Curriculum and Ongoing Assessment in Home-Based Programs

Curriculum and Ongoing Assessment in Home-Based Programs

Randi Hopper: Thank you for joining today's webinar on curriculum and ongoing assessment in home-based programs. My name is Randi Hopper, and I'm a senior training technical assistance specialist with the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning.

Today, I'm joined by Donna Ruhland, a senior subject matter expert, who will be helping me present some of this important information to you today. We will be reviewing some standards related to home-based curriculum and ongoing assessment as well as exploring some strategies and resources to support implementation of both of these. We'll also be discussing using curriculum and ongoing assessment in planning home visits and socialization activities with families. I'm going to pass it off to my friend Donna, and she's going to take us through our beginning portion right here,

Donna Ruhland: Get started. We want to remember our purpose in home visiting. Our purpose is to provide home visits and group socializations that promote secure parent-child relationships and help families provide high-quality early learning experiences. Keeping this purpose in mind helps us in selecting and using curriculum and ongoing assessment. When reviewing curriculum and assessment, it is important to reflect on whether they help to support the purpose of your program and the families you serve. We do recognize that many of you watching today may not be in a position to select the curriculum or assessment tool that you are currently using within your program. That's OK. The information we share today is designed to help inform you to explore your program's chosen materials and tools and to ask informed questions so that you can deliver high-quality services to families and their children. We also want to take a moment to share with you that our information today is intended to support you as you connect with families virtually and in person. We are in a transition period where programs are in varying stages of virtual and in-person home visiting. This causes us to reflect and evaluate how to deliver curriculum and complete ongoing assessments, plan activities with families, and effectively support positive outcomes in these uncertain times. Providing information and sustaining relationships are key during this time, this helps to promote security and confidence in the families' skill to facilitate learning experiences for their children. Families play an important role in the delivery of home-based curriculum, the completion of ongoing assessments, and the use of both intentional and individualized planning for children.

Randi: Alright, so to get us kicked off, to start, we are going to put up a quick poll for you. And so, if you're accessing the webinar with a computer or a tablet, the poll question and options should pop up for you in a separate box. You may need to scroll down that box to find the "submit" button for your answers. So, our question today is, which method are you using to connect and conduct home visits and socializations? So, our options are, "I am engaging with all families virtually," "I'm engaging with all families in person," and "I'm engaging with families in a combination of virtual and in-person." And so, we're going to give you just a second to be able to take a quick look and make your selections. And we see only about 25% or so have been able to make that selection. So, we're going to give you just a quick minute. And I know that we've heard quite a bit of people are still in that transition phase of being able to do virtual, and some people are kind of transitioning to in-person visits at this point. So, we wanted to make sure that our information is viable to you. Alright, so I'm going to go through, and I'm actually going to push our results out to you so that you can see what everybody's saying. And right now, a lot of people who are with us today are saying that they are engaging with families virtually. 71% of you are still virtual, with about 26% of you doing a mixture of both and a very small percentage doing in-person alone. So, the best thing about this is the fact that our information today can be used in a virtual and an in-person setting. And so, you'll be able to take this information, and no matter how you're engaging with families, you're going to be able to use it. Alright, so what we're going to do is we're going to take this forward and just like our engagement with families, the implementation of curriculum and ongoing assessment is really guided by our Head Start Program Performance Standards. So, in the resource list widget, you're going to be able to find a handout titled "HSPPS Excerpt Chart – H.B. Program Option." I know that's a really long title. Don't worry. [Laughs] This handout actually provides a listing of very relevant standards specifically related to our home-based program option, and to get us started with reviewing our first standard I'm going to pass it over to Donna.

Donna: Hey, thank you. We are going to take a look at a few of the standards, as Randi shared, as they relate to our discussion today, but when you have a moment to look at the others to ensure that you know what they are and how your program meets them, so you'll want to review those, as well. All programs, if you look at 1302.30-A, all programs must provide high- quality early education and child development services, including for children with disabilities that promote children's cognitive, social, and emotional growth for later success in school. But how the programs are provided begins to point out just how unique home-based is. OK, so 1302.31-A tells us that a center-based or family child-care program must embed responsive and effective teacher-child interactions. And 1302.35 tells us that a home-based program must promote secure parent-child relationships and help parents provide high-quality early learning experiences. Also, 1302.35 also tells us that home visiting programs must implement a research-based curriculum that delivers developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate home visits and group-socialization activities that support children's cognitive, social, and emotional growth for later success in school. While we dive a little deeper into the standards, please use the Q&A, the question-and-answer box to share the curriculum and assessment tools that you are using in your home-based program. So please put into the Q&A box the curriculum and assessment tools that you are using in your program. And with that, I'm going to ask Randi to step in.

