Head Start Preschool Classrooms Prominently Emphasize Performance

Head Start preschool classrooms prominently emphasize performance standards as a way to assess educational programs for young children. However, this approach is often criticized as not appropriate for the assessment of young children (Hallam et al., 2007). Standards outlined in the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework were developed as an assessment system in response to the need for increased accountability in early childhood care and education. The Child Outcomes Framework was developed in 2000 as an outline for outcomes that are expected for four-year-old children as they leave the Head Start program. The concern about this type of framework is that it potentially results in disconnect between appropriate assessment processes and outcomes.

Hallam et al. (2007) investigated the classroom quality associated with an intervention that linked authentic assessment practices with the Head Start child Outcomes Framework. These researchers conducted this study by observing twenty-six preschool classrooms involved in Head Start. The pilot and intervention classrooms used an approach to assessment that blended the development of portfolios in line with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework and a curriculum-based assessment tool, and then integrated this child assessment information into instructional planning. The control group in the study contained comparison classrooms that used only the assessment approach of the Head Start program. This program included an agency-developed lesson plan and a standardized assessment tool.

Specifically, the intervention approach used in the study was Project LINK, a program that aimed to promote connections between curriculum, assessment, and outcomes for the enhancement of success in school for children involved in the Head Start program (Hallam et al., 2007). The program was intended to be utilized as a means for the documentation of accountability, and was designed as an intervention and evaluation to be used over two years, with the first year consisting of examination of quality in the classroom and the second year consisting of examination of standardized child outcomes and quality of the classroom.

Measures used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention approach in comparison to the control classrooms included the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ECERS-R) and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO). The procedures used for data collection included observation of the intervention, pilot, and comparison classrooms at both the beginning and end of the 2004-2005 school year. These observations were conducted and measures were implemented by master's-level and doctoral-level graduate students. Analysis on the data was conducted through the use of SPSS 12.0.

Results of the study indicated no statistically differences between the three experimental groups with regard to the ECERS-R. Statistically significant differences were found in the quality of the literacy and language environment of the classrooms as measured by the ELLCO. In particular, the pilot group demonstrated improvements more than both the intervention and comparison groups, but statistically significant results were demonstrated for the pilot and intervention groups (Hallam et al., 2007).