VII. Looking Ahead: Next Steps

     The Head Start Leaders Guide to Positive Child Outcomes describes goals for children's learning and developmental progress and ways that teachers and home visitors can help them make progress toward these goals in the context of a well-planned curriculum and ongoing assessment. Although the Child Outcomes Framework provides clear specifications for positive child outcomes, Head Start programs will create their own paths to achieve them. Typically, people create a path by finding the most effective, expedient route that respects and conforms to the contours of the natural environment. Yet many naturally developed, but different, paths can lead to the same place. In the same way, Head Start programs will use various curriculum and teaching strategies depending on the needs of the children and families they serve and on the local schools the children will be entering. But having a consistent set of research-based child outcomes to guide programs will help ensure that every child leaves the Head Start program better prepared to succeed in school and later in life.

     The previous sections of this Guide offer a vision for education leaders as they begin their journey to positive child outcomes in Head Start. Having envisioned what a program would look like—from the Big Picture in Head Start, through each of the Domains of the Framework and suggested practices, to strategies for adapting to individual differences and children with special needs—education leaders and staff must start with a plan of action that fits the needs and strengths of their contexts. This section offers suggestions about where to begin.

      Education leaders have pivotal roles to play in improving quality and accountability in Head Start. Of course, they do not work alone. Many improvements require administrative support and guidance and, most likely, reallocation of resources for needs such as professional development in specific outcome Domains or additional classroom materials and equipment. Head Start programs typically use a team approach, including specialists in disabilities, health, families, and other areas who work with education managers, Early Literacy Mentor-Coaches (ELMCs), and teachers. Services for Head Start children also may be delivered in diverse settings, requiring collaboration among the various professionals involved. The first step in the action plan is to make sure that all key leaders, whatever their actual job titles, are on the same page, and that the program’s management systems are in place to support this important effort.

     Once the key leaders agree on the overall goals and needs, then education managers working with the teaching staff decide the next steps. Each program is different in terms of where it begins, its current strengths and needs, the community context, and other variables. Despite these differences in context, education leaders have similar responsibilities across programs.

     The suggested next steps are organized around four key roles of the education leader:

Use the Child Outcomes Framework to enhance curriculum.

• Evaluate your current curriculum to see how it aligns with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework. Decide which outcome Domains and Indicators are currently well-addressed and which need more focus.
• Be certain to pay attention to the mandated Domain Elements and Indicators and to the definition of curriculum in the Head Start Program Performance Standards (1304.3[5] Curriculum). Review the Head Start Bulletin on Curriculum, March 2000, Issue #67 (available at www.headstartinfo.org/publications/publicat.htm or order from HSIPC at 703-683-5767).
• When necessary, make changes in your curriculum, involving staff and parents in this process.

Provide feedback to staff based on classroom observation, supervision, and mentoring.

• Help teaching staff focus on how the requirements fit into what they are already doing, rather than seeing everything as "more work" or a complete change.
• Help teaching staff become familiar with the Child Outcomes Framework. You can make an enlarged copy of the Framework and put it up in the classrooms. Frequently refer to the Framework until it becomes part of everyday communication in the program.
• Meet regularly with teaching staff to orient them to the requirements for improving quality and accountability.
• Respond to questions about the Child Outcomes Framework, drawing on the information under Frequently Asked Questions of this Guide.

Work with teaching staff to use time well for staff planning and collecting and analyzing assessment information.

• Engage staff in visualization exercises. Have them think of individual children and use the Framework to reflect on each child’s current competencies. Stress what children already know and can do while identifying ways to support their continued development and learning.
• Evaluate your current ongoing assessment tools to see how closely they align with both your curriculum and the Child Outcomes Framework. Pay special attention to the mandated Domain Elements and Indicators.
• Use multiple sources of ongoing assessment such as observation, interview, and samples of children’s work as well as tools for assessing children’s progress. Be sure to assess children at least three times during the program year—at the beginning, midway, and at the end. Review the April 2001 issue of the Head Start Bulletin on Screening and Assessment in Head Start for ideas (available from HSIPC at www.headstartinfo.org/publications/publicat.htm or toll free 1-866-763-6481).
• Using information from assessment of individual children’s progress, make decisions about other teaching strategies or learning experiences to include, referring to those suggested in this Guide.
• Introduce parents to the Child Outcomes Framework and the requirements for improving quality and accountability. Discuss with them how their children will benefit. Involve parents in making decisions about how to use the Framework and requirements to increase the value of Head Start for their children.

Use professional development resources of the agency to increase staff knowledge and skills in implementing recommended curriculum, teaching strategies, and ongoing assessment procedures.

• Distribute copies of the Child Outcomes Framework. Together, review its organization and content—become familiar with it.
• Use the Big Picture description and charts as starting points for discussion with staff about what aspects of the education program need greater emphasis. Help staff see that the fundamentals of Head Start remain the same, but that exciting changes will make the program even better!
• Engage teachers in small groups to discuss curriculum learning experiences and teaching strategies they currently use in each Domain. Identify areas where changes need to be made in order to support positive child outcomes.
• Review the effective practices suggested in this Guide and brainstorm others. Ask which ones are currently well-addressed and which need more focus. Pay special attention to the mandated Domain Elements and Indicators.
• With teaching staff, brainstorm ways to provide more time and resources, including classroom volunteers, for small group work and intentional teaching.
• Identify initial and ongoing professional development needs—your own and those of all teaching staff and home visitors.
• Provide professional development opportunities such as college-level courses, continuing education units, or in-service training with improved compensation for increased teacher qualifications.

     Since 1965, Head Start has led the early childhood community as the nation's laboratory in child development and early education. With the increased emphasis on quality and accountability, and with a clear vision of desired outcomes for children’s learning and development, Head Start continues its leadership role.