Community stakeholders?

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STEP 4

4

• Examine data for patterns of progress for groups of children in order to develop and implement a plan for program improvement

• Do we regularly, or at least 3 times a year, examine our data in relation to goals?

• Are our children making good enough progress?

• Are our families gaining knowledge and skills to support their children’s development and learning?

• Is our program implementing practices that support child and family progress?

• Are we meeting our program school readiness goals?

• Should we revise goals and practices based on data?

CHECKLIST FOR STEP 4

4. EXAMINE DATA FOR PATTERNS OF PROGRESS FOR GROUPS OF CHILDREN IN ORDER TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PLAN FOR

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT

Looking at the patterns of progress and outcomes for groups of children by (for starters)

– Age– Gender– Language groups– Attendance

KEY CONCEPT: GROWTH OVER TIME

• Where are children’s scores relative to:– Their own scores earlier in the year?– Other children in Head Start or norms at

different points in the year?

• Do different subgroups show different patterns of growth?

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TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN

ENSURING HIGH QUALITY PROGRAMS AND SUPPORTING SCHOOL READINESS

• It’s a big job! Let’s work together!!

5 ESSENTIAL DOMAINS

• Physical Development and Health

• Social and Emotional Development

• Language and Literacy

• Approaches to Learning

• Cognition and General Knowledge

What was difficult?

What questions did this raise?

LET’S GO BACK TO THE BRAIN …

Serve and Return

Is your staff ready?