Enrollment & School Readiness: Playbook Write-Ups

Throughout the past few weeks, I have had conversations with technology managers, executive directors, directors of research & data, among others, to discuss their agencies' strategies around enrollment and attainment of school readiness goals. Although these agencies have programs located in very different parts of the country, they are all part of a Data community associated with the National Head Start Association, to continuously improve their processes and learn from others in similar positions.

Throughout conversations, I have noticed that agencies are using different platforms such as Domo, Power BI, Acelero Learning to display their data because they are working with consultants to improve their data entry, or because they have looked to local resources that most easily align with their software such as Child Plus, COR Advantage Assessment, and the PQA (Program Quality Assessment tool). In some ways, the programs have used similar techniques such as incorporating the “Conscious Discipline” curriculum to improve children’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) scores and to address their concerns. Although not all programs have a licensed therapist as part of their staff, many of them contract with mental health agencies and work closely with family services specialists to support parents in their challenges. NHSA recognizes that ‘families are integral to any effort to support children’s successful learning and development,’ and by promoting the well-being of the child as part of their family unit, it encourages programs to create a community with the families they serve.

The conversations about data collection regarding enrollment and school readiness have been transformative for me, in that it is fascinating how much agencies can improve their results if they know exactly how and where to target their services. Agency’s presentations to the board can be tailored to their board members’ interests while indicating the progress that children are making within each of the programs’ classrooms, based on indicators displaying data points from the beginning, middle, and end of the year and collaboration and coordination among staff to improve outcomes. Here is an example of the final write-up that I created, after a conversation with the Executive Director of the Rural Utah Child Development Head Start Agency, on the NHSA Data Analytics Playbook website. I wish that I had more time to have these conversations with more Head Start staff to understand the unique challenges each program is experiencing, based on location, the size of the programs, and the populations they are serving.

Source: Attendance Data for the 2020-2021 school year from an agency in Utah, without any personally identifiable information.