Created in 2007 by the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), The Pennsylvania Key implements the work and supports the policies developed and managed by OCDEL. Learn More. >
Created in 2007 by the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), The Pennsylvania Key implements the work and supports the policies developed and managed by OCDEL. Learn More. >The assessment process focuses on practices within these four domains:
All childcare settings that want to increase supportive staff-child interactions. PICCOLO focuses on interactions between teachers and children from three to seventy-three months of age.
Information gathered during a PICCOLO assessment can be used by the program to help identify positive staff-child interactions that support children’s development through talking and play, as well as areas for growth. The information gathered can also be used to help create the program’s continuous quality improvement plan.
External PICCOLO assessments are conducted by a reliable PICCOLO assessor from the Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team.
Internal PICCOLO assessments are conducted by the program’s internal assessment (IA) team. The program’s IA team partners with the Quality Coach and PICCOLO Assessor when planning for and conducting internal assessment and when analyzing the information collected during the internal assessment process. Please see How to Conduct an Internal Assessment Using the PICCOLO for detailed information on using the PICCOLO for internal assessment.
The PICCOLO assessment process measures staff-child interactions within the four domains through short observations during a variety of activities.