Randi: Alright, so Donna's going to keep a really close eye on the Q&A box so that we can share back those results with you after we cover a few more standards. So, we are going to cover 1302.35-D. And so, this really goes over that a home visiting program needs to ensure the implementation of a developmentally appropriate research-based early childhood, home-based curriculum, the parents' role as the child's teacher, and focus on that parent-child relationship and the family's culture and home language. It needs to align with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes framework, also known as the ELOF, and has organized developmental scope and sequence that includes plans and materials for learning experiences. Programs also need to support staff in how they are effectively implementing and at the very minimum monitor implementation and fidelity, as well as provide support, feedback, and supervision for continuous quality improvement. And we know that sometimes we need to make certain adjustments to meet the populations that we have. And so, if a program makes significant adaptations to a curriculum, then they need to partner with an ECE curriculum or content expert and assess if that adaptation that they've done still facilitates progress toward school- readiness goals.

And lastly, programs must provide parents with an opportunity to review curriculum material and instructional materials. Alright, so then we have to take into account 1302.35-B. This is the home-based program design. And what this tells us is that programs must ensure that all home visits are planned jointly between the home visitor and the parents and reflect the critical role of the parent in early learning and development of their child. They're also going to ensure that visits are planned using information from ongoing assessments, and this helps us to individualize that learning experience. Also, home visits need to be scheduled with enough time to serve all the enrolled children and conducted with parents, as well as enough time to make sure we are effectively delivering services described in subparts "D," "E," "F," and "G." We know that learning is happening in the home. We want to encourage families to share this information with us and use it to intentionally plan those learning experiences with families. So, we're going to take a closer look at one standard that focuses on assessment for individualization. That is 1302.33-B. So, programs must conduct a structured and standardized assessment, either observation-based or a direct assessment for each child, and this provides ongoing information to evaluate the development and progress in outcomes aligned with the ELOF. Now, assessment must result in usable information for home visitors and parents because we're going to take this information and we're going to be able to use it with planning. It also needs to be conducted with enough frequency to allow for individualization. We have to do it often enough to be able to make those adjustments and create goals. Now, programs must also use this assessment information, along with observations from the home visitor and additional information that we get from the family, and this helps us to determine strengths and needs of the child. This information is really what's going to help us inform and adjust those strategies to support individual learning and those effective home visiting practices. And if needed, we want to then take that information and consult directly with a mental-health professional or a child development professional along with the parents' consent, and then we can also seek and refer that child for formal evaluation of eligibility for services under IDA. So, actually, we're going to check back in with Donna to see what you've shared about curriculum and assessment.

Donna: Well, we have a variety of answers and those are still coming in, Randi, but we have a number of programs using parents as teachers. We do have a number of programs using Frog Street as well as Healthy Baby's, and we have "Creative Curriculum and Growing Great Kids."" For assessment tools, we have a number using GOLD and a couple with DECA. We had one when I checked last using HELP, or the Hawaii Early Learning Program, as well as DRDP, and we did have a report of the HOVRs being used, as well.

Randi: Wow, that's pretty exciting.

Donna: Yes, it is. So, we'd like to thank everyone for sharing that information and we will make sure that we're collecting that, as well. And ... OK. So common questions, you know, we've actually done quite a few home-based trainings and have identified some common questions related to curriculum and ongoing assessment, so we thought it would be helpful to share those questions, as well, and to provide some strategies and resources. One of the most common questions that we've received is the difference between center-based and home-based curricula. This may seem a little obvious to some of you, but when you're trying to make those big decisions related to switching to a new curriculum, training staff, planning for implementation with fidelity, you may wonder if there isn't just one curriculum that works for everyone. And, unfortunately, the answer is there is not. There are some key differences in how curriculum is delivered based on the program option itself. So, when we take a look at how center-based and family child-care curriculum supports child outcomes, we see that teaching practices directly impact child development. The point is the teacher is actively working with the child. The child is in the classroom usually five days a week, maybe six hours or more each day. Taking that estimate then, you're looking at about 30 hours of time between the teacher and the child each week. Teaching staff engage with families to really gain that insight and make connections between home and school. But a majority of the influence is what happens within the classroom itself. However, when we look at implementing curriculum in home- based, the most striking difference is the home visitor works to promote positive parenting and that in turn impacts child development.

