Indicators of a Ready School

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Indicators of a Ready School ROUNDTABLE
DISCUSSION
Jana Martella Council of Chief State School
Officers Sharon Rosenkoetter National Early
Childhood Transition Center Early Childhood
Leadership Directions, Oregon State University
READY SCHOOLS NATIONAL CONFERENCE Preparing
Schools for Children November 3-4, 2005 Omni
Hotel At CNN Center Atlanta, Georgia
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What are indicators about? Some history

• 1994-95 Issues Forum on Early Childhood Outcomes
• sponsored by
• -- The W. K. Kellogg Foundation
• -- The Carnegie Corporation of New York
• -- Quality 2000 Advancing Early Care and
  Education
• Why are outcomes desirable in Early Childhood?
• -- To positively impact teachers practice
  childrens experiences
• -- To positively impact public understanding of
  Early Childhood
• -- To positively affect funding
• -- To positively impact the relationship of
  Early Care Education to other services
• (now also because outcomes are demanded by
  funders taxpayers)

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What kinds of outcomes are there?

• What children know can do
• Child and family conditions
• Service provision access
• Systems capacity

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When should outcomes be assessed?

• Only if there is broad participation in the
  identification of results
• Only if we can identify appropriate results
• Only if we are clear about which children to
  include
• Only if we measure results appropriately
  indicators
• Only if we link child-based results to efforts to
  improve the lives of children

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How should the early childhood community proceed
on identifying outcomes?

• Increase public consciousness and participation
• Plan strategically
• Identify choose results carefully
• Develop appropriate, cost-effective approaches to
  assessment data collection
• Put theory into practice
• Explore ways to fund a results approach
  adequately
• Communicate, implement, evaluate
• These guidelines are still meaningful useful!

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The outcomes movement has a host of models worth
studying
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Head Start Outcomes -- 2000

• Focus on child outcomes
• -- Language
• -- Literacy
• -- Mathematics
• -- Science
• -- Creative arts
• -- Social emotional development
• -- Approaches to learning
• -- Physical health development
• Precursor to National Reporting System

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America's Children Key National Indicators of
Well-Being 2005

• Annual report -- published July 2005
• Status of children families in the U.S.
• 25 indicators
• --Economic security
• --Health
• --Behavior social environment
• --Education
• 9 background measures -- population issues
• Measures
• --Not regularly available or
• --Merit special attention or
• --Provide additional detail regarding a
  specific
  topic

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Annie E. Casey Foundationhttp//www.aecf.org/kids
count/

• Kids Count Databook
• National, state-by-state, legislative districts
  50 largets cities
• Annual publication
• Provides policymakers citizens with benchmarks
  of child well-being
• -- Mostly child data (also health, education)
• -- Some family, service system

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Southern Regional Education BoardBuilding a
Foundation for Success by Getting Every Child
Ready for School

• Focuses on SE region
• Emphasize progress in region in getting all young
  children prepared to start first grade ready to
  learn
• Profiles efforts of states in region
• Documents increase in number of children with low
  income
• Offers a small number of indicators outcomes
  related to school readiness focused on services
  offered service access in SREB states
• www.sreb Publications

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Early Childhood Outcomes CenterDemonstrating
Results for Infants, Toddlers,and Preschoolers
with Disabilities and Their Families

• Develops instruments on child outcomes that are
  usable for young children with disabilities
• Develops data on outcomes for young children with
  disabilities that can be aggregated at the
  national level
• Works with states on their outcome assessment
• Promotes regular use of outcome data for
  documenting program effects improving programs
  at the local and state levels
• Maintains a website with valuable resources on
  outcomes assessment

Funded by U.S. Department of Education to SRI
International http//www.fpg.unc.edu/eco/
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Council of Chief State School Officers

• Assists chief state school officers their
  organizations
• Vision of an American education system that
  enables
• all children to succeed in school, work
  life
• Provides leadership, advocacy, service
• Early Childhood Family Education initiative
• -- Policy
• -- Research
• -- State networking activities from 1999 policy
  statement 

