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Tools and ResourcesNumber of resources found: 44
 Indicates a resource from a Land Grant Institution or from a Cooperative Extension Agency.
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Head Start Program Performance Standards Language: English
Publisher: OFFICE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (2006)
Description: Web site containing all of the current Head Start Performance Standards as well as other regulations.
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World Bank - Early Child Development Language: Spanish, English
Description: This Web site provides resources and research information on early child development. Links and resources are also provided for countries outside of the United States. The Web site is also available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.
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Evaluation
13 Key Indicators of Child Care Quality Child Care Quality Indicators (CCQI – CDPES2 PC1) Scale Language: English
Author: Fiene, Richard
Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University (2001)
Description: The purpose of this tool/Scale is to provide guidance for state child care agencies as they
think about revising their state child care regulations and the need for national child care
standards. The tool is based upon a synthesis of literature around the health and safety standards
for out-of-home child care found in Stepping Stones to Using Caring for Our Children, using 13
predictor/indicator topics to provide focus. The tool examines evidence that exists to support
how these standards protect children from harm. The audiences for this research brief are state
administrators and policymakers, child care providers, and early childhood researchers. It
combines two licensing measurement methodologies (Fiene & Kroh, 2000): 1) Licensing
weighting and 2) indicator systems.
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Assessing Kindergarten Children: A Compendium of Assessment Instruments Language: English
Author: Niemeyer, Judith
Publisher: SERVE (2002)
Description: This document is intended to provide an overview of the available kindergarten assessment instruments for school and state departments gathering information about assessments. Note: This is a large PDF document and may take a long time to download depending on your connection speed.
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Buros Institute of Mental Measurements Language: English
Publisher: Buros Institute (2002)
Description: This is the website for the Buros Institute for Mental Measurement. Buros provides information to users of commercially published standardized tests, including the Mental Measurement Yearbook which provides reviews of these tests.
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Child Outcomes Step by Step Language: English
Publisher: Results Matter, Colorado Department of Education (2011)
Description: A new video illustrating the three child outcomes adopted by the U. S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and reported on by all states as part of their Annual Performance Report is now freely available for downloading or viewing online. Child Outcomes Step by Step can be used for professional development, orienting families, or introducing the outcomes to policymakers, funders and others in the community.
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Desired Results access Project Language: English, Spanish
Publisher: California Department of Education (March 2012)
Description: The Desired Results access Project supports special educators, administrators, and families in implementing the California Department of Education’s Desired Results Assessment System for preschool-age children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This site provides you with a wealth of essential information and resources – we encourage you to look around and re-visit periodically for the latest guidance, professional development resources, tools, and other resources. We also invite you to join our listservs and subscribe to our newsletter.
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Early Childhood Assessment for Children from Birth to Age 8 (Grade 3) Language: English
Publisher: Pennsylvania BUILD Initiative (2005)
Description: This report offers guidance to early childhood programs and school districts for the alignment of assessment and curriculum to the Pennsylvania standards for learning for children birth to age 8. It emphasizes the importance of viewing assessment and curriculum development as a continuous process from birth to age 8. A list of assessment tools is provided that focuses specifically on assessment for the purpose of providing supports and informing instruction.
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Educational Testing Service (ETS) Language: English
Publisher: Educational Testing Service (ETS) (2005)
Description: This is the Web site for Educational Testing Services, a provider of standardized tests. It includes information for students, parents, policy makers, educators and researchers.
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Evaluation Exchange Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (2005)
Description: This publication focuses on promising practices and strategies for evaluating child services; from the Harvard Family Research Project ( available online and in print).
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High/Scope Preschool Program Quality Assessment (PQA) Language: English
Publisher: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation (2005)
Description: The Preschool Program Quality Assessment Instrument (PQA) is a rating instrument for evaluating early childhood program quality and identifying staff training needs. The PQA covers 63 dimensions of program quality in 7 domains: learning environment, daily routine, adult-child interaction, curriculum planning and assessment, parent involvement and family services, staff qualifications and staff development, and program management.
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Individualized Education Program (IEP) Strategies Language: English
Author: Ebenstein, Barbara
Publisher: Future Reflections (1999)
Description: This article offers guidance to help the parents become better at advocating for the appropriate educational supports for their children. It offers specific suggestions for preparing for meetings, requesting evaluations and specific services, when to appeal, and other important suggestions.
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Measurement Tools for Evaluating Out-of-School Time Programs: An Evaluation Resource Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (2011)
Description: The information in this guide can help practitioners and evaluators find evaluation instruments that match their program and evaluation goals and characteristics. The evaluation instruments in this guide are presented in tables organized by content area. This resource is not an exhaustive list of the instruments and tools that may be useful to OST programs, but rather a place to provide more information about the tools that have been used in OST studies that we have profiled in the database.