So, remember back to HSPPS 1302.35, where we said a home-based program must promote secure parent-child relationships and help parents provide high-quality early learning experiences. Well, home based curriculum is focused on home visitors supporting the parent and their role as a child's first and most important teacher, including strengthening their parenting practices so they can support their child's healthy growth and development. That's throughout the week, throughout the day when the home visitor isn't present. Home-based curriculum should include activities that focus on experiences that promote child relationships, the parents' role as their child's teacher, the incorporation of family's, traditions, culture, values, and beliefs to support relationship building and learning, use of everyday routines and using the home as the learning environment, and then supporting families during individual home visits and also those group specializations.

Randi: And since home-based curriculum is focused on the parents' role as the teacher, it's really easier for home visitors to make that transition to implementing it in virtual, you know, through virtual means. So, you know, you absolutely need a home-based curriculum for a home-based program, but which one is right for your program? Well, that all depends on which research-based home-based curriculum meets the needs of the families enrolled in your program, including responsive practices for cultural and linguistic, diverse learners, effective

practices to support all children, and promotion of family's role in their child's development. So, next, we're actually going to go over and discuss some resources to help learn more about and review available home-based curricula. So, these standard in action vignettes that are available provide really good examples of how programs can implement specific Head Start Program Performance Standards, and each resource features a fictional grantee and describes how programs plan and work with others to meet the standards. So, program staff can actually use this resource to focus on and identify the most appropriate ways to put the standards into practice in their own program. You can also use this resource to think through considerations for selecting and implementing home-based curriculum, as well as considerations for training and monitoring implementation fidelity. So, staff can also use this to identify similarities and differences between curriculum delivery virtually and in person and think through the supports that are still needed during this time to meet the family and program needs. So, you'll find a copy of this actually in the resource list widget. And also, there is a link directly to this included in our one resource handout. Another great set of resources are our checklists, and they're actually a part of a larger set of early childhood curriculum resources, and this really focuses on two key parts, which is being research-based and making informed decisions about curriculum. So, these resources can be used to help select a research-based curriculum, as well as how that home-based curriculum meets the Head Start Program Performance Standards. And so, home visitors and supervisors can actually go through and look at these checklists to think about the curriculum that they currently implement and identify additional staff and family needs to support the effective implementation of it. And we've heard across programs that they really enjoy these checklists because they're really easy to use and they really spark some great conversations about how the program can enhance their services virtually and in person for children and families. And we've been able to go through and take a look at – with a lot of programs when we're able to do kind of in-person visits, and we had some great insights from the regions. So, the links to these are also included in the resource handout. And we're actually going to do a screen share in a little while to show you exactly where you can find the larger bundle of the curriculum resources.

Alright, so our final resource that we're really going to go over for this one question is our curriculum consumer report, and this provides reviews and ratings of home-based curriculum along with some center-based curriculums that are also there. So, you are able to look over multiple program options and the ratings are based on criteria for effective and comprehensive curricula. And Head Start and Early Head Start programs can use this interactive report to review and assess just as comprehensive early childhood curricula relevant to the program standards. So, this interactive report is really amazing, actually, and you're able to access it through a computer, and it's even accessible on most mobile devices, and it'll really dive into what you want to look for. So, you can search and review specific curriculum, or you can compare, like, two curricula at the same time based on specific criteria. You can also compare ratings for all of the curricula that have been reviewed kind of at a big "at a glance," and you're able to also print reviews and ratings for specific curricula. and then we're also able to take a look and print, like, whole sections. So, you can print all of the home-based curriculum, if you want. And I say you can't necessarily review all of it right now. But when you've got some time to look at it, it's a great resource to dive in and compare those similarities and differences for home-based and center-based curricula and look at the different criteria that was used for the ratings for that. And this is also included in the resource handout.

