Internationally, standard observational measures of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) are used to assess the quality of provision. They are applied as research tools but, significantly, also guide policy decisions, distribution of resources and public opinion. Considerable faith is placed in such measures, yet their validity, reliability…

Head Start monitoring assesses recipients' compliance with requirements governing Head Start programs, including those specified in the Head Start Act (original authorizing legislation in 1965 and its subsequent amendments, most recently in 2007); HSPPS; and other applicable federal, state, and local regulations. HSPPS include provisions…

One popular observational instrument to evaluate teaching is the Classroom Assessment Scoring System--Secondary (CLASS-S). Yet, the secondary version of the CLASS poorly discriminates classroom management quality beyond identifying extremely chaotic classrooms with teachers' scores clustering in the most positive ranges of effectiveness. Studies…

The use of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) to improve early childhood education program quality is based in part on assumptions that the quality of programs can be measured and that quality ratings are associated with meaningful differences in learning outcomes for children. This report reviews all of the state QRIS validation…

In March 2019, Learning Forward's Stephanie Hirsh interviewed Robert Pianta, who developed the evidence-based MyTeachingPartner 1:1 Video Coaching program (MTP). MTP is one of the few coaching models that meets the evidence requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), based on studies of its effectiveness and efficacy. Rigorous research…

This is the second in a series of policy notes and related publications exploring prospects for developing indicators of teaching quality. The first examined federal databases that include information about teachers, demonstrating that almost none of the measures in these datasets provides indication of teaching quality. This policy note takes the…

This publication is part of the "Leading by Exemplar" project, a multi-year study conducted by Bellwether Education Partners. In this project, every aspect of the Head Start exemplars' program design and practice was closely examined in an effort to understand each program's "secret sauce." Leading by Exemplar has three goals:…

Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services to enrolled children and families. The Head Start program provides comprehensive child development services to economically disadvantaged…

California's Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff for entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1. This brief, the sixth in a series highlighting findings from the "Study of…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law, which changed the kindergarten entry age so that children must turn 5 by September instead of December to enroll. The new grade level was put into place to promote school readiness for California's youngest learners. It also established a new grade…