1 Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment Pilot Panel Discussion: Board of Early Education and Care Meeting February 14, 2012.

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Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment Pilot

Panel Discussion: Board of Early Education and Care Meeting February 14, 2012

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1. Establishing Successful State Systems by building on the State’s existing strengths, ambitiously moving forward the state’s early learning and development agenda, and carefully coordinating programs across agencies to ensure consistency and sustainability beyond the grant;

2. Defining High-Quality, Accountable Programs by creating a common tiered quality rating and improvement system that is used across the state to evaluate and improve program performance and to inform families about program quality;

3. Promoting Early Learning and Development Outcomes for Children to develop common standards within the state and assessments that measure child outcomes, address behavioral and health needs, as well as inform, engage and support families;

4. Supporting A Great Early Childhood Education Workforce by providing professional development, career advancement opportunities, appropriate compensation, and a common set of standards for workforce knowledge and competencies; and

5. Measuring Outcomes and Progress so that data can be used to inform early learning instruction and services and to assess whether children are entering kindergarten ready to succeed in elementary school.

RTTT-ELC focuses on five key areas of reform:

Closing the Achievement Gap: Accountability for Quality and Outcomes

Teacher Quality

Program Quality(QRIS)

Child Outcomes (formative and summative assessment)

Community and Family

Context

The Commonwealth’s Bold Vision: Core Elements of the Early Childhood Information System

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Family Engagement Parental Consent Core Child Level Data Self- Assessment Data

Child Development Screening and Assessment Data Collected through ASQ, EVT, PVT, Social and Emotional Test, Woodcock-

Johnson Interagency Data Sharing

Interagency Service Agreements (ISAs) Key risk and protective factors

Strength and Risk Analyses Pull and match child-level data from above data sources Report out on child-level critical strength and risk factors

Communication General communication to all families on general child development

advice and guidance and information on community events and resources Targeted communication to families with children having 3 or more risk

factors on other state agency resources and community supports to alleviate risks

Access to growth and developmental screenings and assessments for all children

EEC Comprehensive Assessment Strategy

Estimated 450,000 children: in communities, EEC programs, and schools – including Child Find, CFCE programs

Program Environment

Norm Referenced Summative Assessment

Adult/Child Interactions

Screening Assessments

Screening and Assessment TypesMassachusetts Early Learning and Development (MELD) assessment system MELD is a system of screening and assessment for children from birth to third grade, including the Massachusetts Kindergarten

Entry Assessment (MKEA), that aligns seamlessly with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Screening: Ages and Stage Questionnaire (ASQ), and Social-Emotional version (ASQ-SE) Formative Assessment: Work Sampling System, Teaching Strategies-GOLD High Scope COR  Diagnostic Inventories Battelle Developmental Inventory – 2 (EI) Kindergarten Entry Assessment The state will implement the Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment (MKEA) to produce a common statewide measure of

children’s school readiness. The state will train kindergarten teachers on the use of formative assessment as a measure of school readiness and the effective

use of data to inform instruction and curriculum planning through state Readiness Centers. The state will also conduct psychometric testing, such as item analysis, of approved assessment tools to develop a common

statewide kindergarten readiness metric. Norm Referenced Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) Woodcock-Johnson, and the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT) Two fine motor tests and one gross motor test to be developed QRIS Child observation Assessments of environmental quality Teacher-child interactions Formative assessments of children's learning progress

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• Resources will be provided to 107 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grantees, licensed and licensed exempt early education and care programs, and public schools to participate in assessment.

• Help Me Grow supports parents as their child’s first teacher, through four (4) components:

• Child Growth and Development Education• Resources for Pediatricians• Statewide Telephonic Access• System Data Collection

• The Child Growth and Development Education component provides universal child growth and development education opportunity using evidence-based screening tools (ASQ & ASQ:SE).

• Using parental consent, data can be used to measure growth overtime and linked to the child’s longitudinal record, with the option to opt-out and continue services

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Community Based Informal Screening: Help Me GrowAges and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ)

Ages and Stages Questionnaire Third Edition (ASQ-3)Ages and Stages Questionnaire Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE)

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Benefits of ASQ Ongoing monitoring of development: ASQ uses 21 age-specific

ASQ questionnaires to watch for and catch developmental delays in 5 domains; communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and personal-social. And there are 8 age-specific questionnaires to watch for social-emotional delays that may not be detected in a single screening.

