Head Start: The National Reporting System Quality Assurance Study

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The Office of Head Start launched the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) in 2002 to assess the development of all Head Start children during the year before their entry into kindergarten. During the four years of the NRS initiative, Mathematica and its partner, Juárez & Associates (J&A), examined implementation quality and suggested strategies for system development. The Head Start Act of 2007 ended the administration of the NRS. Mathematica continued its role in development of materials to support strong assessment practice at the local level.

A common battery of assessment tools on a select set of indicators of early literacy, language, and mathematics skills was administered by local Head Start program staff to approximately 400,000 4- and 5-year-old children at the beginning and end of each program year starting in fall 2003. In the 2006-2007 program year, this assessment was complemented by teacher assessments of children’s social/emotional development. Mathematica carried out six waves of data collection in successive nationally representative samples of programs. In some waves, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs were also included.

To assess the quality of NRS implementation in the fourth year, Mathematica and J&A staff visited a nationally representative sample of 40 Head Start programs in spring 2007, including 5 American Indian/Alaska Native programs. In approximately five programs, the team also observed local refresher training sessions. During each site visit, we observed a random sample of child assessments to measure accuracy of administration relative to the certification standard and interviewed program staff (program directors, lead NRS trainers, and assessors) about their experiences in implementing the NRS and plans for using data from the NRS and their local child assessments. After each round of observation visits, we prepared reports on the quality of assessment administration and programs’ implementation experiences. Recommendations based on these observations and interviews helped improve instrumentation and training in each subsequent round of data collection.

Mathematica has developed a Learning from Assessment toolkit designed to assist Head Start program staff in the collection, documentation, interpretation, and use of child assessment information to improve local program practice. This work incorporates input from the Office of Head Start, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), and experts in the field, including Head Start practitioners. The toolkit is being disseminated to Head Start and other early care and education programs.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and directed by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.

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