Head Start

Introduction
Learning to Use a New Assessment System
Turning the Focus to Curriculum
Getting to Know the New Curriculum
Next Steps

Developing a curriculum to help Head Start teachers ensure the highest quality education for the young children they serve is an important objective of our large and diverse program. We offer Head Start for over 750 preschoolers, and Early Head Start for 95 infants and toddlers, through the Community Action Agency in Jackson and Hillsdale Counties, Michigan. Preschool program options include half day, full day, extended day, and full year center-based services.

The journey to our current curriculum began in 1997, when we decided we were not satisfied with our curriculum. Like other Head Start programs, we purchased and used several different curricula over the past ten years. However, none fully met the needs of our program and families. As we looked at those available, cost was often a factor as was compatibility with the Head Start Program Performance Standards. It became apparent that what we wanted did not exist. We would have to take the leap and develop our own.

As it turned out, the path to curriculum development was not straightforward. At the same time we were discussing curriculum, we were also struggling with priorities related to assessment: how to develop outcomes, collect data, more fully utilize the Performance Standards and integrate the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation standards into our program.

Assessment was also a concern among our teachers. They thought that our assessment system required too much paperwork. They viewed it as an additional and unnecessary burden. We wanted an assessment approach that met certain criteria: covers all areas of the curriculum; identifies the skills and behaviors teachers need to look for; is a child-friendly approach and can be used during daily classroom activities; and provides information to help teachers make decisions about what to teach. We decided to begin the process of change by looking for a new approach to assessment. After careful review, we concluded that the Work Sampling System met our criteria and addressed our needs.

Learning to Use a New Assessment System

We phased in the Work Sampling System over a two-year period. This strategy proved to be cost effective and allowed staff time to become fully knowledgeable about the assessment system. We believed that by moving slowly, we would have greater success. Margo Dichtelmiller, one of the developers of Work Sampling, trained our education staff. Head Start training dollars and program dollars paid for this training.

The 1998 school year started with staff development focusing on general assessment principles, observation/documentation methods, and introduction of the Work Sampling System. The consultant continued to meet with our educational staff every six weeks. Separate meetings were held with teachers and teacher assistants. At the beginning of each session, the group reflected on their successes and challenges using the assessment system and we encouraged teachers to share solutions to challenges they encountered.

In October 1998, we created a Child Progress Report based on the Work Sampling System Summary Report and trained staff to use it. The report includes space for teacher evaluations of a child's performance and for a short narrative about the child's progress. At the first Parent-Teacher Conferences in November, teachers shared this report with parents. Staff and parents liked this new approach to reporting, which used descriptive language to highlight the child's competencies. Using teacher input, the progress report form has been revised several times to make it as clear and informative as possible.

The following spring, the consultant met with each classroom team for thirty minutes to review their Work Sampling materials. During these sessions, they examined observation notes, developmental checklists, and progress reports and discussed questions and concerns. This approach had several important benefits. First, it allowed staff and consultants to become acquainted and build a level of trust. Second, it provided a safe environment to monitor how well teachers were using the Work Sampling method and to answer questions specific to each classroom. At this point, we focused on using observation to complete the Work Sampling Developmental Checklists. Although our staff were always watching and learning from children, they needed to learn how to make systematic and objective observations in order to make use of the assessment process and materials.

In 1999, the second year, we made one significant change in the staff development program in response to staff feedback. Instead of meeting separately with teachers and assistants, we convened smaller groups of classroom teams. The same workshop was delivered four times so groups of 15-20 had ample opportunity to ask questions. We introduced Portfolio collection, the final piece of the Work Sampling assessment system, during the 1999-2000 school year, but teachers were not expected to use Portfolios until the next school year.

Turning the Focus to Curriculum

As teachers became familiar with Portfolio collection, we concentrated on documenting Language and Literacy goals. This was consistent with the emphasis in Head Start on emergent literacy skills. However, we soon realized many teachers were not familiar with the most recent research on emergent reading and writing. More significantly, they needed concrete ideas for ways to promote literacy growth through interactions with children in developmentally appropriate ways. It was apparent that there was a need to revamp the curriculum for three to five-year olds.

So the new assessment system led us back to curriculum! We developed a preschool curriculum, Planned Play, that reflects the assessment goals and meshed with Head Start mandates.

The curriculum addresses the seven domains of child outcomes identified by the Work Sampling System: Personal and Social Development, Language and Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, Scientific Thinking, Social Studies, The Arts, and Physical Development. These domains overlap with the eight domains included in the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.

