Database Needs for Early Learning Programs Essay

The Outcomes and Targets for the recently passed Families and Education Levy are very high. At the heart of the levy is accountability and using data in timely ways to improve annual outcomes. In the realm of Early Learning the dollars will double and the number of children and professional staff served will increase dramatically. The need for reliable, accessible data is great. An HSD IT web based data system (ELNIS) was created in 2006 for the previous levy. It was deployed in the summer of 2007 and began to be used in the 2007-2008 school year. Hosted by the state of Washington, it is accessible to each agency under contract with the city through a city purchased computer and digital certificate. Help desk support and training are also provided by the city. In 2009 the state ECEAP program substantially changed its enrollment form. ELNIS no longer matches the data elements required by the state. It was decided, because the change came so late in the year, that it was not feasible to make the changes in ELNIS. For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years the data has been out of sync with enrollment forms for ECEAP. ELNIS was designed in 2005 with the hope of having a single early learning data base for ECEAP, Step Ahead, and Child Care Subsidy. This proved to be unfeasible given the time constraints and limited resources available to accomplish the task. Children are entered into multiple data bases that do not connect with each other, but all ECEAP children are also in ELNIS. In 2010 Creative Curriculum substantially change the child assessment tool, such that in the final year of the levy 2010-2011 the child assessment data is no longer uploaded into ELNIS. Again it was decided not to reconfigure ELNIS to match the changes in the assessments because of time and cost, until the new levy passed. The OFE monthly report drives the immediate need for data. Each month OFE requires a data set of demographics, attendance and assessment data be delivered on the last day month following the month reported. In the MOA each year between OFE and HSD the data elements are negotiated. The data reporting required for early learning in 2010-2011 is on pages 5 – 8 of this report. These will still form a substantial part of the required data, but there will be additional items and number of records will increase substantially. Further, each year an analysis is completed by the data and evaluation strategic advisor in August/September for the previous school year. The data is used to help managers and education specialists to improve the performance of the agencies in the next school year. This process begins by creating a large data set of assessments matched to each child who has been served. The early vision was that the data would be stored in ELNIS and download for use in evaluations ready to be reported or analyzed. ELNIS is capable of containing the demographic data (although it no longer matches the data collected for ECEAP families) for each child, the agency, site and classroom data, and the ECERS assessment. It can no longer upload the Embedded Child Profile Assessment data, the PPVT- 4 child data, nor any data about professional development. All of this data must be managed separately in Excel spreadsheets and appended to the download from ELNIS. Increased needs for data and new data elements The new levy includes six components of which are three are new and three are expanded: †¢Professional Development †¢Family Engagement and Outreach †¢Preschool †¢Kindergarten Transition †¢Home Visiting Program †¢Health and Mental Health Support for Children The new required elements for reporting are expected to include the following indicators of progress toward the outcomes: †¢Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) – Caregivers/Adults will demonstrate increased positive behavior on the Parent and Child Together tool (PACT). †¢PCHP – Children will meet standard on the Child Behavior Traits (CBT) and the Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL). †¢Family Friend and Neighbor’s (FFN†S) Care Providers – Caregivers/Adults will demonstrate increased positive behavior on the Parent and Child Together tool (PACT). †¢Step Ahead Preschool Programs – Children enrolled will meet the Standard Score and/or make gains on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4) of Receptive English by the end of the preschool year. †¢Step Ahead Preschool serving children who are English Language Learners: Children will make statistically significant gains in English Language Acquisition at the end of the preschool year on the PPVT-4. †¢Step Ahead Preschool – Children will meet age level expectations at the end of the preschool year on Teaching Strategies Gold Child (TSG) assessment. †¢Children served by Step Ahead and SEEC and enrolled in full-day kindergarten – Children will meet the age-level expectations on Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) . †¢SEEC Pre-K – Classrooms will meet the Environmental Rating Scale (ERS) standard at the end of the program year. †¢SEEC Pre-K – Teachers will meet standard on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) at the end of the program year. †¢Children enrolled in Step Ahead pre-K program will have fewer than 5 absences per semester. †¢Children served by a Step Ahead Preschool will be assessed at level 2 or higher on the district English assessment test at the beginning of Kindergarten. †¢Number of early learning and child care settings receiving targeted consultation or training. †¢% of children who enroll in kindergarten on time. †¢% of children enrolled in full day kindergarten. †¢% of children who attend 90% of school days. †¢% of children who meet the birth to 3-year indicator for health (TBD). †¢% of 4 year olds who meet standard on the curriculum embedded assessment in preschool. Early Learning Health †¢Number of early learning and child care settings and providers receiving targeted consultation or training. †¢Number of children in early learning and child care settings receiving developmental assessments. †¢Number of children in early learning and child care referred for mental health therapy and/or medical follow-up. †¢Number of low-income families linked to a health care home, Medicaid coverage, and/or other health care resources. Assessment Tools used to provide outcome and indicator data Formative Assessments †¢Child: Teaching Strategies Gold (administered fall, winter and spring of the pre-k year) †¢Classroom: Curriculum-embedded classroom checklist (administered annually) †¢CLASS: Annual voluntary observation of pre-k and kindergarten- 3rd grade teachers to measure teacher effectiveness. Summative Assessments †¢Child – PPVT-4 (administered fall and spring of pre-k ) †¢Child – WaKIDS ( administered fall and spring of kindergarten) †¢Classroom – ECERS ( administered annually) Performance Payment with OFE will likely include these Outcomes (indicators) 2010-11 Indicator BaselinesNumber of Students Meeting IndicatorPercent of Students Meeting Indicator Families demonstrating increased positive behavior on the PACT and the CBT 35/4283. 