So, lastly, before we head to next question, I just wanted to make sure and mention that many curriculum developers have supplied guidance and some resources for being able to virtually deliver and implement their curriculum to meet the current home-based program needs. And so, when you have a moment, look into what your program's curriculum developer has provided, as well as if you're interested in some other – some other curricula, especially those that are included in the consumer... the Curriculum Consumer Report, I would say take a look to see what other guidance has been provided. And there's also some great discussions that are happening in our MyPeers home visiting community. Alright, so I'm going to move us on to our next common question, which is – which is, what does implementing a home-based curriculum with fidelity look like? And we heard "fidelity" back when we covered 1302.35-D. And that, if we remember, is that we need to support staff in that effective implementation and monitor implementation and fidelity while we're giving support and feedback and supervision.

So, what does this really look like? So, implementing a curriculum with fidelity means that early educators, whether that's teachers in the classroom, family child care providers, or home visitors, you're consistently using the curriculum the way that the developers intended it to be used. This includes implementing the curriculum in ways that are responsive to children and families' strengths, needs, interests, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. And this is one reason why it's so important for home-based programs to use home-based curriculum. It is specifically designed for home-based programs to use with families. So, implementing a curriculum as intended extends to virtual and in-person delivery. And we're going to talk about that in the next coming slides. So, when we take a look at curriculum planning in home-based programs, it... this happens with parents. So, together with home visitors and parents, they discuss the child's development and interests and plans, and we develop ongoing learning opportunities. And so, the curriculum's approach and guidance offers the support that home visitors need to partner with families to develop the goals for children and for the families themselves.

So, really quick, I want you to focus on the picture on this slide. OK, so in this photo, we're taking a look at a home visitor who has supported a parent to use the home environment for learning. They are making pizza together. OK, so this activity provides the parent with an opportunity to use responsive interactions to support her child's individual learning and development. And the parent and child used a simple recipe to make the dough. They worked on math vocabulary and sequencing. And as the child works with the dough, they discuss how the dough feels and the way it stretches and how it might taste. And, but I want you to now think of, how would you deliver this virtually? Right, so to reflect on the activity that I mentioned is happening in this picture, how would you promote a similar activity with the family you are connecting with, you know, either through... you know, through any of the virtual means, whether that's phone calls, messaging, or videoconferencing. Maybe you would describe the learning that happens when you follow a recipe or ask the family for a suggested recipe that they have materials for, and they enjoy making together. And even suggest taking pictures or a video of the experience to use for reflection. So, we want to make sure that we're supporting families to do things that they're absolutely comfortable with and use means to connect with them in which they're comfortable, as well. So, whether that means phone call, messaging, or videoconference, whatever the family's going to be able to use to connect effectively with you. So, and we want to remember that home-based curriculum also gives guidance for group socializations. So, anything that connects those home visits with group socialization, includes families in those learning experiences, and talks about group learning environments. So, that's also there, as well.

So, we're going to actually shift really quick to our screen share option, and so, this is where I'm going to share my screen and we're going to talk through where to find those early childhood curriculum resources. So, the first thing that's easy to go to is these are located on ECLKC. So, when you go to the home page right here and you go to Topics. When you select Topics, you're going to go under Education & Child Development. And the third one down is Curriculum.

When you select Curriculum, you're going to get to this page. And the first thing that's on there is our Curriculum Consumer Report, one that we already talked about. So, when you go down to the fourth picture, you get to Early Childhood Curriculum Resources. When you select that, you come to this Early Childhood Curriculum Resources bundle. This actually contains seven different resources. They've got five ... There's five resources that you see the bullets for right here. Those all are pertaining to early childhood curriculum in general. And then we've got our last two, which is our checklist, that we talked about a few slides ago are specifically for home- based. All of these are excellent for you to be able to go over, review, take a – and take a look at with families. You can use these, especially the one about connecting curriculum to the ELOF. That's an excellent one to share with parents so that they have a deeper understanding of how we are connecting these to learning outcomes, how we can develop goals, things like that. So, you want to be able to take a look at those when you've got a minute. And I'm going to actually stop sharing my screen [Laughs] real quick so we can move on. And I'm going to hand it off to Donna, who's actually going to talk to us more about training and professional development supports related to curriculum implementation.

Donna: Thank you, Randi. If you haven't downloaded the system for training and professional development handouts from the resource list, feel free to go there now and you'll be able to use them as a reference for our next slide then. So, programs can support staff to effectively implement curriculum by developing a system of training and professional development that includes collecting and using data to monitor and analyze curriculum implementation and fidelity as part of continuous improvement. This can be done in-person and virtually depending on where your program is currently in that process. Data from a variety of sources, including fidelity tools to assess the curriculum implementation, are used to inform decisions about the following system components. So, programs need to ensure that home visitors have initial and advanced curriculum training based on their ongoing needs. Right now, is a great time to engage in trainings – could be structured or self-guided – to enhance your implementation skills. With opportunities for self- and peer-reflection and planning, it's great to take time to reflect with your supervisor and peers on family needs and curriculum planning during this time. Identify successes and challenges in your efforts, as well as working on finding solutions together. And then we have ongoing feedback.

