Heartland Headstart: Classroom Assessment

Headstart was launched in 1965, and has since gone through many changes that have resulted in becoming a program within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Headstart serves preschool children from low-income families in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Pacific Insular Areas.

Heartland Headstart serves 332 poverty level families, is comprised of six centers and thirteen classrooms.

Fall Internship 2004:

Issue: Heartland Headstart is a federally funded program, and in order to continue receiving such grants, Heartland Headstart must demonstrate that they are successfully utilizing their funds. Data is in abundance, but it has yet to be interpreted and presented in an appealing and understandable way.

Goals: Analyze and present data on the trends of improvement that are present within each of the indicators and subgroups of four year old children. There are thirteen indicators that each student is evaluated on three times a year. Headstart's goal is for 85% of the children to meet the performance objectives. However, typically Heartland Headstart has numbers closer to 65% or 70%. The data needs to be easy to read and available for use by Debra O'Connell to present to both parents and officials in charge of funding.

Results: The data was analyzed and organized into an easily understandable powerpoint presentation. Research needs to be continually analyzed and put into the gralphs in order to easily recognize trends.

For more information:

Heartland Headstart
Phone: 309.662.4880
Email: questions@heartlandheadstart.org

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