Overview
Stage 1: Preparing Your Self-Assessment
Team Assignment Worksheet
Selecting Team Leaders
Team Leader Worksheet
Team Participant Worksheet
Training Self-Assessment Teams
Self-Assessment Training Worksheet
Focusing Your Assessment
Including the Policy Council
Overview
Key participants in Stage 1 include:
The Self-Assessment leadership team, which is made up of the Head Start director (or designee) and a team of managers and program leaders. The leadership team designs and leads the Self-Assessment process, analyzes the results, and incorporates the results into program improvement efforts. Your assigned TA specialist can work with you as you design how the Self-Assessment process will look in your program.
In this stage you will:
Determine how the Self-Assessment process will look in your program by:
- Introducing Head
Start Self-Assessment: Your Foundation for Building Program
Excellence to
Self-Assessment leaders
- Dividing and assigning the
responsibilities to make the process more manageable
- Selecting team leaders
- Recruiting participants to serve on your
Self-Assessment teams
- Training Self-Assessment teams
- Focusing your assessment
- Establishing a timeline
Consult with the Policy Council in order to:
- Meet the regulatory requirement
- Ensure meaningful participation
Stage 1: Preparing Your Self-Assessment
Determine How the Self-Assessment Process Will Look in Your Program
The Head
Start Self-Assessment: Your Foundation for Building Program
Excellence is a guide to be adapted to meet the individual needs of your program. Stage 1 provides you with helpful tools to assist you as you plan how the Self-Assessment process will look in your program. This planning is essential for the development and implementation of a comprehensive Self-Assessment that yields valuable information for continuous program improvement.
To plan your Self-Assessment, you will need to:
- Convene the Self-Assessment leadership
team and introduce them to the Self-Assessment Guide
- Divide the responsibilities among various
teams
- Designate Self-Assessment team leaders
- Recruit participants to serve on the
Self-Assessment teams
- Provide training for participants
- Focus your Self-Assessment by selecting
representative child and family records, centers, classrooms,
program options, child care partners, and delegate agencies
- Establish a timeline for completion of
Self-Assessment activities
- Present this plan to the Policy Council for review
These steps are described in detail on the following pages, along with examples and helpful worksheets to support the planning process.
Introduce Head
Start Self-Assessment: Your Foundation for Building Program
Excellence to Self-Assessment Leaders
One of the first responsibilities of the Head Start director is to provide Self-Assessment leaders with an understanding and appreciation of the role that Self-Assessment plays in maintaining program quality and fostering positive change and continuous improvement. The director, who by Head Start regulation has operating responsibility for the Self-Assessment process, may choose to facilitate the work of the Self-Assessment leadership team or designate that responsibility to one of its members.
When recruiting members to join the Self-Assessment leadership team, directors need to consider the role of governing bodies, delegates and child care partners on that team. As stated in 1304.51(i)(1) of the Head Start Program Performance Standards, the Self-Assessment is conducted “…with the consultation and participation of the policy groups and, as appropriate, other community members.” Directors should recruit these partners to the table.
The group leader should then share the Guide with the membership. Team members should become familiar with all of the materials, including the instructions, booklets, and data collection instruments. They should discuss why the Self-Assessment is being conducted, who should be involved as team leaders and team members, and whose cooperation is needed in order for it to be successful.
Dividing and Assigning the Responsibilities to Make the Process More Manageable
A quality Self-Assessment takes considerable time and effort. The process of assessing all program services and systems may be more manageable if you divide the responsibilities among various teams, designating program managers and other key decision makers as team leaders. Creating teams will have several advantages:
- The work will be spread among a larger
group of individuals to lessen the burden and add depth, knowledge
and valuable perspectives of many individuals to the experience
- Staff, parents, Policy Council members,
participants, community partners and others serving on
Self-Assessment teams will have greater access to team leaders who
can provide support and guidance throughout the process
- Individual teams can focus on particular
areas or systems that are more appropriate to their experience
(e.g. members with expertise in fiscal matters should be on the
team which covers this system)
- By recruiting managers and staff
representing delegates and child care partners, you are fully
investing delegates and partners in the Self-Assessment process.
