Recommendations for School Readiness Assessment SB 08-212 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SB 08-212 Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K)

Recommendations for School Readiness Assessment

School readiness assessments…

• should provide high quality, useful

information to teachers and families that informs instruction and intervention.

• are intended to guide the

development of Individual School Readiness Plans for each student.

Intent of School Readiness Assessment

Adopted School Readiness Assessments must be:

• Research-based
• Recognized nationwide as reliable for measuring school readiness
• Suitable for determining instruction and interventions to improve student

readiness

• Inclusive of physical well-being and motor development, social and

emotional development, language and comprehension development, and cognition and general knowledge School readiness assessments shall not be:

• Used to deny admission or progression
• Reported at the individual student-level

Following adoption of the school readiness assessment, the state board is required to adopt a system for reporting population-level results that provide baseline data for measuring overall change and improvement in students' skills and knowledge over time.

Parameters for School Readiness Assessment

• CDE recommends that the State Board of

Education:

• Offer districts a menu of school readiness assessments
• Approve Teaching Strategies Gold as the first school

readiness assessment tool for the menu

• Pending positive technical reports and final review,

approve additional school readiness assessment tools for the menu

Recommendation

Description Benefits Limitations Considerations

District phase-in school readiness plans and assessment over two-years 2013-4: Ready districts implement TS GOLD and school readiness plans 2014-5: All districts implement an assessment from the menu and school readiness plans

• Allows ready districts to

move forward with implementation

• Utilizes lessons from

phase one district implementation to inform phase two

• Allows for consideration
• f assessments currently

being validated

• Allows for more reliable

implementation over time resulting in higher quality data

• Supportive of paradigm

shift needed for K reform

• Allows for sufficient

training

• Not all kindergarten

students are included in year one

• Perception that the state

is reluctant to implement a key provision of CAP4K

• Question related to

change in legislation

CDE Implementation Timeline : Districts Phase-in School Readiness Requirements Over Two Years

• Usage of Teaching Strategies GOLD in

Colorado

• How the assessment works
• Information about an abbreviated version
• f the assessment

Response to Board Questions

• Teachers observe children in their ongoing daily activities
• Observations are linked to standards and to the assessment
• bjectives within each content area and domain.
• Teachers document learning through observation notes,

quick reference checklists, and the collection of student work.

• Input from parents and information gathered through other

required assessments are also used to inform the body of evidence.

• At specific checkpoints, teachers rate children’s progress

along a continuum which shows their development in comparison to researched based age expectations.

How Do Authentic Assessments Work?

• 98% of school districts
• 100% of Head Start

programs

• Used in all types of early

care and education environments

Teaching Strategies GOLD Scope of Use

Colorado

• 738,813 children birth

through kindergarten in U.S,

• Used in preschool

programs in 18 states and the District of Columbia

• 100% of DOD Preschools,

Child Care

• Numerous State Head

Start Associations

Across the U.S.

TS GOLD…

• is an early childhood assessment system used for young children,

birth through kindergarten age.

• measures children’s progress toward research based age

expectations.

• is a valid and reliable instrument.
• provides both formative and summative assessment information.
• is aligned with the Colorado Academic Standards and early

learning and development guidelines.

• was chosen by 98% of school districts as well as the Charter

School Institute for implementation in preschool.

• is used with more than 42,000 young children in Colorado,

including 500 kindergarteners.

About Teaching Strategies GOLD

Assessment Domains within Teaching Strategies GOLD

• Thirty-six objectives are organized into nine areas of

development and learning.

• The academic domain is organized in five areas:

– Literacy – Mathematics – Science and Technology – Social Studies – The Arts

• The developmental domain is organized in four areas:

– Cognitive – Language – Physical – Social–emotional

Progressions of Development and Learning

• As of 2010, 29 states were utilizing kindergarten school

readiness assessment.

• A number of these assessments were locally created.
• Since then, a larger movement towards nationally

normed assessment instruments is prompting reconsideration of kindergarten assessment practices.

• Currently six states are using or piloting TS GOLD as a

kindergarten assessment.

• Washington, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts (GOLD is 1 of 2

approved options), Missouri (pilot), Hawaii (pilot)

How Other States Are Approaching School Readiness

• Washington State and Delaware are using

customized versions of TS GOLD for kindergarten

• Specific to state academic standards
• Abbreviated version with fewer items
• Phased in, or piloted with a limited number of

classrooms

• Ongoing review and revision
• Teaching Strategies is researching the impact on validity
• f results

Customizing Teaching Strategies GOLD

• Colorado has experience with customizing TS GOLD

at the preschool level, including:

• Changes to align with state standards and early learning

guidelines.

• Changes to assure strong alignment with federally

mandated outcomes measurement.

• All changes have been field tested and validated
• Kindergarten pilot participants are already engaged

in developing recommendations for customization.

Colorado’s Customization of Teaching Strategies GOLD

• CDE recommends that the State Board of

Education:

• Offer districts a menu of school readiness assessments
• Approve Teaching Strategies Gold as the first school

readiness assessment tool for the menu

• Pending positive technical reports and final review,

approve additional school readiness assessment tools for the menu

Recommendation