Challenge in Virginia Amanda Williford & Daphna Bassok October - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Amanda Williford & Daphna Bassok October 22, 2019

Early Childhood Education Policy Summit

Defining the School Readiness Challenge in Virginia

Overview

▪ Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program

(VKRP)

▪ History, Background, Preliminary data

▪ Lessons from the 2019 Virginia Early

Childhood Workforce Survey

Amanda Williford

Most States Have Adopted a Statewide Multidimensional Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

Note: * = State-mandated and multidimensional KRA/KEA, however kindergartens have a choice of assessments.

How Statewide Readiness Data Can be Used in Virginia

How Statewide Readiness Data Can be Used in Virginia

Readiness is defined as having foundational skills in all areas

How VKRP Measures Kindergarten Readiness

• Literacy- PALS
• Math- Teacher

standardized administration

• Self-regulation-

Teacher report via rating scale

• Social-skills-Teacher

report via rating scale

Tool selection

And estimated statewide representative sample of readiness

Piloted measures

With expansion

• f time points

in 2018-19

Voluntary roll out Statewide participation

2013 - 2014 2014 - 2015 2015 - 2018 2019 and on

History of VKRP

What is VKRP

VKRP is a set of coordinated assessments

Literacy (PALS), math, self-regulation, and social skills combined to provide teachers with a more comprehensive picture of students’ skills at the beginning of kindergarten

VKRP is a reporting system

Provides detailed and integrated information about students’ skills at the student (for teachers and families), classroom, school, division, and state levels

VKRP is a set of instructional resources

Supports teachers to understand students’ skill levels and to use instructional practices to support their learning and growth

VKRP Assessments – Literacy

 The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening is used to

assess students’ early literacy skills.

 The Early Mathematics Assessment System (EMAS)/The Party

 Assesses skills in the areas of Numeracy, Computation, Patterning,

Geometry and Spatial Sense.

 Teachers administer the assessment to students individually using

a flip book and manipulatives.

 Teachers enter children's responses into an online application,

recording student responses as they administer the assessment.

VKRP Assessments – Mathematics

 Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS)

 Short rating scale completed by the teacher that measures students’

approaches to learning, self-regulation, and social-emotional development.

 Teachers rate their students’ classroom-based behavior based upon

their observations of their students in the school setting and input responses in an online interface.

VKRP Assessments – Self-Regulation and Social Skills

Reports: Classroom Overview

✓

Easy to interpret

✓

Interactive

✓

Printable

✓

Exportable

✓

Linked to instructional resources

Reports: Student Overview

Reports: Family Report

Teacher Resources – Skill Example

Sample activity to support the skill

Family Resources

2018 Participating Divisions in Orange N = 89

2018 VKRP Participation

What We’ve Learned

 When only using literacy (PALS)

 16%

 Using VKRP—literacy, math, self-regulation and social skills

 42%

 For students who are economically disadvantaged

 48%

In terms of child skills, Virginia was too narrowly representing readiness

Estimates of children entering kindergarten who are not ready to be successful:

2017 Fall PALS and VKRP Data

Readiness Results for 2017-18

83% 82% 82% 80% 17% 18% 18% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Literacy (n=19754*) Math (n=16580*) Self-Regulation (n=16653*) Social Skills (n=16653*) Percent of Students

Fall 2017

Meeting Benchmark Below Benchmark

Note.* = All students who had data on each measure were included to obtain these estimates.

There is Variability across Divisions

High Literacy Discrepant Self-Regulation & Social Skills High Math High Social Skills

98% 78% 78% 83% 2% 22% 22% 17% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Literacy Math Self-Regulation Social Skills Division A 39% Not Ready Meeting Benchmark Below Benchmark 82% 96% 85% 81% 18% 4% 15% 19% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Literacy Math Self-Regulation Social Skills Division C 34% Not Ready Meeting Benchmark Below Benchmark 85% 85% 93% 75% 15% 15% 7% 25% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Literacy Math Self-Regulation Social Skills Division B 35% Not Ready Meeting Benchmark Below Benchmark 83% 82% 88% 92% 17% 18% 12% 8% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Literacy Math Self-Regulation Social Skills Division D 33% Not Ready Meeting Benchmark Below Benchmark

Ready

• r

Not Ready Literacy Math Self- Regulation Social Skills

%

Not Ready     2.9    ✓ 1.9   ✓  2.7   ✓ ✓ 0.7  ✓   0.9  ✓  ✓ 1.5  ✓ ✓  0.8  ✓ ✓ ✓ 4.6 ✓    0.8 ✓   ✓ 0.6 ✓  ✓  4.8 ✓  ✓ ✓ 4.5 ✓ ✓   7.8 ✓ ✓  ✓ 2.8 ✓ ✓ ✓  4.3 Ready ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 58.4 Total Sample 100.0

There is Variability across Students

16% 11% 15%

Academic Only (Literacy or Math) = 9.8% That is 23% of students who are identified as not ready Self-Regulation and/or Social Skills = 77% of students identified as not ready

