A National Perspective: Early Childhood Education Accountability and Building Capacity by Working wi

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A National Perspective Early Childhood
Education Accountabilityand Building Capacity
by Working with Partners

• Sponsored by the Child Care Bureau the Council
  of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO ECEA SCASS
  ) and the National Association of Early Childhood
  Specialists in State Departments of Education
  (NAECS/SDE)
• September 13, 2006

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Introductions

• Shannon Christian, Associate Director, Child Care
  Bureau
• Lori Connors-Tadros, Technical Assistance
  Specialist, NCCIC
• Jana Martella, Coordinator, CCSSO ECEA SCASS

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Agenda for the Call

• National Information Sharing Emerging Activities
  in EC Accountability and Building Capacity
  through Partnering
• State Perspectives California and Arkansas
• Questions and Discussion
• Next Steps

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Defining Accountability
www.ccsso.org/ECEAglossary
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The Components of System Accountability
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States Working Together Building Capacity

• ECEA SCASS/NAECS
• Jim J. Lesko, Ed.D.
• Education AssociateEarly Childhood
  Education/IDEA Section 619 Coordinator401
  Federal St., Suite 2Dover, DE  19901-3639

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Purposes of System Accountability and Evaluation

• To determine trends in child learning and
  developmental outcomes and program participation
• To evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum,
  instruction and service delivery
• To determine if funding is sufficient to provide
  an early learning environment that is safe,
  healthy, and stimulating
• To determine supports needed by staff for ongoing
  professional development
• To inform policy development

System Accountability and Evaluation
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Considerations for System Accountability and
Evaluation

• The collection of common data elements
• Sharing of data across programs and services
• Identification of adequate and equitable
  resources for EC services and identification of
  fiscal supports
• Data relevant to intended outcomes and focused on
  valid and reliable indicators
• A public and political infrastructure which
  supports the accountability system

System Accountability and Evaluation
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System Accountability and Evaluation
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Reported uses of Aggregated EC Accountability Data

• Program accountability
• Reporting to authoritative bodies
• Reporting to parents
• School and District Report Cards

According to CCSSO survey
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How States Report Common Program Evaluation
Data-- Aggregated for Accountability
According to CCSSO survey
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How States Report Common Child Data Aggregated
for Accountability
According to CCSSO survey
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Where do we go from here?
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State Early Childhood Development System
Early Learning
Health, Mental Health and Nutrition
Family Support
Special Needs/ Early Intervention
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How do we keep our heads without losing our
shirts?
Working with Partners to Build Capacity!
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Strategies to Build Capacity for Accountability

• Establish a culture of accountability
• Develop a long-range strategic plan
• Partner with researchers and experts
• Ensure data quality
• Engage families business/legislators
• Communicate results simply and often

See the resource, Elements to Build Capacity for
Evaluation and Accountability Discussion Guide.
Available on the Web at http//nccic.org/pubs/go
odstart/building-capacity-guide.html
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Lessons from the States

• California Department
• of Education
• Michael Jett, Director, Director, Child
  Development Division
• Gwen Stephens, Assistant Director, Child
  Development Division
• Michael Zito, Coordinator of Head Start State
  Collaboration Office

• Arkansas
• Tonya Russell, Director, Department of Human
  Services
• Dee Cox, Director of Special Projects, Department
  of Education

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Closing Comments

• Jacqueline Jones, Ph.D.
• Assistant to the Commissioner for Early Childhood
  
• Office of Early Childhood Education
• New Jersey Department of Education
• PO Box 500
• Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0500

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National Child Care Information Center

• Resources on Assessment and Evaluation, available
  on the Web at http//nccic.org/pubs/goodstart/inde
  x.html6
• Becoming an Educated Consumer
• Part 1 Child Assessment
• Part 2 Program Evaluation
• Part 3 Accountability
• Building Capacity for Evaluation and
  Accountability
• Developing a Theory of Change Logic Model

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CCSSO, ECEA SCASS, and NAECS/SDE

• Resources on Early Childhood Accountability
  available on the Web at http//www.ccsso.org/ECEAa
  ssessment
• The PowerPoint for Presenters and Policymakers 
  BUILDING A SYSTEM FOR SUCCESSFUL EARLY
  LEARNERS  THE ROLE OF STANDARDS, ASSESSMENT,
  EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
• A series of short fact sheets to accompany the
  PowerPoint Presentation including The Role of
  Child Assessment in System Accountability and
  Improvement
• An array of resources on general K-12
  accountability from the Accountability Systems
  and Reporting (ASR) SCASS at CCSSO can be found
  at http//www.ccsso.org/projects/Accountability_
  Systems/
• Some interesting resources on results-based
  accountability and the work of Mark Friedman can
  be found at http//www.resultsaccountability.com
  /

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Wrap Up and Next Steps

• Lori Connors Tadros
• Jana Martella

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Thank You
Contact Information Lori Connors-Tadros Nat
ional Child Care Information Center 10530
Rosehaven St., Suite 400 Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Phone [phone] Fax [phone] TTY
800-516-2242 E-mail lctadros_at_nccic.org Web
site http//nccic.acf.hhs.gov
Jana Martella CCSSO ECEA SCASS One Massachusetts
Ave., NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20001 Phone
202.-244-3352 E-mail janam_at_ccsso.org Web site
www.ccsso.org/earlychildhood