Each curriculum domain has components. For example, Personal and Social Development has five components:

A) Self-concept
B) Self-control
C) Approach to learning
D) Interaction with others
E) Social problem solving

Within each domain, curricular components are represented by several indicators for four-year-olds taken from the Work Sampling Developmental Checklist. These become child objectives.

For each indicator, we have identified specific behavioral expectations for children, based on the rationale and examples in the Work Sampling Developmental Guidelines, teacher knowledge, and classroom experience. Expectations for children are also based on what we expect children to do by the end of their participation in Head Start, before making the transition to kindergarten. In some cases, we identified separate expectations for three-year-olds, where expectations differed significantly from four-year-olds. For example, in the domain of Language and Literacy, under the component of Writing, one indicator is: Represents stories through pictures, dictation, and play.

The expectations for children for this indicator include:

• Understands that pictures can represent objects
  
  
• Acts out stories or represents them with flannel board pieces
  
  
• Draws a picture and tells a story about it
  
  
• Labels pictures with words
  
  
• Dictates to teacher a story about their picture
  
  
• Uses characters or information from stories in the dramatic play

The curriculum lists teacher behaviors that support this learning, including:

• Use props in dramatic play that allow children to act out stories and their own experiences
  
  
• Ask children to tell you about their picture and write what they tell you
  
  
• Give children many open-ended materials to explore and use for representation
  
  
• Add props to the block and truck area to encourage representation

In addition to outlining expectations for children and teaching strategies to support children's development, the Planned Play curriculum is based on the use of long-term thematic units. Our teachers agreed that themes are appropriate for young children; they promote in-depth investigation and reinforce children's interests. Our teachers were also glad to have more time to inform and involve parents in the longer studies. During the 2000-2001 school year, teachers will participate in staff development activities related to the curriculum and use of thematic units.

We have worked hard to dovetail the curriculum with a range of standards and outcomes we want our preschool Head Start to address. A cover page for each curriculum domain lists relevant program measures and Head Start Performance Standards. In addition, the cover page lists the related NAEYC Accreditation Criteria with examples, plus the agency outcomes developed by the Community Action Agency for children from birth to five. Ongoing staff development helps make our standards and outcomes meaningful at the classroom level.

Getting to Know the New Curriculum

After initial drafts of several domains were completed, a group of teachers reviewed the curriculum and met as a focus group. They explained what they believed should be included in a curriculum and how they thought the curriculum would be received. In response to their input, we added lists of field trip possibilities and other useful classroom resources.

The curriculum was presented to the teachers during a training session in August 2000. The entire group reviewed the curriculum introduction. Each domain was reviewed by a small group of teachers who summarized the major points and reported to the larger group. The teachers' response to Planned Play was positive. They appreciated the well-defined expectations and the examples of what a child should be able to do typically by the end of Head Start. They made the following comments about the curriculum–

• "This is going to make planning easier and more organized."
  
  
• "I like having a framework for linking my planning to my assessment goals."
  
  
• "I wish something like this would have been available when I was new to the agency."

We believe that involving the teachers in developing the curriculum and basing it on the already familiar assessment system, Work Sampling, diminished resistance to trying something new.

The Policy Council was directly involved in reviewing and providing direction to the curriculum. Parent input included the development of both an anti-bias statement and a transition plan from Early Head Start to Head Start. The Policy Council approved the curriculum in August 2000.

Next Steps

The Planned Play curriculum is a living document. We want to add input from teachers, such as descriptions of long-term studies and activities they have used in their classrooms. We also want them to note expectations that seem too advanced or too easy for preschoolers. Future plans include writing a parent guide to accompany the curriculum and developing a birth-to-three curriculum so our program will have a continuous curriculum from infancy through preschool. We will also be looking at how the curriculum meshes with the Head Start Outcomes Framework.

The Early Head Start specialists are also piloting a new assessment tool, the Ounce of Prevention Scale. When it is adopted, we will link their assessment to curriculum activities, as we did for preschool Head Start. We hope to have this work completed by September 2001.

Margo Dichtelmiller is an Assistant Professor at Eastern Michigan University. T: 734-455-2059; E: mdichtel@on-line.emich.edu.

Mary Cunningham DeLuca is the Director for Children's Services at the Community Action Agency in Jackson, Michigan. T: 517-784-4800; E: mdeluca@caajlh.org.

Brenda Webster is an Education Specialist with Head Start in Jackson, Michigan. T: 517-784-4800; E: bwebster@caajh.org.