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Building A Cadre Of Champions  promotes
quality universal preschool for Americas young
children (Pew Charitable Trusts) The Early
Childhood Education Assessment (ECEA) State
Consortium provides advice to the states as they
develop and align early learning standards and
accountability mechanisms The Mid-Atlantic Early
Childhood Education Network helps 5 states with
early learning systems planning and developing
local partnerships that promote learning
(subcontract from Temple Universitys
Mid-Atlantic Laboratory for Student Success)
Council Connections To The Earliest Years
conducts data collection expert policy forum
develops a policy brief dissemination strategy
on promising practices linking schools to infants
and toddlers -- services, programs practices.
(A.L. Mailman Family Foundation) The School
Readiness Indicators Initiative provides
technical assistance to the 17 state project
developing state-based indicators of school
readiness (David and Lucile Packard
Foundation) School Readiness/Ready Schools In
High-Poverty Communities supports states in the
development and implementation of comprehensive
systems of early childhood education in
low-income communities (Annie E. Casey
Foundation)
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Why School Readiness?
Ready or not.
We know what works.
We cant wait.
Today we know more than ever before about how
young children develop and how to best support
early learning.
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Goals of the Initiative
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Framing School Readiness

• Domains of School Readiness
• Physical Well-Being and Motor Development
• Social and Emotional Development
• Approaches to Learning
• Language Development and Literacy
• Cognition and General Knowledge

The Ready Child Equation Ready Families Ready
Communities Ready Services Ready
Schools Children Ready for School
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Making Progress for Young Children
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The regular tracking of school readiness
indicators enables policymakers and community
leaders to identify areas most in need of
intervention, track the results of investments,
and monitor trends over time.
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Criteria that Guided the Selection of School
Readiness Indicators

• Is something you care about enough to measure and
  to track.
• Has policy relevance.
• Enables states to assess gaps, with special
  attention to populations at high risk.
• Has an impact on school readiness.
• Uses measures that are developmentally
  appropriate.
• Uses measures that are relevant across all
  racial, cultural and language groups.

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Core and Emerging Indicators

• Core indicators were selected based on several
  criteria
• Prioritized by multiple states.
• Reflect conditions influenced by state policy.
• Can impact school readiness.
• Currently measurable at the state level.

Emerging Indicators Critically important to
school readiness but currently difficult to
measure and track at the state level
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State Reports
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SECPTAN
National School Readiness Indicators
Initiative www.gettingready.org (Led by Rhode
Island Kids Count)

• State Early Child Policy
• Technical Assistance Network
• www.FineByNine.org

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ECEA Early Childhood Collaborative On
Student Standards and Assessments
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Ten Keys to Ready Schools

• Ready Schools smooth the transition between home
  and school.
• Ready Schools strive for continuity between early
  care and education programs and elementary
  schools.
• Ready Schools help children learn and make sense
  of their complex and exciting world.
• Ready Schools are committed to the success of
  every child.
• Ready Schools are committed to the success of
  every teacher and every adult who interacts with
  children during the school day.
• Ready Schools introduce or expand approaches that
  have been shown to raise achievement.
• Ready Schools are learning organizations that
  alter practice and programs if they do not
  benefit children.
• Ready Schools serve children in communities.
• Ready Schools take responsibility for results.
• Ready Schools have strong leadership.

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Ten Keys to Ready Schools
CCSSO Project Criteria for Ready Schools

• Leadership
• Transitions
• Teacher support
• Engaging environments
• Effective curricula
• Parents as teachers
• Respecting diversity
• Assessment of progress

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CCSSO Project Criteria for Ready Schools
High Scope Ready Schools Indicators
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? Roundtable Discussions
?

• 5 groups 5 sets of questions
• Go to the table of your choice
  ?
• Introduce yourself to the others there
• Appoint a facilitator a recorder
• Discuss each question
• Make notes on the chart paper provided
• Report back 3 minute report on first 6
  questions
• All comment on last question
• 
  ?
• ?
• ?

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Roundtable Discussions

• CHOOSE ONE
• Local indicators for prekindergarten
• Local indicators for kindergarten/grade 1
• Local indicators for grades 3, 4
• State prekindergarten indicators
• State indicators for primary
• National indicators

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Questions for Discussion

• Describe the status of the development of
  outcomes and indicators in your setting.
• What kinds of results are you focusing on
  child, family, services, or system capacity?
• What successes have you seen? What factors led to
  those successes?
• What challenges have you seen? How could those
  challenges have been avoided?
• Where do you see a need for technical assistance?
  
• How could policymakers have made this outcomes
  development process work better?
• What are you going to take home to help the
  process?

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Report Back

• Summarize
• Make 1 point for each question
• Listen to the observations of other groups
• At the end
• -- What comments do you have?
• -- What idea will you take home put
  to work?