Quality Assurance

Information about various quality assurance issues are organized into six main categories:

1. Accountability and General Supervision,
2. Program Standards,
3. Early Learning Guidelines/Early Childhood Standards,
4. Child and Family Outcomes,
5. Evaluation methodology
6. Effectiveness of Infant and Early Childhood Programs.

In order to improve programs, services and systems, states need timely access to accurate information. When accurate and timely information is used for decision-making and oversight of local systems and services, results for children and families are improved. Methods and systems for the acquisition, maintenance, and use of information are currently under development or are being refined at the federal, state and local levels.

1. Accountability and General Supervision
1. Federal Accountability
1. Annual Report to Congress
2. Government Performance Results Act (GPRA)
3. Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
2. State Reporting Requirements
1. State Performance Plan and Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR)
1. SPP/APR Instructions, Tables and Templates
2. SPP and APR Resources
2. Data Tables
1. Section 619
1. Child Count
2. Educational Environments
3. Personnel
4. Resident Population and Enrollment
5. State Grant Awards
2. Part C
1. Child Count
2. Program Settings
3. Part C Exiting Data
4. Early Intervention Services Data
5. Resident Population and Enrollment
6. State Grant Awards
3. State General Supervision Systems
1. Core Components of an Effective General Supervision System
1. State Performance Plan and State Goals with Measurable Targets
1. State Monitoring Indicators
2. Measurable and Rigorous Targets
2. Effective Policies, Procedures and Effective Implementation
3. Data on Process and Results
1. Data Accuracy and Verification
2. Reporting Data to the Public
3. Aligning Part C and Part B Data
4. Effective Dispute Resolution System
5. Integrated On-site and Off-site Monitoring
1. Self-Assessment
2. Focused Monitoring
3. Desk Audit
4. On-site Visits (Cyclical or Focused)
5. Written-Findings Report
6. Status Determination of LEAs/Early Intervention Programs Performance
6. Targeted Technical Assistance and Professional Development
7. Fiscal Management
8. Evaluation of Effectiveness and Efficiency of the General Supervision System
4. State Structures for Part C Service Provision and Implications for Accountability
1. Unitary Provider Structure
2. Public-Private Partnership Structure
1. Individual Provider Approach
2. Provider Agency Approach
3. Regional (District/Local) Administrative Approach
3. Studies of Types of Providers and Agencies States Use to Deliver Part C Services
5. Monitoring
1. National Monitoring Conferences
2. National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring (NCSEAM)
3. State Monitoring Reports
4. Part C Monitoring Systems in 10 States (PDF: 297kb)
2. Program Standards
1. National/professional organization recommendations
1. Administrator's Essentials: Creating Policies and Procedures (DEC)
2. Self-Assessment: Child-Focused Interventions (DEC)
3. Early Learning Standards (NAEYC) and (NAECS/SDE)
4. Communication Supports Checklist (ASHA)
2. State examples of program standards and quality indicators
1. MA Indicators of Quality Full-time Preschool Programs
2. NC School Readiness Assessment
3. IL Birth to Three Program Standards and Quality Indicators
3. Measurement tools
1. Environment Rating Scales (FPG)
2. Assessing Program Quality (NCEDL)
3. Early Learning Guidelines/Early Childhood Standards
1. National/General Resources
1. Good Start, Grow Smart: The State of the States Early Learning Guidelines
2. Where We Stand on Early Learning Standards (NAEYC position paper)
3. Head Start Program Performance Standards
4. Head Start: Further Development Could Allow Results of New Test To Be Used for Decision-Making
2. State Specific Resources
1. Selected State Early Learning Guidelines on the Web (NCCIC)
2. The State Standards Database (NIEER)
3. Inside the Content: The Breadth and Depth of Early Learning Standards
4. Child and Family Outcomes
1. OSEP Requirements
1. SPP/APR Reporting Requirements
2. FAQs - Part C Indicator #3 and Part B Indicator #7
3. General SPP/APR FAQs
4. Child Outcomes Reporting Timelines
5. Summer Institute Materials (Tab 6)
2. NECTAC Planning Resources
1. A Framework for Developing a Child and Family Outcome System
2. Building a Child Outcomes Measurement System: Eight Recommended Activities and Products
