Facts In Action
a Plan for Collecting Data
it Count is a series of articles designed to help you develop
ways to measure outcomes in your program or family child care home.
If you would like to receive earlier issues of Making it Count,
please contact Erika Argersinger at (617) 695-0700 x271, or by email
you have been following along with the Making it Count series, by
now your outcome measurement working group has built the foundation
for collecting information
on the children in your program in order to determine whether or
not you are meeting your desired outcomes. At this point in the
process, your working group should have chosen the outcomes to measure,
identified the indicators for your outcomes, and developed a data
collection instrument to record data on each indicator.
you have chosen a data collection instrument that fulfills the needs
of your measurement system, the next project for your working group
is to develop a step-by-step plan for collecting data, training
the individuals who will be collecting the data, and providing technical
assistance to data collectors.
when you will collect data (monthly, quarterly, etc.) depends on
three factors: your specified outcomes, the type of data collection
instrument you are using, and the resources of your program. If
your outcome states that children will "increase" their
knowledge or ability as a result of a particular activity, you will
need to collect information on the child before and after the activity
in order to make a comparison. If you have chosen to use a child
assessment form as your data collection tool, you may be required
to follow a certain schedule as specified by licensing requirements
or other internal or external factors. Finally, it is important
to consider what is a reasonable schedule in terms of the amount
of time it takes teachers or providers to complete observations
and record data.
the information you gather is valuable depends on the care and skills
of the people collecting the data. To assure that procedures are
followed carefully and information is recorded accurately, data
collectors must be well trained in using the instrument.
should include explanations of the purpose of the instrument and
how it will be used. It may be helpful to present the outcomes and
indicators specified by the working group to those who will be collecting
the data. It is also important to schedule a "piloting"
period to give them an opportunity to practice using the tool.
Once you have trained the data collectors and started using the
data collection instrument in your classrooms or programs, it is
essential that you follow up with them periodically to make sure
that they are using it correctly. You may want to provide on going
technical assistance for data collectors to answer questions, or
to schedule follow-up trainings to address problems or concerns.
whenever you collect information on the children or families in
your program, you must be sure to protect their confidentiality.
Develop a procedure for keeping data collection instruments and
other confidential materials safe to ensure that people who are
not authorized to work with your data do not have access to it.
the next issue of Making it Count, we'll discuss what to do with
all of the data you are collecting - that is, data analysis and
Get a copy of the United Way of America's handbook, Measuring
Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach. To order a copy, call
(800) 772-0008 and request item number 0989.
Get a copy of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay's handbook,
Outcome Measurement in Child Care Programs: A Workbook for
Practitioners. To order a copy, call (617) 624-8000.
Start thinking about a reasonable schedule for the timing
of data collection. Things to consider include your outcomes,
the type of instrument you are using, and staff resources.
Plan trainings for data collectors to ensure that everyone
understands the instrument and is recording information in
the same way. It may be helpful to share the work of the outcome
measurement working group to help explain why you are collecting
Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach, United
Way of America, 1996; Outcome Measurement in Child Care Programs:
A Workbook for Practitioners, United Way of Massachusetts Bay,
alsoA Training Plan for Data Collectors
Facts in Action, April 2001
|Goodbye from the printed version of Facts in Action.