They will gain a fuller understanding of the Head Start Program
Performance Standards and their importance to a quality program
- Programs can determine team assignments by dividing the 18 booklets in a way that makes sense for your program. Factors that can help you determine the number and composition of each group might be:
- Your program's organizational structure
and the manner in which responsibilities are assigned to
management staff
- The size of your program
- The time it will take to adequately
complete each booklet
- Sufficient expertise of members
The following chart illustrates just two examples of ways that the Self-ssessment responsibilities can be divided among various teams. Use these examples to come up with your own configuration and record your decisions on the Team Assignment Worksheet provided on page 5.
Sample Team Assignment Worksheet |
Example A |
TEAM 1: Management Systems |
Governance |
Planning |
Communication |
Record-Keeping & Reporting |
Ongoing Monitoring |
Human Resources |
Fiscal Management |
Child Outcomes |
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TEAM 2: Child Development and Health Services |
Prevention & Early Intervention |
Individualization |
Disabilities Services |
Curriculum |
Tracking and Follow-up |
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TEAM 3: Family and Community Partnerships: |
Family Partnership Building |
Parent Involvement |
Community and Child Care Partnerships |
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TEAM 4: Program Design |
Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA) |
Facilities, Materials, Equipment & Transportation |
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Example B |
TEAM 1: Management |
Community and Child Care Partnerships |
Planning |
Communication |
Record-Keeping & Reporting |
Ongoing Monitoring |
Human Resources |
Fiscal Management |
Facilities, Materials, Equipment & Transportation |
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TEAM 2: Education and Disabilities |
Individualization |
Curriculum |
Disabilities Services |
Child Outcomes |
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TEAM 3: Health, Nutrition, and Mental Health |
Prevention and Early Intervention |
Tracking and Follow-up |
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TEAM 4: Family Partnerships and ERSEA |
Family Partnership Building |
Parent Involvement |
Governance |
Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA) |
Team Assignment Worksheet
Record your decisions about how the Self-Assessment responsibilities should be divided. List the booklets that will be used by each of the teams.
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Selecting Team Leaders
Persons who serve as leaders for each Self-Assessment team are responsible for:
- Recruiting a diverse group of team
members to engage in the assessment process
- Training members of the Self-Assessment
team on the content of the regulations and the process they will
use to assess the program
- Describing the program structure and
layout to members, pointing out key locations they will visit, and
introducing them to members of the staff and Head Start community
who they may need to speak with
- Assisting team members in distributing
the work load, assigning tasks that correspond to the skills and
abilities of members, and pairing team members, as appropriate
- Establishing a time frame for completing
the assignments
- Arranging to check in with members at
certain intervals to assess their progress and assist with any
problems that arise
- Providing on-going support to team
members
- Assisting members in summarizing the data
and information they have collected and drawing conclusions
- Synthesizing information into a Booklet
Analysis that identifies program strengths and areas to strengthen
- Recognizing team members for their contributions to the program
Many programs choose leaders with experience and expertise in the service or management areas to which they are assigned. Other programs choose leaders from different content areas in order to enhance the objectivity of the process.
Team Leader Worksheet
Use the following Team Leader Worksheet to help you make decisions about what kinds of skills your team leaders should have and who would be the best candidate to assume a team leadership position.
Title |
Skills/Perspectives |
Team Leader
(name, position) |
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Recruiting Participants to Serve on your Self-Assessment Teams
Although the Self-Assessment process will be heavily supported by program staff, it provides a wonderful opportunity to involve others. The guidance attached to Regulation 1304.51(i)(1), program Self-Assessment and monitoring, reads: “consider including staff, policy group members, parents, representatives from community organizations, governing body members, and staff from other Head Start agencies on the Self-Assessment team.” To the extent possible, it is desirable to recruit a team that is representative of the diversity of enrolled children, families and the local community.