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National Center for Fair and Open Testing Language: English
Publisher: National Center for Fair and Open Testing (2011)
Description: This is the Web site of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an organization dedicated to ensuring that evaluation of students and workers is fair, open, and educationally sound. They are especially interested in issues of racial, class, gender, and cultural bias in standardized tests.
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Outcomes for Children Served through IDEA’s Early Childhood Programs Language: English
Publisher: Early Childhood Outcomes Center (May 2011)
Description: This 2-page document summarizes the analyses of the FFY 2009 child outcomes data submitted by states to Office of Special Education Programs in February 2011. The data suggests that high percentages of children who receive services through these programs show greater than expected developmental progress and many are exiting the program functioning within age expectations.
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Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation Language: English
Publisher: Supported in part by the Department of Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation at the University of Maryland, College Park (May 2011)
Description: Online journal for practitioners containing articles that can be used to enhance assessment, research, evaluation, and teaching practice.
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The Evaluation Exchange: A Periodical on Emerging Strategies Evaluating Child and Family Services Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (Summer 2004)
Description: This issue of The Evaluation Exchange charts the course of early childhood programming and evaluation over nearly half a century. Contributing authors offer a range of views on how best to communicate the importance of investing in a child's early years and how to improve early childhood programs and policies. Several articles consider the explosion of science from longitudinal studies of child outcomes to a large-scale demonstration program that has helped forward our understanding of how young children learn and grow. Finally, a number of articles suggest that better information is needed to close the persistent gap in achievement between children from low-income families and those from middle-income homes.
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The Evaluation Exchange: Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation
Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (2004)
Description: This periodical consists of several articles, from various authors, on improving early childhood programs and policies.
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The Harvard Family Research Project (Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database) Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University (2004)
Description: This Web site, from the Harvard Family Research Project, has compiled a database of evaluations of out-of-school programs to find out what type of program is most effective.
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User’s Guide to the Desired Results Developmental Profile access Assessment System for Preschool Special Education Language: English
Publisher: California Department of Education (August 2011)
Description: This Guide contains essential information on how to use the DRDP access to observe, assess, and report on the development of preschool children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The fourth edition includes new information and tools for special education teachers, service providers, and administrators. From the California Dept. of Education.
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Watching Teachers Work: Using Observation Tools to Promote Effective Teaching in the Early Years and Early Grades Language: English
Author: Guernsey, Lisa
Publisher: New America Foundation (Nov 2011)
Description: The New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative has published a new report, that describes how valid and reliable observation tools could be used to promote effective teaching in PreK-3rd grade programs. Additionally, for states that have or are developing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) for publicly-funded early childhood programs, the report recommends the inclusion of observation tools that focus on how professionals interact with the infants, toddlers and preschoolers in those programs.
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General Information
A Parent Guide to Special Education, the IEP Process and School Success Language: English
Publisher: Understanding Special Education.com (Nov 2011)
Description: This website provides parent friendly information on special education. It includes sections on special education law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 504s, Learning Disorders, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), parent support, and special education terms.
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Age Expectation Developmental Milestones: ND Early Childhood Outcomes Process Language: English
Publisher: North Dakota Dept of Public Instruction (2011)
Description: This three-page milestones quick reference was developed by North Dakota's Dept of Public Instruction and includes age-expected developmental milestones grouped according to the three child outcomes identified by the Early Childhood Outcomes Center. The three child outcomes are a required component of reporting for the Office of Special Education Programs annual performance report.
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An Actionable Federal Framework to Promote QRIS in the States Language: English
Author: Mitchell, Anne
Publisher: Alliance for Early Childhood Finance (Dec 2009)
Description: Mitchell and Stoney prepared this memorandum, which describes a strategy for supporting Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in states across the US, in 2009. This briefing paper outlines short- and longer-term steps the federal government can take to support state development of effective QRIS.
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Be All That We Can Be: Lessons from the Military for Improving Our Nation's Child Care System: 2004 Follow-Up Language: Spanish, English
Author: Pomper, Kate
Publisher: National Women's Law Center (2005)
Description: TThis twenty-four page follow-up document assesses progress made toward plans to further strengthen and improve the quality and availability the military child care system, since the original article in 2000. It also tracks changes in the civilian child care sector since 2000 that reflect strategies used by the military to encourage high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care.
