ACF Administration for Children and Families	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
	1. Log No. ACF-IM-HS-07-08	2. Issuance Date: 10/05/2007
	3. Originating Office: Office of Head Start
	4. Key Word: National Reporting System

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: Head Start and Early Head Start Grantees and their Delegates

SUBJECT: Fall 2007 NRS Assessment

INFORMATION:

ACF has experienced unexpected technical difficulties in preparing the materials that were to have been used in the fall 2007 NRS assessment. ACF recognizes that it is important for programs to assess children as soon as possible after they enter Head Start in order to get accurate baseline data that can be used to assess children’s progress during the course of the Head Start year. Given that most programs will have been open for at least a couple of months before NRS materials could be made ready for dissemination, ACF has decided to cancel the fall 2007 NRS assessment.

In early spring, ACF will provide programs with the materials that will allow them to conduct the 2008 spring NRS assessment. The spring NRS scores measure children’s school readiness (e.g. letter identification, word knowledge and math). Although the lack of baseline scores for this year is a loss, the spring information can be compared to past years’ spring scores to show trends and allows programs to compare their children’s school readiness with national averages and with averages for other similar programs.

/ Patricia E. Brown /

Patricia E. Brown
Acting Director
Office of Head Start