So, coaches and home visitors may be discussing updates or revisions to goals and strategies based on virtual implementation of curriculum. Coaches may join virtual home visits or socializations to conduct observations, as well as have heard ... as well. We've heard often that some home visitors are recording their home visits and socializations and then using that to reflect on with their coaches, which is a great way to do that. Fidelity tools are used to understand how home visitors support parents to implement curriculum-related activities.

Some curriculum developers have also created fidelity tools themselves to help evaluate and provide feedback on how curriculum is implemented. For example, a curriculum develop – developer may offer a rating scale to evaluate how a home visitor – visitor is implementing each curriculum activity. When a fidelity tool is not offered, then programs can develop a tool themselves. That could be a checklist, a survey, an observation guide to understand how the home visitor is supporting parents in that curriculum implementation and related activities. And of course, if the curriculum has a fidelity tool, then there wouldn't be a need to do that and replace... You wouldn't want to replace those published fidelity tools. Also, data on curriculum fidelity can be collected using either observation tools such as the Pee Wee or the HOVRs that we mentioned earlier and use that to gather information about home visiting practices. So, be sure to review that system of training and professional development and supporting staff, that handout we talked about just at the beginning of the slide for more information about each of those components.

Curriculum and ongoing assessment are closely tied together as they inform the approach to learning and help to individualize activities to promote positive child outcomes. We do often get the question about the difference between screening and assessment as people think through those applicable tools and gaining family input into their children's growth and development. So, let's think about screening. Screening is that snapshot, just that picture in time that helps home visitors and parents identify potential developmental, health, or sensory concerns for a child. Developmental screening is a brief process using standardized tools. There are also standardized health screening and developmental screen– screening tools, as well. So, an example of a screening tool would be the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, the ASQ, or the ASQ:SE, the social emotional ASQ. So those are just some examples of screening tools. So, screening is used to determine if a referral for further evaluation is necessary. It's just that brief snapshot look at the child's development at the time to see if further ... an in-depth evaluation is needed. So, it's important to remember that screening does not diagnose a disability, but it's used to identify children who may need that formal evaluation. And there's a link to a developmental screening tip sheet in your resource handbook. OK, our next question is, what is assessment, then? Assessment is an ongoing process that includes observation and provides information about development over time. Systematic, ongoing child assessment provides information on children's development and learning. It helps inform your planning with families for home visits, socializations, and those specific learning experiences based on children's development and interests. It also helps inform your planning for implementing your home- based curriculum and individualizing for each child across all Head Start Early Learning Outcome Framework domains, or ELOF domains. A link to an ongoing assessment tip sheet is in your resource handout. We've also included a resource from early – the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center that focuses on norm-referenced assessment tools for remote administration. So, this resource is a list of tools to really assist you with identifying assessments that can be administered when the assessor cannot be in the same room as the child. So, using that virtual delivery. In 1302.35-F, we get guidance on this. So, this provides guidance that home visiting programs must implement provisions in 1302.33. And we discussed one part of this standard earlier with assessment for individualization. The other part covers that screening need to be completed in collaboration with parents and with their consent within the first 45 calendar days of when the child receives an initial visit. 1302.35-F continues to say that we need to inform parents about the purpose of and results from screening and assessments. We can sometimes forget how important it is to provide families with context in which to give them the information. It's our job to support them as their child's teacher. And so, we must provide them with all the information needed to intentionally plan those learning experiences for their child.

Randi: Right, and this is especially important when engaging with families virtually. Based on family needs and your established relationship, breaking down the conversation over a few home visits so that families have time to process the information that – that we share, reflect on how it impacts them and their child, and ask questions to clarify is really important so that we can all make sure that we're on the same page. Another thing that we want to point out is that – that the Office of Head Start has posted answers to grantee questions related to COVID- 19 on the COVID-19 and Head Start Community ECLKC page. The link to this is in your resource handout. And there's also a multitude of other resources that are on there, including the CAMP series. That has been... I have found that to be really valuable in looking at what services look like now in this time as well as transitioning. And, but one question that we came across that – that really seems like the question and answer was – was truly related to our – our topic today was the question of how will programs be held accountable for requirements such as screenings, assessments, data collection, and enrollment. Now, the Office of Head Start posted the answer to this question back in May. And it is still relevant, and we're still going with it. And, but they acknowledged that sites and communities have been closed on and off for a while and they may remain closed for – for some time. We're not – We're not really sure how it's going to work out.