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Developmental Screening and Assessment Instruments with an Emphasis on Social and Emotional Development for Young Children Ages Birth through Five Language: English
Author: Ringwalt, Sharon
Publisher: National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (2008)
Description: The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center has compiled comprehensive information about early childhood (birth through age five) developmental screening and assessment instruments, with a focus on social and emotional development. The review includes almost 40 instruments that are categorized by whether they address multiple domains of development or whether they focus on social emotional development. Each instrument comes with a description and information about the age range for which it is appropriate, the time needed to administer the instrument, how scoring works, and who should conduct the screening.
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Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How? Language: English
Author: Snow, Catherine
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences (2008)
Description: Well-planned and effective assessment can inform teaching and program improvement, and contribute to better outcomes for children. This book affirms that assessments can make crucial contributions to the improvement of children's well-being, but only if they are well designed, implemented effectively, developed in the context of systematic planning, and are interpreted and used appropriately. Otherwise, assessment of children and programs can have negative consequences for both. The value of assessments therefore requires fundamental attention to their purpose and the design of the larger systems in which they are used. The report offers principles on how to design, implement, and use assessments in early childhood settings.
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Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision-Maker’s Guide Language: English
Author: Shonkoff, Jack
Publisher: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010)
Description: Increasing demands for evidence-based early childhood services and the need by policymakers to know whether a program is effective or whether it warrants a significant investment of public and/or private funds—coupled with the often-politicized debate around these topics—make it imperative for policymakers and civic leaders to have the independent knowledge needed to be able to evaluate the quality and relevance of the evidence provided in reports.
This clear, concise guide from the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs helps prepare decision-makers to be better consumers of evaluation information by posing five key questions that address both the substance and the practical utility of rigorous evaluation research.
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Making Long Lasting Changes with the Environment Rating Scales Language: English
Author: Harms, Thelma
Publisher: Exchange (2010)
Description: This article by Thelma Harmes provides guidance on how to use the Environment Rating Scales to improve the quality of early childhood programs. Examples of action plans and suggestions for implementing improvement plans.
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Missouri Infant/Toddler Responsive Caregiving Checklist Language: English
Publisher: OPEN Initiative at the MU Center for Family Policy & Research (July 2009)
Description: The Missouri Infant/Toddler Responsive Caregiving Checklist (formally known as MO QRS Infant/Toddler Intentional Teaching Checklist) is designed to measure
caregiving practices for groups of children ages from birth up to age 3 (36 months). Responsive caregiving of very young children and infants is focused on each
child as they develop a sense of well being, belonging, exploration, communication, and the contributions they make to their world
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QRIS Implementation Guidelines
Language: English
Publisher: National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (2010)
Description: This page provides QRIS implementation guidelines. A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for restaurants and hotels, QRIS award quality ratings to early and school-age care and education programs that meet a set of defined program standards.
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The Early Childhood Outcomes Center Language: English
Publisher: Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC at Chapel Hill (2010)
Description: The website is a collaborative effort of SRI International, the University of North Carolina's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, RTI International, and the University of Connecticut. The Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center provides national leadership in assisting states with the implementation of high-quality outcome systems for early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) programs.
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Working Towards a Recommended Common Core of Measures Of Early Childhood Professional Development: Issues and Preliminary Recommendations Language: English
Author: Zaslow, Martha
Publisher: Child Trends (July 2007)
Description: This white paper is an attempt to develop common set of definitions and measures for examining early childhood professional development for practitioners.
Limitations with existing measures of early childhood professional development, and a lack of a common set of definitions and measures, are creating gaps in our knowledge of the size and characteristics of the early childhood workforce. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation of the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has set as a goal to address this set of issues through the identification of a Recommended Common Core of Measures of Early Childhood Professional Development.
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Professional Development
Be All That We Can Be: Lessons from the Military for Improving Our Nation's Child Care System: 2004 Follow-Up Language: Spanish, English
Author: Pomper, Kate
Publisher: National Women's Law Center (2005)
Description: TThis twenty-four page follow-up document assesses progress made toward plans to further strengthen and improve the quality and availability the military child care system, since the original article in 2000. It also tracks changes in the civilian child care sector since 2000 that reflect strategies used by the military to encourage high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care.
More
QRIS National Learning Network Language: English
Publisher: QRIS National Learning Network (2010)
Description: A website devoted to the development and effective use of quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) was recently launched by the BUILD Initiative and Smart Start National Technical Assistance Center. The QRIS National Learning Network (NLN) features reports, state-by-state resources, links to facilitate the exchange of information, and a list of organizations that can provide more intensive technical assistance.
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Quality, Compensation, and Affordability Language: English
Publisher: NAEYC (1995)
Description: The National Association for Education of Young Children believes that there are three major components in high-quality early childhood programs: quality, compensation, and affordability. Only when these three components are integrated into one program is a childcare program working at the highest level of quality.
