Implementation of the Head Start National Reporting System: Spring 2007

This report documents Head Start programs‘ experiences with the NRS during the fourth year of implementation. The report is based on information collected through visits to a nationally representative sample of 40 Head Start programs in spring 2007 with an oversample of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) programs. During these visits, staff observed the assessments of a random sample of children and interviewed program staff members about their experiences implementing the NRS. This round differed from the previous round in three ways. First, in an effort to gain more information about uses of assessment information in AI/AN programs, we added questions to interview and focus group protocols that focused specifically on perspectives on assessment from AI/AN programs. Second, since a new aspect of the NRS, the Social-Emotional Development (SED) rating form, had been added to the NRS in spring 2006, we added questions to the protocols to learn more about this rating form that was completed by children‘s teachers in the fall and spring of the Head Start year. Finally, because previous reports had shown a decline in time devoted to training in programs, we also directly observed training sessions in a selected set of these programs.