Head Start
Management
What Program Leaders Need to Know
Effective data use can enable Head Start management teams to move from merely reacting to proactively anticipating and solving problems.
Leveraging Data in Program Management
Effective data use can enable Head Start management teams to move from merely reacting to proactively anticipating and solving problems.
Early Intel and CCR Analytics launched the Q.I. Network to help bring better tools, strategies and practices to Head Start management.
How Head Start Programs Use Data Coaches
As Head Start programs seek to strengthen their data use, they are beginning to use a new kind of resource: coaches. Data coaches started appearing in K-12 school districts over a decade ago. They help faculty glean insights from the mass of information they collect. With new federal requirements for data, now Head Start programs are engaging coaches as well. What is it like working with a data...
Member Profile: Q&A with YMCA of the East Bay about Teacher Wellness and Retention
YMCA of the East Bay directly operates 21 Head Start and Early Start Centers. They partner with four additional centers across Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California. They also operate state funded and migrant programs in Yolo and Sacramento counties. In total, the program can serve approximately 1,800 children at full capacity. They joined the QI Network in 2021. Melanie Mueller has...
Attendance vs. Chronic Absence in Head Start: Understanding the Difference
One of the most powerful levers at our disposal is predictive data. In contrast to lagging indicators such as end of year assessments or child outcomes, predictive data enables us to proactively intervene where we can make a real difference. While there are many types of predictive data, one of the most powerful is chronic absence. Chronic child absence translates into serious learning loss over...
Read on to explore ways to step up your data practices and incorporate improvement tools into your Head Start management systems, in the following areas:
Self-Assessment
The Office of Head Start requires programs to conduct an annual self-assessment. Beyond fulfilling this federal requirement, Head Start self-assessments provide an opportunity to reflect on data collection and yield new insights to improve team and individual performance. It’s a powerful tool for growth so that your program can plan for the coming year and address areas of need.
Understanding how to gather and analyze data is a key part of the self-assessment process. Data coaches can help Head Start management teams build confidence working with data and planning for self-assessment. As teams gain quality improvement tools and knowledge, they can go deeper in self-assessment and better serve their communities.
Another resource for self-assessment is Head Start PIR data. Early Intel and CCR Analytics produce an interactive dashboard called PIR Spotlight of national PIR data that enables programs to easily compare themselves to others in their state, federal region, or nationwide, using PIR data.
The dashboards can be used to assess teacher turnover, numbers of homeless children served, or hundreds of other performance metrics. The tool is accompanied by data coaching sessions to facilitate the dialogue and analysis. Details are available at (link TBA).
Staff Recruitment and Retention
Data and CQI Coaches can be a resource in the process of retaining and recruiting staff. One very effective tool is empathy interviews, where an interview probes in an open ended fashion for greater understanding. This and other CQI tools enable managers to better understand the dynamics that strengthen staff retention.
Another CQI tool that facilitates effective recruitment is journey mapping. By visualizing all the steps in a hiring process from the perspective of the candidate, Head Start management teams can remove obstacles that might have inadvertently deterred otherwise qualified candidates.
Growing the senior leadership team’s skills through coaching can also help foster a culture where staff want to be and where they have the ability to grow in their role. The Q.I. Network regularly holds exemplar sessions that feature effective staff recruitment and retention practices.
Child Enrollment
Child Enrollment
To understand how your program is performing in these areas, consider how you benchmark against other programs in your state, region or across programs of similar size. (Link to PIR Analytics page)
The quality of child recruitment varies significantly across programs, and what worked a few years ago may no longer work today. This is why self-assessment and CQI are so critical.
A CQI coach can be a great thought partner in mapping your child enrollment process and identifying the gaps and obstacles that may prevent you from fully enrolling these important groups of children and families.
Enrollment is tied to staffing and recruitment because vacancies on the teaching staff are often what prevents programs from opening additional sites or classrooms to meet demand. In some states, Head Start programs compete with universal pre-K and transitional kindergarten, so that brings its own set of challenges.