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Programming Resource
Developing and Selecting Assessments of Student Growth for Use in Teacher Evaluation Systems Language: English
Author: Herman, Joan
Publisher: The Regents of the University of California (2011)
Description: This report discusses how to incorporate assessments of student learning into states teacher evaluation systems. This guidance will aid states and districts in reflecting on the major areas of concern as well as initiate a long-term, systematic process to develop relevant evidence, evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and improve the assessments they adopt.
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Evaluation Exchange Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (2011)
Description: This publication focuses on promising practices and strategies for evaluating child services; from the Harvard Family Research Project ( available online and in print).
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Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence Project (QBCCP) Language: English
Publisher: National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC (July 2009)
Description: NAEYC has undertaken the Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence Project (QBCCP) to determine the key elements of cultural competence for early childhood programs and ways to meaningfully integrate these concepts within quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) criteria.
As part of the QBCCP, NAEYC has developed a tool to be used as a guide to spark not only discussion within programs but action through implementation of the ideas presented and measurement of how the criteria or program goals are being met. It is hoped that programs can use this not only as a guide to implementing strategies to move toward a higher level of cultural competence, but to spark dialogue and action in the realm of policymaking to ensure that early childhood programs not only respond to the needs of diverse children and families but impact them in a positive way.
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Quality, Compensation, and Affordability Language: English
Publisher: NAEYC (1995)
Description: The National Association for Education of Young Children believes that there are three major components in high-quality early childhood programs: quality, compensation, and affordability. Only when these three components are integrated into one program is a childcare program working at the highest level of quality.
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Reflective Supervision: Putting It Into Practice Language: English
Publisher: Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE (2011)
Description: View this on-demand webcast featuring a mini-training session led by leading early childhood expert Rebecca Shahmoon-Shanok, Ph.D, and learn how to implement reflective supervision in your Head Start program.
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Response to Intervention and the Pyramid Model Language: English
Author: Fox, Lise
Publisher: Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Childre (June 2009)
Description: Response to Intervention (RtI) offers a comprehensive model for the prevention of delays in learning and behavior. While this problem-solving framework was initially designed for application within Kindergarten to 12th grade programs, there is substantial research that supports the value of the model for application within early childhood programs. This paper provides an overview of RtI and discusses the Pyramid Model (Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003) and its application for promoting young children’s social competence and preventing behavior challenges (June 2009).
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Results Matter Video Library Language: English
Publisher: Colorado Department of Education (June 2009)
Description: These videos have been produced to help providers better understand ways to use observation, documentation, and assessment to inform practice. You can watch the clips online or download QuickTime versions of the videos for use in educational and professional development activities.
Categories include Early Intervention, Clips for Practicing Observation, Documentation and Assessment Skills, Using Technology for Authentic Assessment, Practices Here and There, and General Interest.
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The Harvard Family Research Project (Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database) Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University (June 2009)
Description: This Web site, from the Harvard Family Research Project, has compiled a database of evaluations of out-of-school programs to find out what type of program is most effective.
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Universal Checklist for Identifying Infants and Toddlers Eligible for Early Intervention Language: English
Author: Dunst, Carl
Publisher: Tracking, Referral and Assessment Center for Excellence (TRACE) (Nov 2007)
Description: The guide describes the development and use of a universal checklist designed to be used by primary referral sources for identifying infants and toddlers who may be eligible for early intervention.
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Research
Early Childhood Interventions: Benefits, Costs, and Savings Language: English
Publisher: RAND Corportation (1998)
Description: This research brief summarizes findings in the area of early childhood interventions relative to benefits, costs, and savings. It also outlines areas of future research and policy implications.
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Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions Language: English
Author: Karoly, Lynn
Publisher: RAND (1998)
Description: From this Web page you can link to PDF files for the different sections of this document. This study addresses the question "Do targeted early interventions measurably benefit participating children and their families?" It consists of four chapters addressing different aspects of this topic. The full document can also be ordered here.
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Long-Term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs - The Future of Children Language: English
Publisher: The Future of Children (Winter 1995)
Description: This journal examines the long-term effects of early childhood programs on cognitive and social outcomes, and delinquency. The journal also discusses changing demographics and sustainability issues.
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The Evaluation Exchange: Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation
Language: English
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (2004)
Description: This periodical consists of several articles, from various authors, on improving early childhood programs and policies.
More
The Harvard Family Research Project (Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database) Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University (2004)
Description: This Web site, from the Harvard Family Research Project, has compiled a database of evaluations of out-of-school programs to find out what type of program is most effective.
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