Easy to use: ASQ is well-regarded as parent friendly and easy to use; the questionnaires are color-coded by age, written at a 4th–6th-grade reading level, and accompanied by simple illustrations to enhance understanding

Makes the most of parents' expert knowledge: ASQ calls for the involvement of parents as partners in their child's development, assessment, and intervention

Saves time & money: The ASQ questionnaires take 10–15 minutes for parents to complete and 2–3 minutes to score. ASQ is a one-time purchase, the materials in the user's guides can be reproduced as many times as needed

Resource for families and early educators: Using the ASQ tool(s), families and educators can use their observation of children to set goals for individual instruction

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MKEA Participating Districts

Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment: Pilot Participation Cohort Districts Students Teachers Cohort 1 24 Approx. 17,500 Approx. 874 1. Boston 2. Brookline 3. Chelsea 4. Everett 5. Holyoke 6. Lawrence 7. Lowell 8. Lowell Community

Charter School 9. Ludlow 10. Lynn 11. Marion

12. Mattapoisett 13. Medford 14. New Bedford 15. Northhampton 16. Pittsfield 17. Rochester 18. South Hadley 19. Southbridge 20. Springfield 21. Taunton 22. Ware 23. Watertown 24. Worcester

Goals Of Pilot Project Identify Districts’ project Teams;

Develop of Memoranda of Understanding;

Identify the assessment tool that will be used;

Identify and define Teams the unique needs to customize the supports needed over the course of this project ;

Resources Available:

Substitutes

Purchase of the selected formative assessment tools and cost for online participation

Professional Development for Kindergarten and Preschool teachers

• Use of tool

• Use of Data

Identifying the level and type of professional development support needed regarding the utilization of the development tool and the data;

Develop your timelines and project goals for implementation September 2012.

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Teaching Strategies GOLD

High Scope - COR Work Sampling

System

Social/ Emotional √

√

√

Physical √

√

√

Cognitive √

√

√

Language √

√

√

Approach to Learning √

√

√

Easy to Administer Yes, with 3 day

training Yes, with 2-3 day

training Yes, with 1-3 day

training

Parent Involvement Receive a “Family Conference Form”

Receive summary forms

Receive summary report

Reliability/ Validity Yes Yes Yes

Overview of the Assessment Tools

Issues Raised by ParticipantsTechnology: Opportunity to view/train online components of each tool before making decision: Potential need to purchase computers/laptops for teachers to do online reporting Funding: Will online license be “attached” to number of children; this may affect cost in large classes  Is there a budget limit?  Can funding be used to purchase computers, cameras or other electronic devises?   Is this effort funded for the whole four years or is it a point in time project?

Professional Development: Consider importance of time and training needed for this project to be effective  Consider implications of MKEA on Teacher Evaluations  Consider Smart Goals for teachers   Clarify that programs will not be asked to switch tool later  

Timelines: Allow flexibility with proposed timelines/plans Do all teachers need to be involved by September or can we stagger implementation?  Timeline is a concern. Some Kindergarten classrooms have up to 30 plus students. They already do

math/reading assessments and screening.

Programmatic: Does this include preK – K substantially separate classrooms?  How does this work with required assessments used for Special Education? Need to help districts determine which assessment tool best fits into their practice  It’s harder to do Work Sampling in the public schools. Are there ways to better incorporate it?  How can assessments be blended so they are not just adding another tool for teachers to use

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Timelines

March 2, 2012 Identify Professional Development Needs Create a plan for Professional Development and submit for review Identify need for resources including substitutes for

implementation and make a request to EECMarch 15, 2012 Hold a webinar for teachers on the three tools before March 15th Choose Assessment Conduct District Wide Kick-Off meeting for Project with PreK-Grade

3 staffApril 15, 2012 Professional Development Plans approvedMay 1, 2012 Identify Locations to use assessment

June 30,2012 All teachers have access to the tool Teacher, classrooms and specific schools have been identified for

implementation Information is reported to EEC

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MKEA Investments

Early Learning Challenge Funds

“Measuring Growth through the Massachusetts Early Learning and Development Assessment System (Birth to Grade Three)”

• $4.5M total over four years

• $1.9M for assessment kits and license

• $820K of this for substitute teachers

“Measuring Growth by Developing a Common Metric for Kindergarten Entry Assessment”

• $575K/two years (January-December 2013)• $325K Year One

• $250K Year Two

State Funds – $200K to support MKEA in FY12 Supplemental Budget

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Panelist Discussion

Overview of your school/district

School plans for participation in the MKEA

Perspectives on the opportunity to participate

Any fears/concerns about participating 

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Appendix

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Issues Raised by Participants

Technology: Opportunity to view/train online components of each tool before making decision:

The 3 tools are available on-line for a 30 day free trial. Potential need to purchase computers/laptops for teachers to do online reporting

Computers cannot be purchased as part of this project; however software can be purchased if a computer within the school requires an upgrade to access the web-based tool.