And so, but there were three key points in their answer that they really wanted to make very clear, which is that they expect programs to take actions that are feasible, reasonable, and safe in terms of continuing to provide services and implementing management and oversight systems. They also stated that they're not holding programs accountable for requirements that are not possible or reasonable for them to achieve during current closures. But it was an expectation, a clear expectation, that we – we maintain records of what services have been provided and that ... and what services have not been provided. And so, I've found it very helpful to join the MyPeers community to discuss particular situations with their colleagues. I know that there's been active discussion on the home visiting community, anywhere from what people are doing for virtual socializations, what policies are you writing, what forms are you using, how are you engaging with families, and it continues to be an ongoing discussion that our members are sharing. But we also say, please connect with your – your regional office for some individualized information about meeting specific requirements and about documentation.

They are here to help you get through this effectively and meet the needs of children and families.

And like I said before, when you get a chance, definitely check out that COVID-19 and Head Start Community ECLKC page because that information is constantly being updated. So that is the best place to get some resources and up-to-date information about what's going on. We also want to take a look at just engaging families in ongoing assessment. So, we know that we need to continue to meet families where they are and using methods that are comfortable for them. So, parents will continue to facilitate their children's learning experience in the home, and it's our job to support them by planning collaboratively and guiding developmental progress. And so, there are several benefits, really, to including parents, and one being that children are usually more comfortable when their parents are there, and therefore they're more willing to complete assessment tasks and to be engaged as we're asking questions. And secondly, remember, parents observe their children every single day and they know their child's skills. And so, we want their input.

Now, we also want to make sure that – that they're participating in the assessment process because they gain a better understanding of child development and the skills that they should be watching for. So, they're constantly observing their child, but we do want them to observe intentionally about what should they be looking for next. What is going to be that skill that's going to lead to that goal that you work ... that you develop together? And these advantages are experienced whether engaging with families virtually or in-person. So, the benefits for families ... like, we – we did a couple already, but some specific benefits for families of being included virtually and in-person in this ongoing process is really that they're learning about that link between assessment tasks and things that their children are learning every single day.

They're becoming more knowledgeable about child development. See, it's so important that I'm mentioning it twice in, like, less than a minute. These are definitely things that are important.

Even though parents are observers, we want them to be focused observers because we want them to not only be ... have that active supervision for safety; we also want them to have that focused lens of being able to identify and help us out with filling out that – that assessment of what did they see their child do, what should they be doing next, how could we adapt that – that activity. We also want them to become more knowledgeable, but also, it's more likely for them to understand the current stage of development and anticipate the next stage of a development. So, we want parents that are able to then ... that we walk hand-in-hand with them, but then now that we're ... now that they're more knowledgeable, they're able to be more involved and able to lead that planning a little bit more, and that's a great feeling when you have that with a parent, when they take that lead. And you want them to also have an understanding of their influence in their child's development and their behaviors. So, when they're reviewing assessment and observation with the home visitor, they want to know how they impacted what their child did or how their child reacted to something.

In helping families enhance their observation skills, we will support them as they facilitate these learning activities, and they provide insight into the child assessment. And this becomes really important when we do things virtually because we're then more dependent on the family to give us information about the assessment and what their child is doing. And the more informed we can help the parent to be, the more informed they can make us be. So, we included this activity that we won't have time to do with us individually because of where we're at right now.

But we do want to identify this as an activity you can use with families through using the Effective Practice Guides, because they have information and they also have the videos. And so, once you share the information with families, you're able to then share the videos and have a look and say, "OK, so what – what was the child doing? How are we going to learn? What could the adult have done to support that?" Alright, so I see that we only have about 10 more minutes, so we are going to push through. We're going to push through here ... into ... You know what? I want to make sure that we are not skipping anything. So, we really want to make sure that parents are fully engaged using methods that they're comfortable with.

