Data Essentials

Data is vital to measuring the impact of Head Start and line staff play are essential to ensuring the smooth operation of the “data workflow” that keeps the data environment healthy. Building on the Data Basics course, Data Essentials explores how data is used in practice in today’s Head Start world and answers two questions:

1. “How can data be used to make things better?”
2. “How can I be sure that the data I collect helps children and families?”

In addition to completing self-paced coursework online, candidates will be required to attend a live webinar.

• Date: New cohorts every month
• Requirements/Prerequisites: Data Basics
• Target Audience: Leadership and Management, Support Services
• Completion Timeline/Duration: Two months
• Meeting Times: The last Thursday of the month from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET

Course Outline

Module Topics:

1. Review of the role of data in Head Start
2. Keeping it Real: Setting honest expectations about data in Head Start
3. Line staff in the FA2 review process
4. Roles and Workflows: Thinking about yourself as a data person
5. True stories of how programs use data
6. True stories of program improvement using data

Learning Objectives:

• Describe various ways that data can be used for program improvement in Head Start programs.
• Describe the role of Head Start staff in the collection, coding, analysis, and use of program data.
• Illustrate their own role in the collection of at least on kind of data used in their program.
• Connect their own responsibilities and duties to the ways that their organization uses data for program improvement