3% Children making gains in the Standard Score from the fall pre-PPVT to the spring post-PPVT 657/93570. 3% Children with a minimum of two assessments meeting age-level expectations on Teaching Strategies Gold397/546 73. 0% Children are in classrooms meeting an ECERS standard of 5 in each subscale or an average of 6 in all subscales. 397/636 62. 4% Indicator Targets2010-20112012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19 Families demonstrating increased positive behavior on the PACT and the CBT 83. 3% 84% 85% 86% 87% 88% 89% 90% Children making gains in the Standard Score from the fall pre-PPVT to the spring post-PPVT 70. 3% 73% 76% 80% 83% 86% 89% 90%. Children with a minimum of two assessments meeting age-level expectations on Teaching Strategies Gold 73. 0% 75% 78% 81% 84% 87% 89% 90% Children are in classrooms meeting an ECERS standard of 4 in each subscale or an average of 6 in all subscales. 62. 4% 67% 71% 76% 80% 85% 89% 90% Conclusions: ELNIS as currently configured will not meet the needs of the Early Learning System to report data to the funder, to use data for improving outcomes, or to manage data for contract payment purposes and monitoring. Either work needs to begin ASAP on reconfiguring ELNIS or a new data system needs to be created or purchased. Options include an HSD IT build or a purchase of a configurable off the shelf software system, such as Adsystech or ETO. Data will need to begin being reported to OFE in the fall of 2012, eight months from now. What options exist for meeting this need? What resources are available? What planning team should be assembled? Data Set currently required to be reported by OFE (2010-2011) SEEC Early Learning – Pre-K Source: HSD (monthly) Data ElementData TypeNotes YearNumericThe year of the period that the data is reported for. e. g. 2006 for reporting period December 2006. MonthNumericThe month of the period that the data is reported for. e. g. 12 for reporting period December 2006 Child HSD IDNumeric1 = English 2 = Other than English 3 = English and another language 4 = not reported Student IDNumericEnter SPS Student ID after child is enrolled in Kindergarten Ethnicity CodeChar 25 categories from SPS Child’s Home LanguageNumeric Gender CodeChar 1 SEEC Agency CodeChar 4Corresponds with Agency name look-up table SEEC Site CodeChar 4Corresponds with classroom site look-up table SEEC Classroom Code Char 7Corresponds with classroom look-up table. SEEC StatusNumeric1 = Step-Ahead Pre-K 2 = Step Ahead Match SEEC TierNumericTier I – Step Ahead, Tiny Tots, Refugee Women’s Alliance, and Jose Marti Tier II – Denise Louie Education Center/Head Start Tier III – Non-Step Ahead Early Childhood Education and Assistance Programs (ECEAP) , Neighborhood House Head Start Tier IV – Comprehensive Child Care Program (CCCP), other Head Start Programs in the City of Seattle Days in Pre-K ProgramNumeric/NullTotal number of days the student has participated in the Pre-K program during the month. ECERS Average Subscale Scores and average totalNumericRange 1-7 ECERS – Met StandardYes/No/Null ECERS average score of 4 across all 7 elements Classroom Quality StandardYes/No/NullClassroom met quality standards Classroom LevelNumeric/NullClassroom score based on years of experience and training 1st Child Assessment – Social/Emotional DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR 1st Child Assessment – Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 1st Child Assessment – Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR 1st Child Assessment – Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 1st Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR 2nd Child Assessment – Social/Emotional DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 2nd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR 2nd Child Assessment – Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 2nd Creative Curriculum child assessment. or High/Scope COR 2nd Child Assessment. Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 2nd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 2nd Child Assessment – Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 2nd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 3rd Child Assessment – Social/Emotional DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 3rd Child Assessment – Physical DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. 3rd Child Assessment. Cognitive DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment. 3rd Child Assessment – Language DevelopmentNumeric/NullStudent’s level from the 3rd Creative Curriculum child assessment or High/Scope COR. Formative Assessment – ChildYes/No/NullChild met the standard in the final embedded assessment as adopted by the SEEC assessment workgroup. PCHPYes/No/NullParticipated in Parent-Child Home Program. SEEC Early Learning – Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition PPVT Source: HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes Child HSD IDNumeric. Child AgeXX-XXChild’s age at time of test in years and months 1st assessment – standard scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s standard score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. 