Evaluating Program Quality

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Instructions

Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.

Rubric

This assessment has two-parts. Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Part I: Program Assessment Tools

Access the following to complete this Assessment:

• Document #1: Walden Field Letter. You may wish to provide the program you choose with this letter from Walden University’s Program Director for the Master of Science in Early Childhood Studies.
• Document #2: NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria Overview
• Document #3: NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria
• Document #4: NAEYC’s Engaging Diverse Families Self-Assessment Checklist
• Website: NAEYC Accredited Program Search

Review the “NAEYC’s Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria” (Document #3) and the “NAEYC Engaging Diverse Families Project Program Self-Assessment Checklist” (Document #4) provided as part of this Work Product. In a 1- to 2-page paper:

1. Explain the purpose of the “NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria” and the importance of using them to for assessing program quality.
2. Explain how the “NAEYC Engaging Diverse Families Self-Assessment Checklist” is a useful tool in program evaluation.

Part II of your Assessment requires that you use the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria and the NAEYC Engaging Diverse Families Self-Assessment Checklist to evaluate an early childhood program. Using the NAEYC Accredited Program Search, begin researching and contacting NAEYC Accredited programs in your area to determine if you can complete your assignment at that facility. Your local NAEYC Affiliate Groups may be beneficial, if you are having difficulty connecting with a program.

PART II of your Assessment requires that you complete Part 7 of the “NAEYC’s Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria” and two other portions of the Assessment instrument. To complete this instrument and the “NAEYC Engaging Diverse Families Self-Assessment Checklist,” you will need to both observe within the early childhood environment and conduct staff interviews to determine compliance with factors that can’t be observed. Be sure to carefully review Part 7, the additional criteria you have selected, and the Checklist prior to arriving at the program.

Note: When completing the “NAEYC’s Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria,” you will mark “Yes” or “No” for each criteria—based on whether it is present or absent. For the Checklist, you will need to record program responses in the corresponding sections of the instrument.

Part II: Using Accreditation Standards to Evaluate an Early Childhood Program

After identifying an NAEYC accredited center and conducting your observations and interviews, you will develop a compilation of strengths and opportunity based on your results. Develop a list of what was marked as “Yes” and “No” across each instrument, and compile and overall list of what you see as the programs overall strengths and areas of opportunity.

Share your evaluation with the director of the center or a colleague. The colleague could be another student engaged in this competency or a colleague in the early childhood profession. Collaborate with him or her to develop at least two recommendations to strengthen or improve this program. Based on your interviews, notes, observations, and collaboration, write a 6- to 8-page paper that includes the following:

1. A narrative evaluation of the program’s quality in relation to Standard #7, “Families,” and the two additional standards you chose. Your evaluation should describe areas of strength and opportunity for this program. Support your evaluation with specific evidence related to “NAEYC Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria,” your observations, and your interviews.
2. At least two recommendations you have for this program based on the standards. Your recommendations must be grounded in the professional knowledge base.
3. An evaluation of your collaboration experience, including a description of the skills or tools you used to collaborate. How did your work with the director or colleague inform the development of your recommendations?