Technical Scoring Manual Note: This Technical Scoring Manual for the Texas Rising Star program is considered a living document that will be adjusted as needed. The most current version of the manual can be found at www.TexasRisingStar.org, under the TWC Staff Tab. Page | 1 TEXAS RISING STAR TECHNICAL SCORING MANUAL ©Revised December 2017 Table of Contents GENERAL OVERVIEW OF TEXAS RISING STAR PROGRAM ASSESSMENT ...................................... 3 PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL.............................................................................................. 4 TRS SCREENING FORM ..................................................................................................................... 4 DOCUMENT REVIEW PROTOCOL ...................................................................................................... 4 INDOOR/OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT REVIEW ................................................................................... 5 CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL ......................................................................................... 5 CONDUCTING THE CLASSROOM OBSERVATION ............................................................................ 7 TERMINATING THE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT VISIT ....................................................................... 8 PROCEDURE FOR STAFF CHANGE .................................................................................................. 9 CATEGORY RE-ASSESSMENT .......................................................................................................... 9 UNANNOUNCED MONITORING VISITS ........................................................................................... 10 SERVICE IMPROVEMENT AGREEMENTS ....................................................................................... 11 PROBATION ....................................................................................................................................... 12 CHANGES IN PROVIDER STATUS ................................................................................................... 12 CATEGORY 1: DIRECTOR AND CAREGIVER QUALIFICATIONS ....................................................... 13 CAREGIVER QUALIFICATIONS, ORIENTATION, AND TRAINING ................................................... 18 CAREGIVER QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING (points-based) ....................................................... 23 CATEGORY 2: CAREGIVER-CHILD INTERACTIONS ........................................................................... 26 GROUP SIZE AND STAFF RATIOS ................................................................................................... 26 WARM AND RESPONSIVE STYLE .................................................................................................... 31 LANGUAGE FACILITATION AND SUPPORT ..................................................................................... 43 PLAY-BASED INTERACTIONS AND GUIDANCE .............................................................................. 56 SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN’S REGULATION .................................................................................... 61 CATEGORY 3: CURRICULUM ............................................................................................................... 72 PROTOCOL FOR SCORING LESSON PLANS .................................................................................. 72 AGE GROUP: 0-2 YEARS .................................................................................................................. 75 AGE GROUP: 3-5 YEARS .................................................................................................................. 76 ALL AGES ........................................................................................................................................... 78 PLANNING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS AND RESPECTING DIVERSITY ................................................ 80 INSTRUCTIONAL FORMATS AND APPROACHES TO LEARNING .................................................. 82 CATEGORY 4: NUTRITION, AND INDOOR/OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT ............................................. 88 NUTRITION ........................................................................................................................................ 89 INDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................... 98 OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................... 106 CATEGORY 5: PARENT EDUCATION AND INVOLVEMENT .............................................................. 111 PARENT EDUCATION ...................................................................................................................... 111 PARENT INVOLVEMENT ................................................................................................................. 114 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................... 117 REAL ITEMS ..................................................................................................................................... 118 SAMPLE PARENT ORIENTATION ................................................................................................... 123 TRS STAFF EDUCATION WORKSHEET ......................................................................................... 125 TEXAS RISING STAR LESSON PLAN CHECKLIST ........................................................................ 127 SAMPLE LESSON PLANS ............................................................................................................... 129 MONITORING – OBSERVABLE MEASURES (Non-accredited facilities)........................................ 133 MONITORING – OBSERVABLE MEASURES (Accredited facilities) ............................................... 138 RESETTING CERTIFICATION CYCLES .......................................................................................... 142 POST ASSESSMENT OPTIONS ...................................................................................................... 144 MENTOR PROCESS ........................................................................................................................ 146 ASSESSOR PROCESS.................................................................................................................... 147 Page | 2 TEXAS RISING STAR TECHNICAL SCORING MANUAL ©Revised December 2017 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF TEXAS RISING STAR PROGRAM ASSESSMENT What will be assessed? Texas Rising Star measures are intended to capture the quality of care provided by participating early care and education programs across the following 5 categories: • Category 1: Director and Caregiver Qualifications and Training • Category 2: Caregiver-Child Interactions • Category 3: Curriculum • Category 4: Nutrition and Indoor/Outdoor Environments • Category 5: Parent Education and Involvement These categories are comprised of measures associated with facility or caregiver-level characteristics. Facility quality is scored based on document and on-site reviews of the director’s and caregiver’s qualifications and training, nutrition policies, children’s indoor and outdoor environment, and the policies in place to educate and involve parents. Assessors also directly capture the quality of caregiving children experience through observation of primary caregivers interacting with children during the on-site assessment visit. During these observations, assessors focus on the quality of interactions and instruction across all age groups, review lesson plans and curriculum implementation across a variety of routines and scheduled activities, and evaluate the extent to which the classroom environment supports early learning and development. How will the program be assessed? The TRS assessment consists of 2 types of measures: REQUIRED MEASURES • Met/not-met measures • Each must be met in order to receive a 2-star score • Many of the required measures will be confirmed by reviewing documents (see Document Checklists in Certification Guidelines) • Other required measures are verified on-site POINTS-BASED MEASURES • Points-based measures are not required, but determine star levels above 2-star (i.e., these items are first averaged within category by caregiver; a median score across classrooms is then taken for each category; final program star level is equal to lowest category value; with one exception: Effective 9.1.15- TRS scoring methodology was modified to allow a provider that achieved 4-star scores in four of the five categories but a 2-star score in one category to be certified as a 3-star TRS provider.) • Scored using a scale of 0-3 • 0-3 scoring criteria vary based on measure content [i.e., score may represent level of effectiveness (e.g. caregiver-child interactions), comprehensiveness (e.g., parent engagement programs), frequency (e.g. planned physical activity), or amount (e.g., number of interest areas)] Many of the separate measures and subcategories will be scored simultaneously throughout the classroom assessment. Page | 3 TEXAS RISING STAR TECHNICAL SCORING MANUAL ©Revised December 2017 PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL The following sections detail the assessment protocol for the TRS system. Adherence to the assessment protocol is tightly linked with the reliability and validity of the individual measures, and in turn the star levels produced by the system. The required