| What
is the Portrait of Child Outcomes?
The Portrait is a grass roots
initiative with Assessment Technology Inc. in which Head
Start programs are joining together, pooling their data,
and sharing information with the public about children’s
learning and development. The role of Assessment Technology
Inc. is to aggregate data gathered by programs and to display
the data in reports documenting children’s learning.
Portrait data are recorded online, and are available in
real time for reporting purposes. Thus, there is a unique
opportunity to provide a changing portrait of outcomes reflecting
the course of children’s learning throughout the program
year.
How is the Portrait
Taken?
The principal reason for gathering
data on children’s learning is to promote children’s
learning. For participating programs, the assessment process
is an integral and ongoing activity to help inform decision-making
related to goal setting, planning, and the provision of
learning opportunities for children. Teachers in participating
programs gather the data on children’s learning as
part of their continuing efforts to determine the developmental
needs of the children in their charge. The teacher’s
primary use of the data is to plan learning opportunities
that will promote each child’s development. Data is
gathered mainly through direct observation. However, other
data sources such as samples of children’s work are
also used to assess the children.
Portrait Potential
Head Start programs throughout the nation
are already using information on child outcomes in new ways
to improve learning. It is the goal of participating programs
and the goal of Assessment Technology Inc. that the information
provided through the Portrait will be helpful to Head Start
programs, policy-makers, researchers, parents, and all of
those individuals who are concerned with and dedicated to
the challenge of promoting the development of our nation’s
children.
Reports
The Portrait of Child Outcomes consists
of five types of illustrative reports on children’s
learning. These reports provide data from the complete Galileo
v2 assessment scales which are aligned with the Head
Start Child Outcome Framework.
Development
Profile-The Development Profile provides a good
starting point for examining what Head Start children
are learning now and what they will be prepared to learn
as development progresses. This report provides information
on all the capabilities included within a given developmental
area (e.g., Language and Literacy) assessed with Galileo.
The Development Profile shows how many children have acquired
each of the capabilities in a developmental area. In addition,
it shows how many children are ready now, soon, or later
to learn the other capabilities. To view this report click
on “Run Report.”
Development
Milestone-This report provides information on specific
subsets of goals within a given area of development (e.g.,
Language and Literacy). The Development Milestone shows
the percentage of children that have learned each selected
capability. In addition, it shows the percentage of children
ready now, soon, or later to learn those capabilities.
Development
Summary -The Development Summary gives a series
of four scores that summarize child outcomes. Three of
the scores are norm-referenced scores. These scores indicate
position in a norm group based on the standardization
sample for the scale under examination. The fourth score
is the Developmental Level (DL) score, which indicates
position in the norm group based on the standardization
sample and position in a developmental progression comprised
of the capabilities being assessed. The developmental
level score, which is computed using Item Response Theory
techniques, is particularly useful for measuring development.
For more information on these scores, see The
Galileo System for the Electronic Management of Learning,
which can be viewed or down loaded from this website.
Achievement
Report-This report indicates the number of children
who have reached each achievement level set by the program
for a given developmental area (e.g., Early Math) assessed
using the Galileo Scales. The Achievement Report can be
viewed as a precursor to the Progress Report.
Progress Report-The
Progress Report shows the number of children who are at
different achievement levels (e.g., beginning, intermediate,
advanced) at successive points in time (e.g., fall, winter,
spring).
Note: Galileo Online works
best with Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.5 Service
Pack 2 or higher. download
here
Reports are displayed in
PDF format. In order to view these reports you must have
Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you
do not, it can be downloaded for free from Adobe.
| HEAD
START OUTCOMES - A Snapshot
Use the links
below to view a Snapshot of Head Start Outcomes
including example reports with real data from participating
Head Start programs and explanations about report
content.
|
A
Word of Thanks to the Photographers
Over 30 Head Start programs representing
several states have joined together to create and share
an important story about themselves and about children's
accomplishments. We at ATI are privileged to have the
opportunity to bring their story to you. A special thanks
to all who have contributed to the Portrait. Their success,
spirit, and foresight made this Head Start family portrait
possible!
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