A User's Guide

Ensuring Quality and Accountability Through Leadership

Print version of the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework

Head Start Child Outcomes Framework

The Head Start Child Outcomes Framework is intended to guide Head Start programs in their ongoing assessment of the progress and accomplishments of children and in their efforts to analyze and use data on child outcomes in program self-assessment and continuous improvement. The Framework is composed of 8 general Domains, 27 Domain Elements, and 100 examples of more specific Indicators of children's skills, abilities, knowledge, and behaviors. The Framework is based on the Head Start Program Performance Standards, Head Start Program Performance Measures, provisions of the Head Start Act as amended in 1998, advice of the Office of Head Start Technical Work Group on Child Outcomes, and a review of documents on assessment of young children and early childhood program accountability from a variety of state agencies and professional organizations.

• The Domains, Elements, and Indicators are presented as a framework of building blocks that are important for school success. The Framework is not an exhaustive list of everything a child should know or be able to do by the end of preschool. The Framework is intended to guide assessment of three- to five-year-old children—not infants, toddlers, and pregnant women enrolled in Early Head Start or Migrant Head Start programs.
• The Framework should guide agencies in selecting, developing, or adapting an instrument or set of tools for ongoing assessment of children’s progress. It is not intended to be used directly as a checklist for assessing children.
• Every Head Start program implements an appropriate child assessment system that aligns with their curriculum and gathers data on children's progress in each of the 8 Domains of learning and development. At a minimum, because they are legislatively mandated, programs analyze data on 4 specific Domain Elements and 9 Indicators in various language, literacy, and numeracy skills, as indicated with a star  *  in the chart.
• Information on children's progress on the Domains, Domain Elements, and Indicators is obtained from multiple sources, such as teacher and home visitor observations, analysis of samples of children’s work and performance, parent reports, or direct assessment of children. Head Start assessment practices should reflect the assumption that children demonstrate progress over time in development and learning on a developmental continuum, in forms such as increasing frequency of a behavior or ability, increasing breadth or depth of knowledge and understanding, or increasing proficiency or independence in exercising a skill or ability.

Listening and Understanding

• Demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.
• Shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.
• * Understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.
• * For non-English-speaking children, progresses in listening to and understanding English.

Speaking and Communicating

• * Develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions and for other varied purposes.
• Progresses in abilities to initiate and respond appropriately in conversation and discussions with peers and adults.
• * Uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken vocabulary.
• Progresses in clarity of pronunciation and towards speaking in sentences of increasing length and grammatical complexity.
• * For non-English-speaking children, progresses in speaking English.

Literacy

* Phonological Awareness

• Shows increasing ability to discriminate and identify sounds in spoken language.
• Shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds of words.
• Progresses in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, songs, stories and poems.
• Shows growing ability to hear and discriminate separate syllables in words.
• * Associates sounds with written words, such as awareness that different words begin with the same sound.

* Book Knowledge and Appreciation

• Shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and poetry.
• Shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend-reading with other children.
• Demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.
• Progresses in learning how to handle and care for books; knowing to view one page at a time in sequence from front to back; and understanding that a book has a title, author and illustrator.

* Print Awareness and Concepts

• Shows increasing awareness of print in classroom, home and community settings.
• Develops growing understanding of the different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus.
• Demonstrates increasing awareness of concepts of print, such as that reading in English moves from top to bottom and from left to right, that speech can be written down, and that print conveys a message.
• Shows progress in recognizing the association between spoken and written words by following print as it is read aloud.
• * Recognizes a word as a unit of print, or awareness that letters are grouped to form words, and that words are separated by spaces.

Early Writing

• Develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.
• Begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.
• Experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.
• Progresses from using scribbles, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name.

Alphabet Knowledge

• Shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.
• Increases in ability to notice the beginning letters in familiar words.
• * Identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.
• * Knows that letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.

Mathematics

* Number and Operations

• Demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.
• Begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities and written numerals in meaningful ways.
• Develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.
• Begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.
• Begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal to.
• Develops increased abilities to combine, separate and name "how many" concrete objects.

Geometry and Spatial Sense

• Begins to recognize, describe, compare and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.
• Progresses in ability to put together and take apart shapes.
• Begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.
• Shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape or size.
• Builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front and behind.

Patterns and Measurement

• Enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.
• Shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.
• Begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.
• Shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures for length and area of objects.

Science

Scientific Skills and Methods

• Begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials and observe processes and relationships.
• Develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and comparisons among objects and materials.
• Begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions and form generalizations.
• Develops growing abilities to collect, describe and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps and charts.
• Begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations and generalizations based on past experiences.

Scientific Knowledge

• Expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe and discuss the natural world, materials, living things and natural processes.
• Expands knowledge of and respect for their body and the environment.
• Develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.
• Shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

Creative Arts

Music

• Participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.
• Experiments with a variety of musical instruments.

Art

• Gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.
• Progresses in abilities to create drawing, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative or realistic.
• Develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.
• Begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Movement

• Expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.
• Shows growth in moving in time to different patterns of beat and rhythm in music.

Dramatic Play

• Participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.
• Shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Social and Emotional Development

Self Concept

• Begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics and preferences.
• Develops growing capacity for independence in a range of activities, routines, and tasks.
• Demonstrates growing confidence in a range of abilities and expresses pride in accomplishments.

Self Control

• Shows progress in expressing feelings, needs and opinions in difficult situations and conflicts without harming themselves, others, or property.
• Develops growing understanding of how their actions affect others and begins to accept the consequences of their actions.
• Demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and use materials purposefully, safely, and respectfully.

Cooperation

• Increases abilities to sustain interactions with peers by helping, sharing and discussion.
• Shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing and resolving conflicts with peers.
• Develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games or using materials, and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Social Relationships

• Demonstrates increasing comfort in talking with and accepting guidance and directions from a range of familiar adults.
• Shows progress in developing friendships with peers.
• Progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others.

Knowledge of Families and Communities

• Develops ability to identify personal characteristics including gender, and family composition.
• Progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people, such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures.
• Develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.
• Begins to express and understand concepts and language of geography in the contexts of their classroom, home and community.

Approaches to Learning

Initiative and Curiosity

• Chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.
• Develops increased ability to make independent choices.
• Approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination and inventiveness.
• Grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas and tasks.

Engagement and Persistence

• Grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects and experiences.
• Demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.
• Shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or interactions, despite distractions and interruptions.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

• Develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task or problem.
• Grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.
• Develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events and experiences.

Physical Health and Development

Fine Motor Skills

• Develops growing strength, dexterity and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.
• Grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads and using scissors.
• Progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing and art tools including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Gross Motor Skills

• Shows increasing levels of proficiency, control and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching and galloping.
• Demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using the slide and swing.

Health Status and Practices

• Progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.
• Participates actively in games, outdoor play and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.
• Shows growing independence in hygiene, nutrition and personal care when eating, dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth and toileting.
• Builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances and activities.

* Indicates the 4 specific Domain Elements and 9 Indicators that are legislatively mandated.