And I know I've heard from multiple home visitors that were having struggles with families being fully engaged. And it's important to remember that families are going to have different priorities during this time. It's – It's a very challenging time for everybody. But make sure to check in with your supervisor. Find solutions together. Talk to them about what kind of documentation needs to be put out there. Make sure you're using a method of connection that – that is good for the family. You may really want to do a virtual visit, but they might really only be able to do collaborative messaging. So, we want to make sure that that's up there. We also want to follow that family's lead and engage in sharing information that is going to be really helpful for them. There is a technique called a verbal video, and this is really helpful, especially if you're dealing with... if you're working with families over the phone, is for them to verbally walk you through what they're seeing with their child. So, if a child is eating and they say, "Oh, he's picking up one thing from the tray, he's putting it in his mouth, he's reaching for the cup with the other hand," and then you're able to take those notes and – and explain the learning that's happening even though you aren't able to see it directly. Alright, so our last question is really what are we going to do with all this information? Now that we completed this ongoing assessment, what do I do with all this, right? So, we have this kind of intentional circle. And really, it's the intentional part of these supportive steps that we're going to go through to really promote children's growth and development as we go through, so we're going to review each of these steps. The first one is to discuss the assessment results with families, and so, we want to make sure that we're using strength-based approaches, focusing on information that we're sharing. And we want to talk to them about how we're going to use the information that they provide to us, explain any terms that may be very ECE-focused, and then promoting that positive atmosphere that not only supports parents in learning, but allows them to be comfortable to ask those questions and not feel like they can't ask questions. We really want to make sure that we can – we can go through and do that.

Alright, so we really want to develop – develop goals that are functional, meaningful, and measurable. And we want to do this to take all that information and make sure that parents have a deep understanding of child development and that progression. And this is where we can use the ELOF really, really well to go through and have them ... That ELOF2GO app and the ELOF@HOME is really key in being able to share the individual subdomains, the individual goals with families. And you want those collaborative discussions to happen in order to make sure that we are focusing on a central point. We want parents to feel this is really a collaborative process and we want them to understand that their say is really being taken into account. It is facilitating these learning experiences, and we only have a couple more minutes, but we want to kind of highlight some things that we know we've talked about a lot before, which is supporting parents to use daily routines, everyday materials in the home to make sure that these are things they have in the home, they can... readily available, they don't take any extra equipment or purchasing anything, and that so much learning happens, and we know we've mentioned this before in different webinars. We also have a whole e-institute on the iPD about it, and we definitely want you to check that out to kind of think about some strategies that you can use with families to use that information. We did have a video that we – we wanted you to... we wanted to share with you, but we don't have the time to do it now. But we do encourage you to check out our Education Managers Live. It's one of – It's one of the research logs called "Make Believe." And we'll make sure the link to it is on the research handout. And we definitely encourage you to check that one out, as well as Brenda Jones Harden did a great one on home visiting, the research blogs. So, we know that in order to facilitate learning experiences, we still have to plan jointly, reflect on how an activity went, ask parents what they observed, what they think they're going to do next time, as well as listen to them as they're sharing. Being an active listener is extremely important when we talk to families. We want to make sure that they are being heard and that we are planning together, we're not moving forward without them. Alright, and then to complete our cycle, we do it all over again. [Laughs] So we make sure that we inform the families ahead of time that assessment is coming, that we want to make sure that they know ahead of time so they can start collecting their thoughts.

They can start putting things together. They gather observations with us and other documentation. We again explain how we're going to use it. Identify those any ideas that ... any areas that we didn't observe. Why did we not observe them? And then maybe talk to families about that to see how they may have already observed it. Share the results again. Continue the cycle. So, we also want to make sure that we are pulling all this information together

This was a fast and furious webinar with lots of information. So, we want to just double-check and make sure that we – we take a moment to say that we reviewed the standards related to curriculum and ongoing assessment. We discussed the role of ongoing assessment and curriculum in planning those home visits with families. And we talked about the strategies and resources to support implementation. So, don't forget that your resource handout has lots of links and resources that we discussed today, as well as additional helpful curriculum and assessment resources. Stay connected with us through our home visiting community. Check out the iPD courses, including the e-Institute, the Beginning Home Visitor series, and the Effective Practice Guides. If you haven't done it yet, definitely sign up for Text4HomeVisitors. That has tons of great information. Again, wonderful information on the COVID-19 and Head Start Community page. It's full of great information you definitely need to check out. And we hope that you have a wonderful day.