1st assessment – raw scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s raw score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 1st assessment – grade equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s grade equivalent score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 1st assessment – age equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s age equivalent score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 1st assessment – growth scale valueNumeric/NullStudent’s growth scale value from the 1st Peabody Picture. Vocabulary Test 1st assessment – percentile scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s percentile score from the 1st Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment – standard scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s standard score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. 2nd assessment – raw scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s raw score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment – grade equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s grade equivalent score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment – age equivalent scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s age equivalent score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment – growth scale valueNumeric/NullStudent’s growth scale value from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2nd assessment – percentile scoreNumeric/NullStudent’s percentile score from the 2nd Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. SEEC Early Learning – ECERS Source: HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes SEEC Classroom Code Char 7Corresponds with classroom look-up table. 1st ECERS score – Space and FurnishingsNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Personal Care RoutinesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Language and Reasoning Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Activities Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Interaction Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Program StructureNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS score – Parents and StaffNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 1st ECERS cumulative classroom scoreNumeric/ NullAverage score across all subscales 2nd ECERS Score – Space and FurnishingsNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – Personal Care RoutinesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – Language and Reasoning Numeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – ActivitiesNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – InteractionNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – Program StructureNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS Score – Parents and StaffNumeric/NullAverage score for subscale 2nd ECERS cumulative classroom scoreNumeric/NullAverage score across all subscales. Early Learning – Parent-Child Home Program Source: HSD (twice yearly) Data ElementData TypeNotes YearNumericThe year of the period that the data is reported for, e. g. , 2006 for reporting period December 2006. MonthNumericThe month of the period that the data is reported for, e. g. , 12 for reporting period December 2006. Child HSD IDNumeric Student IDNumericEnter SPS Student ID after child is enrolled in Kindergarten Ethnicity CodeChar 25 categories from SPS, Other, Bi-Racial/Multi Racial Gender CodeChar 1 AgeNumeric In Parent-Child Home Visitor ProgramYes/NoStudent has participated in the Parent-Child Home Visitor Program during the month. Parent-Child Home Visitor Program – Provider CodeNumeric292 = Atlantic Street Center 304 = Neighborhood House at Rainier Vista 305 = Neighborhood House at New Holly 310 = Southwest Youth and Family Services Parent-Child Home Visitor Program – Total Number of VisitsNumeric/NullCumulative number of visits during the month. 1st Child Behavior Traits (CBT) Assessment – Cooperation with Adults Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4: average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 1st CBT Assessment – Attention to Task Domain. Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4: average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 1st CBT Assessment – Engagement in Developmentally Appropriate Tasks Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4: average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 2nd CBT Assessment – Cooperation with Adults DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 2nd CBT Assessment – Attention to Task DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4. 2nd CBT Assessment – Engagement in Developmentally Appropriate Tasks DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment – Cooperation with Adults DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment – Attention to Task DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd CBT Assessment – Engagement in Developmentally Appropriate Tasks DomainNumeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 1st Parent and Child Together (PACT) Assessment – Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 1st PACT Assessment -Positive Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4: average score for items that make up the domain shown at left 1. Does not exhibit this behavior 2. Sometimes exhibits this behavior 3. Most of the time exhibits this behavior 4. Always exhibits this behavior 2nd PACT Assessment – Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 2nd PACT Assessment – Positive Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd PACT Assessment – Parent-Child Interactions Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4 3rd PACT Assessment – Positive Parenting Behavior Domain Numeric/NullScore ranges 1-4. 1st Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy (TROLL) Assessment – Language ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 1st TROLL Assessment – Reading ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 1st TROLL Assessment – Print Concept ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-12 (3 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 2nd TROLL Assessment – Language ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-20 (5 items with maximum of 4 points for each item) 2nd TROLL Assessment – Reading ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-33 (8 items with maximum of 4 points for each item; one Yes/No item scored 1/0 ) 2nd TROLL Assessment – Print Concept ScoreNumeric/NullScore ranges 0-28 (7 items with maximum of 4 points for each item).