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

2018 Data — Overall Readiness Variability Across Divisions

Division average % of students ready across all domains

Comparison of Fall 2018 Readiness Data for Students Who Are and Are Not from Low Income Backgrounds

65.3 50.5 34.7 49.5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Not Disadvantaged n=13,275 Disadvantaged n=11,392 Percent of Students Not Ready Ready 25

Comparison of Fall 2018 VKRP Readiness Scores Between Children from Low Income Backgrounds who Attend VPI and Those With No Preschool Experience

26 58.1 37.9 41.9 62.1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 VPI n=4,694 No Preschool n=2,578 Percent of Students Not Ready Ready

Preliminary findings from the 2019 Virginia Early Childhood Workforce Survey

Daphna Bassok Associate Professor of Education & Public Policy

Linking kindergarten readiness to early elementary success…

Bassok, Herring, McGinty, Miller, & Wyckoff, 2019

45 63 71 82 92 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1 2 3 4 5

Percent Proficient Quintiles of PALS Scores

Proficiency on Third Grade Reading SOL by performance on the PALS at Kindergarten Entry

Linking kindergarten readiness to early learning experiences…

 High quality early

learning opportunities set the stage for school success and can narrow achievement gaps

 The adults who care

for, interact with, and teach young children are the key drivers of “high quality” early learning opportunities

 Children learn through

consistent and engaging interactions with adults.

The early childhood workforce as critical partners for school readiness and beyond

The 2019 Virginia Early Childhood Workforce Survey



As part of Virginia’s Preschool Development Grant, we invited all teachers and assistant teachers working full-time in child care centers, Head Start programs, and pre- kindergarten programs in 27 Virginia communities to take a survey.



About 2,500 teachers invited

 Unprecedented response rates: 75 percent replied (!)  Broad coverage:

➢ Curricula ➢ Professional development ➢ Leadership ➢ Compensation ➢ Well-being (job satisfaction, stress, financial/food insecurity)

Who are Virginia’s early childhood lead teachers…

Most work with four-year-olds…

12% 19% 13% 56%

Infants Toddlers (ages 1 & 2) 3 year olds 4 year olds

Over a third have a high school degree or less

35.3 11.9 30.8 22

High School or Less Associate's Degree Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree or Higher

Many would like additional professional development…

48 43 34 33 33 30 29 26 26 10 20 30 40 50 60 Supporting children with disabilities/special needs Supporting development of English Language Learniners Strategies for addressing trauma Strategies for managing behavior Tools for assessing children Creating culturally responsive learning environment Providing high quality teacher-child interactions Support using a specific curriculum Strategies for engaging families

Percentage of lead teachers who indicate “not enough” professional development on each topic

Only about a third of lead teachers work in schools

Centers 68% Schools 32%

Comparing early educators in schools and child care centers…

The racial composition of the child care workforce mirrors Virginia’s children

10 56 24 5 5 3 86 8 1 2

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Hispanic, any race White, non- Hispanic Black, non- Hispanic Asian, non- Hispanic Other, multi-racial

Racial Composition of Early Educators Centers Schools

Educational attainment is much higher in schools

52 17 25 6 1 1 44 55

10 20 30 40 50 60

High School or Less Associate's Degree Bachelor's Degree Master's Degree or Higher

Differences in Education Level across Program Types

Centers Schools

Forty percent of child care lead teachers have a household income below $25,000…

11 29 19 11 8 6 6 6 3 2 2 8 13 11 12 24 20 10

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Household Income of Lead Teachers in Early Childhood Programs

Centers Schools

Many are facing food insecurity and financial stress.

10 6 35 24 1 1 9 12

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

I receive SNAP benefits I receive WIC benefits The food we had didn't last and we didn’t have money to get more I am worried I will run

• ut of money before I

am paid again

Financial Insecurity across Program Types

Centers Schools

Not surprisingly, child care teachers turn over at much higher rates.

74 58 56 73 86 74 33 93

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

I view early childhood as my long- term career There are enough teachers working at this site Teacher turnover is a problem at my site I'm likely to still be at my site in a year

PERCENTAGE OF TEACHERS WHO "AGREEE" OR "STRONGLY AGREE"

Centers Schools

Key take-aways…

 Through VKRP we now have a better understanding of young children’s

readiness for schools, and a set of tools to support learning in the early grades.

 These data tell us that many of Virginia’s youngest learners, especially

the low-income ones, enter kindergarten lacking skills in literacy, math, self-regulation and social skills that we know are linked to future academic success.

 Often-times those children who start behind remain behind.  Access to high quality early learning opportunities is a critical need.

Too many young children in Virginia lack access to early learning

• pportunities.

 Most of Virginia’s youngest children who are accessing early learning

through child care settings, where they are cared for and taught by women facing intense challenges, oftentimes including poverty, stress, and depression.

 Greater cohesion and alignment between K-12 and systems serving

children 0-5 is needed.