Serving on a Self-Assessment team provides parents with an opportunity to learn important new skills that can be applied to their goals for personal or professional development. Including individuals from outside your program can offer a tremendous learning opportunity for both parties. You may want to contact peers from nearby Head Start programs and offer to assist with their assessment if they will assist with yours. Consider inviting early childhood development programs in the local area that would be willing to lend a hand. Affirmatively recruit team members who have the right skills and will contribute to the team. When recruiting, be sure your candidates have the time to engage in the process.
In selecting potential team members, take into consideration the different skills and qualities that the task requires. In addition to having an interest and/or expertise relating to Head Start services or systems, participants serving on the assessment team should have the following skills and qualities:
- Objectivity
- Professional conduct
- An appreciation for confidentiality
- One or more of the following:
- Observation skills
- Interview skills
- Reading and documentation skills
Use the following Team Participant Worksheet to record your ideas for staff and volunteers who might serve on each of the Self-Assessment teams. We recommend that you list more persons than are actually needed, in the event that some volunteers have limited availability.
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Training Self-Assessment Teams
Team leaders should give careful thought to the training that they provide to team members so their team will be fully prepared to engage in the assessment process. The quality of the initial orientation and training as well as ongoing support have a direct impact on the quality and usefulness of the results. Key elements of the training should include:
- Discussion of the purpose of
Self-Assessment and how the results are an integral part of the
planning process
- Overview of the program's organizational
structure and description of program services and options
- Distribution of Head Start regulations
and booklets relating to team assignments (duplicate the booklets
as needed to provide everyone with a copy)
- Overview of regulations and discussion of
their intent
- Review of the booklets and the three
methods of collecting information: review, observe, and interview
- Distribution of written plans describing
services in each of the content areas
- Review of important data sources that may be relevant to your work such as the PRISM Report, PIR data, Community Assessment, child outcome information, strategic plan, short and long term program goals, ongoing monitoring reports,
and summaries of staff development plans
- Discussion of the qualities that make for
a good team member (e.g. they are objective, honest, respectful of
staff) and review of professional conduct expected of the team
- Sharing of the skills, expertise, and qualities of each member of the team
There are a number of different approaches to training staff and volunteers who serve on Self-Assessment teams. You may choose to:
- Keep all participants together for the
entire training
- Provide an orientation to the full group
followed by individual team training
- Conduct all training in individual teams
Use the following Self-Assessment Training Worksheet to assist you in designing the orientation and training session(s) for your Self-Assessment teams.
Self-Assessment Training Worksheet
Full Group |
Training content |
Trainer(s) |
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Individual Teams |
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Training content |
Trainer(s) |
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Team 5 - Title |
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Focusing Your Assessment
Many programs enroll large numbers of children and families and operate classrooms in more than one location. Your Self-Assessment leadership team may determine that including every classroom and every child's file in the Self-Assessment process will be too time-consuming. Decide if the Self-Assessment team will look at the entire program or focus their efforts on a representative sample.
A sample should be chosen which represents a cross-section of children, families, program options and services. Your sample should be large enough to establish whether quality is consistent throughout the program.
For grantees with delegate agencies and child care partnerships, it is important to make sure that these segments of your program are fully included in the Self-Assessment process. Determine if your Self-Assessment teams are responsible for assessing delegate programs and child care partners at this time, or if the delegate or partner will engage in an independent assessment.
Use the following Focusing the Assessment Worksheet to record your decisions.
Focusing the Assessment Worksheet
Select centers, classrooms, program options and records that will give you a full picture of the effectiveness of systems and services. Determine the approach you will take to assess partners and delegates. Record your decisions in the space provided.
