Sharing Your ECO Data

Plan Ahead Each Year

  • Write out specific messages you want to share
  • Develop a 1-2 page fact sheet that summarizes your messages
  • Use public dissemination opportunities to share positive messages

Sample messages that can be gleaned from your ECO data:

  • Most children are making progress from entry to exit in the program
  • Many children are catching up or getting closer to same age peers
  • Your program is contributing to school readiness
  • Link messages to broader EC issues (i.e. cost effectiveness of high quality EC programs that decrease the intensity and duration of special education services needed in school)

Make appropriate comparisons with state data and/or data from districts or networks that are comparable to yours:

  • How does your program data compare with state data for each of the outcomes?
  • How does your program data compare with data from programs that are similar in size and location (e.g., frontier, rural, or urban)?

Simplify the data to provide your messages:

1. Program effectiveness message (c + d)

In Outcome B, acquiring and using knowledge and skills, 73% of children substantially increased their rate of growth or caught up to peers by the time they exited the program.

  1. Prevention effectiveness message (e)

Nearly one-third of children exiting the program were considered capable of taking appropriate action to meet their own needs independently.

  1. Prevention plus program effectiveness message (c + d + e)

In all 3 outcomes, between 78-82% of children substantially increased their rate of growth, caught up to peers, or maintained age expected skills and behaviors at the time they exited the program.

  1. “Ready-at-exit” message (d + e)

By the time they left preschool, more than half of the children were acquiring and using knowledge skills at a rate comparable to same-age peers; 56% were demonstrating age-expected social emotional skills; and 65% were considered comparable to same age peers in their ability to take care of their own basic needs independently.

  1. Progress message (b + c + d + e)

99-100% of the children exiting preschool had made progress in the areas of positive social skills and relationships, acquiring and using knowledge and skills, and taking appropriate action to meet needs.

  1. Six of 10 children are catching up to their same age peers from entry to exit (d)

In outcome B, acquiring and using knowledge and skills, 4 out of 10 children are catching up to their same age peers from program entry to exit.

  1. Eight of 10 children showed improvements in acquiring and using knowledge and skills from entry to exit (b + c + d + e)

Nine out of 10 children showed improvements in positive social skills and relationships. All children showed improvement in acquisition and use of knowledge and skills and meeting their own needs appropriately.

  1. Nearly three-fourths of the children made more progress than expected or maintained functioning like same age peers (c + d + e)

More than three-fourths of the children made more progress than expected or maintained functioning like same age peers in all 3 outcome areas.

  1. While only one student in ten entered the program demonstrating age expected knowledge and skills, nearly 4 out of 10 were functioning comparable to same-age peers in this area at exit.

While less than one in ten students entered the program demonstrating age expected knowledge and skills, 5 out of 10 were functioning comparable to same-age peers in this area by the time they exited the program.

Cautions in interpreting ECO data:

  • The Outcome Web System (OWS) is a relatively new data collection system that continues to undergo revisions.
  • Changes were made in the COSF ratings process in 2009-2010 that may have impacted state data.
  • The quality of the ECO data will continue to improve over time.

Adapted from Hornback, M. (2008). Early Childhood Outcomes Revisited: Improving Data Quality.