3. Criteria for Choosing Data Sources
4. Multiple Data Sources or Single Data Source
5. Norm-referenced or Curriculum Based
6. Child Outcomes Think Tank, August 2005
3. National Organizations and resources
1. Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center
2. Papers by the Early Childhood Outcomes Center
3. State Preschool Accountability Research Collaborative (SPARC)
4. Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI-MGD)
5. Family Outcomes (NCEDL)
6. NCEO Framework for Educational Accountability
7. Implementing Results-Based Decision-Making (NGA)
8. Issues in Designing State Accountability Systems
4. State Activities Related to child and family outcomes
1. State Child Outcomes Activities
2. 2006 General Supervision Enhancement Grants
3. 2004-2005 General Supervision Enhancement Grants
4. Alaska's Early Intervention Infant Learning Program
5. California's Desired Results Project
6. Colorado's Results Matter
7. Delaware's Building Blocks Early Childhood Outcomes Initiative
8. Hawaii's What Counts: Measuring the Benefits of Early Intervention
9. The Illinois Early Childhood Outcomes Project
10. Measuring Chile Outcomes in Kansas
11. Kentucky's Early Childhood Outcomes Initiative
12. Results Matter in Nebraska
13. New Hampshire's Cornerstone Project
14. The Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia
15. Wisconsin's Children Moving Forward
5. Measurement tools
1. Early Childhood Measures Profiles
2. Outcome Measures for Early Childhood Intervention Services
6. Meetings and Conference Calls
1. OSEP/ECO Conference Call On Responding to the Child Outcome Indicator (B7) for the February, 08 SPP/APRs - (October 2007)
2. NECTAC National TA Meeting: Measuring Child and Family Outcomes - (August 2007)
3. NECTAC National TA Meeting: Measuring Child and Family Outcomes - (April 2006)
4. Child Outcomes Call: Training Resources for the ECO Child Outcomes Summary Form - (March 2006)
5. Fall Conference Call Series: Measuring EC Outcomes (Fall 2005)
6. EC Outcomes Conference Call: Follow-up from OSEP Summer Institute (September 8, 2005)
7. Child Outcomes TA Think Tank (August 2005)
8. Early Childhood Outcomes TA Meeting: Developing a State Outcome Measurement System (April 2005)
9. ECO Proposed Early Childhood Outcomes Conference Call (Winter 2005)
5. Evaluation methodology
1. General Resources
1. American Evaluation Association (AEA)
2. The Evaluation Exchange (Harvard Family Research Project)
3. Online Evaluation Resource Library (OERL)
4. Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation (ERIC)
2. Guides/Handbooks
1. Evaluation Handbook (Kellogg Foundation)
2. User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations (NSF)
3. Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach (United Way)
4. The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation (DHHS)
5. Evaluating Head Start: A Recommended Framework for Studying the Impact of the Head Start Program
6. By the Bucket: Achieving Results for Children (NGA)
6. Effectiveness of Infant and Early Childhood Programs
1. National Centers
1. What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
2. Promising Practices Network (PPN)
3. NGA Center for Best Practices
4. National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)
5. The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
6. Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy
7. The Future of Children
8. Effectiveness of Early Childhood Programs…School Readiness
2. OSEP National Longitudinal Studies
1. All Studies
2. NEILS
3. PEELS
3. Long-Term Impacts of Early Intervention
1. Carolina Abecedarian Project
2. High/Scope Perry Preschool Project
3. Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program
4. Longitudinal Follow-up of Two Preschool Models
5. Minority Academic Achievement
4. Economic Impact Studies
1. The Long Term Economic Benefits of High Quality Early Childhood Intervention Programs: NECTAC Minibibliography (December 2004) (PDF: 99kb)
2. Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return (2003)
3. Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Project (2002)
4. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Chicago Child-Parent CPC Program (2001)
5. Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study (1999)
5. Major Reviews of Effectiveness
1. Handbook of Early Childhood Education
2. The Effectiveness of Early Intervention
3. From Neurons to Neighborhoods
4. ERIC Digests on the Effectiveness of Early Intervention