Focusing the Assessment Worksheet
Centers |
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Classrooms |
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Program Options |
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Child and Family Records |
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Child Care Partners |
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Delegate Agencies |
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Establishing a Timeline
Develop a timeline for teams to begin and end the process. Programs may wish to conduct Self-Assessment in phases. Others may choose to focus their efforts so that the Self-Assessment takes place over a number of weeks. Since Self-Assessment is an integral part of program planning, be sure to coordinate your Self-Assessment with your planning calendar. It is important that you adapt the process to best meet the needs of your particular program. Think about scheduling your own Self-Assessment at a time during the program year when:
- The Policy Council has enough experience
to be full participants in the process
- Services are well underway
- Time remains before the end of the
program year to correct any issues that arise, to maximize
outcomes for children and families currently participating in the
program
- The results can be used to support the development of the program's Training and Technical Assistance Plan and annual grant application
Many programs prefer to stagger their schedule so that the assessment of program services precedes the assessment of management systems. Teams assigned to assess Head Start management systems may benefit from the information gathered during the assessment of program services. They can use the information to draw conclusions about the relationship between systems and services and determine how systems are affecting services to children and families. Staggering the schedule also permits staff and volunteers to serve on more than one assessment team.
The following Month-At-A-Glance Chart shows, as an example, how the Self-Assessment might look in a program that chooses to complete Stage 2 of the process within one month.
Month-At-A-Glance |
1 st Week |
2 nd Week |
3 rd Week |
4 th Week |
Self-Assessment Teams receive orientation and training
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Team conducts Self-Assessment
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Team conducts Self-Assessment
Team Leaders check in with team's progress
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Use the following Self-Assessment Timeline Worksheet to set target dates for steps in the Self-Assessment process.
Self-Assessment Timeline Worksheet
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Activity |
Date |
Stage 1
Preparing |
Recruit and convene the Self-Assessment leadership team |
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Convene the Self-Assessment leadership team to design the Self-Assessment process |
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Present process to Policy Council for consultation |
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Recruit participants to serve on Self-Assessment teams |
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Convene teams for orientation and training |
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Stage 2
Collecting and Synthesizing |
Draw on multiple data sources to complete service area booklets |
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Draw on multiple data sources to complete management system booklets |
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Summarize booklet information for Individual Team Member Summary |
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Consolidate information from individual team members into Team Leader Booklet Analysis |
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Stage 3
Interpreting |
Reconvene Self-Assessment leadership team to review and analyze results |
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Identify program strengths |
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Display information from the 18 Booklet Analyses in a useful manner |
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Establish patterns of identified needs |
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Reveal underlying causes and systemic issues |
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Classify and prioritize the identified weaknesses and areas to strengthen |
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Stage 4
Strengthening |
Develop a program improvement plan by identifying goals, desired outcomes, and specific action steps |
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Develop and implement a Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Plan |
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Monitor and assess progress in implementing the Program Improvement Plan and T/TA Plan |
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Including the Policy Council
Once you have completed the worksheets in Stage 1, present your completed package to the Policy Council for review. Ask members of your Self-Assessment leadership team who serve on the Policy Council to assist you in making the presentation.
Section 1304.51(i)(1) of the Head Start Performance Standards requires the consultation and participation of the Policy Council in the Self-Assessment process. Section 1304.50(d)(1)(viii) provides the following guidance:
As active participants in the ongoing process of annual Self-Assessment . . .
the Policy Council and Policy Committee consider the extent to which:
- The time schedule for Self-Assessment is reasonable
- An appropriate assessment team has been formed, which includes parents and adequate representation from the community
- The Self-Assessment team receives training on how to conduct an assessment
- All team members are fully aware of the results of the last Self-Assessment, as well as of the Federal monitoring review
- The measures used to conduct the Self-Assessment adequately evaluate the program
- Findings from the Self-Assessment are reported to the Policy Council, Policy Committee, Parent Committees and governing bodies
- Improvement Plans are appropriate and feasible in terms of resources and timeframes