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

Recommendations for School Readiness Assessment SB 08-212 Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K)

Intent of 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.

Parameters for 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.

Recommendation  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

CDE Implementation Timeline : Districts Phase-in School Readiness Requirements Over Two Years Description Benefits Limitations Considerations District phase-in school Allows ready districts to Not all kindergarten Question related to • • • readiness plans and move forward with students are included in change in legislation assessment over two-years implementation year one Utilizes lessons from Perception that the state • • 2013-4: Ready districts phase one district is reluctant to implement TS GOLD and implementation to implement a key school readiness plans inform phase two provision of CAP4K Allows for consideration • 2014-5: All districts of assessments currently implement an assessment being validated from the menu and school Allows for more reliable • readiness plans implementation over time resulting in higher quality data Supportive of paradigm • shift needed for K reform Allows for sufficient • training

Response to Board Questions  Usage of Teaching Strategies GOLD in Colorado  How the assessment works  Information about an abbreviated version of the assessment

How Do Authentic Assessments Work?  Teachers observe children in their ongoing daily activities  Observations are linked to standards and to the assessment objectives 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.

Teaching Strategies GOLD  Scope of Use Across the U.S. Colorado  98% of school districts  738,813 children birth  100% of Head Start through kindergarten in U.S, programs  Used in preschool  Used in all types of early programs in 18 states and care and education the District of Columbia environments  100% of DOD Preschools, Child Care  Numerous State Head Start Associations

About Teaching Strategies GOLD  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.

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

How Other States Are Approaching School Readiness  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)

Customizing Teaching Strategies GOLD   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 of results

Colorado’s Customization of 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.

Recommendation  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