Dr. Maritza Lozano, Early Intel’s CQI Training Lead, discusses how a program might use CQI tools to boost enrollment.
Community Assessment
Community Assessment
Ideally, an energetic Planning Committee helps with pre and post assessment activities. It’s not enough to collect information on community needs. Programs need to show that they are responsive to what they’re learning and are adapting their services accordingly.
Intersectionality–that is, how multiple identities impact a person’s level of privilege or discrimination–is crucial for a useful community assessment, so multiple voices need to be heard. Racial equity has been part of Head Start’s mission from the beginning. In keeping with that mission, it’s important to consider how issues like redlining and generational trauma continue impacting communities today.
Dr. Marilyn Hosea, former Head Start director and Head Start fellow, discussing strategies for effective community assessments during a Q.I. Network training.
A data coach can help Head Start management teams put demographic data into context and identify key trends. The more decision-makers understand the rationale for changes, the more likely they are to support them. If a community assessment is conducted with effective analytics, it can sustain as a living document that continues to inform decision making over time.
Grant Planning
For instance, if a Head Start management team identified high rates of social emotional challenges in the classroom, they might consider expanding a behavioral consultant’s work or rethink how they’re using the consultant’s time. One program in the Head Start Q.I. Network hired instructional aids and found it to be effective in reducing teacher burnout.
When done well, the grant planning process is a data intensive process with strong elements of reflection, inquiry and dialogue among Head Start management.
Grant Writing
Effective Head Start grant applications clearly connect program design, program goals, school readiness goals, staffing structures, and other descriptions to internal and external data.
The structures, systems, plans, and goals written into the grant should reflect a community understanding. The ability to convey data stories is important. Q.I. Network members often find that the grant proposals reflect the cumulative work that they may have done with their data and CQI coaches over the prior year or more.
Attendance and Chronic Absence
Attendance is a predictor of child success. Conversely, chronic absence is a powerful predictor of preschool age children not being ready for kindergarten. Over time, chronic child absence can mean serious learning loss and predict a child’s failure to read at grade level, as well as other negative outcomes.
If Head Start management effectively connects their data silos, they can discern child absence patterns. For example, they can determine trends for absence, how absence patterns relate to teacher CLASS scores, how absence relates to particular family needs, and many other demographic considerations. We have found that chronic absence to be one of the most fruitful areas for improvement projects among members of the Q.I. Network.
Policy Council
The key to a strong Policy Council is accurate and timely data reporting and informative data analysis. Data visualization can be a tremendous resource to Policy Councils, enabling them to quickly grasp strengths and service gaps. As data tools have evolved, visualizations have become easy to produce and a regular element of Policy Council meetings and practice. They elevate discussion and inform quality improvement practices.
Board Governance
When conducting a visit, federal reviewers will interview board members to determine their awareness and engagement in board governance. Reviewers expect to see evidence that boards are tracking important program issues and that Head Start management is practicing continuous improvement. Effective analytics and examples of real improvement projects with tangible outcomes can impress board members and satisfy federal reviewers.
Staff Supervision
Q.I. Network members routinely work with data and quality improvement coaches to address staffing issues associated with supervision. This has included staff retention, morale, and staff, child, and family social emotional needs. Qualitative data, perhaps collected through empathy interviews, can be a critical resource and complement to quantitative data.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Effective data tools are critical in advancing equity. Averages and aggregate reporting can mask disparities. Effective data analysis will filter for vulnerable groups to ensure that everyone is thriving, not just the “average” student. Advancing equity requires good data tools combined with reflection and inquiry. Q.I. Network members have been successfully applying these tools to create stronger outcomes for their children and families.
Summary:
Head Start Management Benefits from Better Data
The good news is that easy-to-use data resources exist today, enabling programs to produce stronger outcomes. Early Intel supports program leaders across the country, incorporating these tools and processes as they advance their work.