 Funding: Will online license be “attached” to number of children; considering classrooms have had increase in

children they have enrolled, this may affect cost of license purchase EEC will fund all tools and licenses required to complete the assessment on children,

even if the classroom size increases year-to-year.  Is there a budget limit?

Yes, there is a budget limit. This will be determined after school districts submit their professional development plans and EEC evaluates the overall costs. At this time, EEC requests that schools districts submit budgets based on what they project that they will need for professional development costs.

  Can funding be used to purchase computers, cameras or other electronic devises?

Computers cannot be purchased as part of this project; however software can be purchased if a computer within the school requires an upgrade to access the web-based tool.

  Is this effort funded for the whole four years or is it a point in time project?

Yes 

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Issues Raised by Participants

Professional Development: Consider importance of time and training needed for this project to be effective

EEC recognizes that importance of professional development and estimates that initially 4 days of training will be required and then on-going training needed to support this effort.

  Consider implications of MKEA on Teacher Evaluations

At this time, EEC considers this project separate from the teacher evaluation process.   Consider Smart Goals for teachers

EEC will contact ESE for guidance and input regarding the development of SMART Goals, however at this time EEC views this project as separate from the teacher evaluation process.

  Clarify that programs will not be asked to switch tool later to have all programs use same tool

EEC expects that programs will be able to stay with whichever tool they chose and common metrics is planned to be developed across the 3 tools to gather measurement of success with a Kindergarten Entry Assessment.

  Question on P.D. over summer or non public school work hours.  Including payment for staff attending

EEC expects to cover the costs associated professional development for teachers, whether this cost is related to substitutes for classrooms during the school year or providing a stipend during the summer months for teachers who receive training in the tool during the non public school work hours.

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Issues Raised by ParticipantsTimelines: Allow flexibility with proposed timelines/plans

Due to measuring the effectiveness of assessing high needs children, EEC expects that implementation of using the assessment tool will be at the beginning of the school year in September 2012. The Kindergarten Entry Assessment is most effective when done three times a year; fall, winter and spring. EEC recognizes the time commitment involved in assessing all children three times a year, therefore we would expect that assessments are completed twice a year(fall and spring) and strongly encourage completing a third assessment in the winter.

In large districts, do all teachers need to be involved by September or can we stagger

implementation? All classrooms need to be involved in the implementation.

  Timeline is a concern. Some Kindergarten classrooms have up to 30 plus students. They

already do math/reading assessments and screening. Time is an issue. Assessments should be completed within the first 6 weeks of school so

that information is available at the parent/teacher conferences in November. EEC believes that parents and guardians of children are an important component of the children’s learning environment and using the results from an assessment tool will create a dialogue with a parent or guardian that will enhance the classroom experience for both the teacher and child.

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Issues Raised by Participants

Programmatic: Does this include preK - k subs substantially separate classrooms?

Yes, all children need to be included.  How does this work with required assessments used for Special Education?

The tool can be used to provide supporting documentation for the 3 domains collected in indicator 7, child outcomes.

  What guidance can be given to help districts determine what assessments best fit into their

practice. Are they currently using the right tools? This is an individual school district’s choice and EEC recommends that school

districts investigate the free 30 day on-line trial of the tools to determine which best meets their practice.

  It’s harder to do Work Sampling in the public schools. Are there ways to better incorporate it?

Work sampling is just one of the tools a school can consider and decide to use. The other tools, High Scope COR or Teaching Strategies GOLD, may be better suited to a school districts needs.

  How can assessments be blended so that they are not just adding another tool for teachers to

use EEC recommends that the assessment tools are not blended and that teachers

consider using the assessment tool identified in the Kindergarten Entry Assessment as the sole source of information about the child.

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