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Policy

Staff will use a variety of developmentally appropriate early childhood education strategies to promote and support children’s educational progress based on observations and on-going assessment of each child. Children will be assessed in their home languages, with the use of an interpreter when necessary.

Procedure

  1. All new children will have a developmental Screening completed as soon as possible, within 45 calendar days of the child’s first day of school. (See Developmental and Behavioral Screening policy)
  2. All children will receive ongoing developmental assessment with a minimum of one update in every learning domain every quarter. Children will be assessed using TS Gold Online.
  3. Teachers will plan curriculum that will give them opportunities to observe and record the children’s skills.
  4. Quarterly benchmarks/checkpoints for assessment will be determined by the beginning of each program year.
  5. Assessment information will be shared at home visits and parent/teacher conferences using the Family Conference form in TS Gold. Child assessment information in TS Gold may also be shared using the Child Development and Learning Report.
  6. All children will be assessed in areas of development and learning consistent with the assessment tool and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. An additional English Language Acquisition area will be used as appropriate. Areas of development and learning:
    1. Social-Emotional Development
    2. Physical Development
    3. Language Development
    4. Cognitive Development
    5. Literacy
    6. Mathematics
    7. Science and Technology
    8. Social Studies
    9. The Arts
  7. Update of Developmental Assessments:
    1. Observations and work samples will be collected documenting child progress on a regular basis by education staff and volunteers with all updates to be completed by quarterly checkpoint.
      1. Observations will consist of written observations, video, photographs, and/or work samples and will be collected in each child’s online portfolio.
    2. Educational staff will link a minimum of one observation/work sample to every objective and dimension each quarter for every child.
      1. An observation may be linked to more than one objective or child.
      2. Educational staff may use the Documentation by Objective/Dimension report. This report gives a quick look at how many documentation items you entered for each objective/dimension. It also tells you for which children or objectives/dimensions you have not yet entered documentation.
      3. On-going observations may be used to set preliminary checkpoint levels.
    3. Based on recorded documentation, educational staff will set finalized checkpoints each quarter in accordance with program benchmark/checkpoint dates.
    4. Regional and Program Outcomes Reports will be run by the Education & Disabilities Component

This policy complies with Head Start Performance Standard CFR 1302.33, 1302.42(b)(2) Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, Oregon’s Early Learning and Kindergarten Guidelines
It was approved by Policy Council on August 13, 2002. August 2013
Updated June 12, 2003. January 13, 2004. January 31, 2007. June 2008. June 2009. October 2010. August 2011. August 2013. August 2014. August 2017.

REVIEWED: June 2021
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