Assessing School Readiness in Indiana By Michael Conn-Powers and Jessica Peters

What we wanted to know  How is SR being assessed?  What components of SR are looked at?  Who is assessing SR?  What is done with this information?  How well is it working?

How we found out  Surveyed preschool & kindergarten teachers in Indiana  229 participants responded  Respondents consist of 185 kindergarten teachers, 31 preschool teachers, 4 elementary school principals, and 4 child care providers

Is school readiness being assessed?  More than ¾ of respondents report that they assess school readiness  Over 45% of school districts in Indiana represented

Specific domains of School Readiness  Many domains are being assessed adequately or very well: Health & physical well-being % Language development & literacy.. 83% Cognition & general knowledge %

Specific domains of School Readiness  Other domains are being assessed inadequately or not at all: Motor development % Social & emotional development.. 50% Approach to learning %

Who is involved in school readiness assessments?

When do school readiness assessments occur?  While the child is still in their early education/ child care program %  Spring event prior to kindergarten %  Summer event prior to kindergarten %  At the beginning of kindergarten %  Other %

Context of school readiness assessment  Assessment most often occurs in the classroom during school hours or in the school but not in the classroom  50% of respondents say records are kept as part of the child’s cumulative file  Another 37% of respondents keep the records for at least one year

Are school readiness procedures the same for all children in each district/school?

How is it being assessed?  Teacher observations/ judgment  Parent reports/ checklists  Teacher-created checklists and commercially published tools  Reports from preschool and school-wide checklists are less common

Commercially published assessment tools being used  Brigance  DIBELS  Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)  Galileo  Creative Curriculum  DIAL-3 or DIAL-R  Early Prevention of School Failure (EPSF)  Indiana Reading Assessment  ISTAR/NWEA

A Critical look at these tests  Brigance Specific limitations of the test No decisions based solely on this score  DIAL-3 or DIAL-R Test manual states that results should not be used for instructional planning or tracking of any kind

A Critical look at these tests  Early Prevention of School Failure (EPSF) Does not assess social and emotional development, cognition and general knowledge, approach to learning  DIBELS Measures language and literacy  Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) Measures language and cognition  Indiana Reading Assessment Measures language and literacy  ISTAR/NWEA Measures cognition, language and literacy

Decisions made from these results  Create heterogeneous classrooms/ allocate resources (35%)  Recommendations are made: Placement in developmental kindergarten classrooms (15%) School deferment (34%) Placement in special education (13%) Placement in full-day versus half-day kindergarten programs (36%)  The results have no influence over class placements (30%)

How do the assessment results influence class work?  Planning curriculum & instruction (73%)  Determining learning groups (51%)  Identifying extra resources needed (73%)  Monitoring student progress (74%)  Informing families about placement (50%) what they can do at home (75%)

To what extent are all children included?  Most respondents reported that all children are assessed in the same way  Children with physical and sensory disabilities or significant developmental delays or disabilities were more likely to be partially included in assessment

How well do the assessment results help with decision-making for different groups of students?

What did we learn?  Most schools assess SR  Assessment not always comprehensive  Important placement decisions made  Influences classroom instruction  While all children are included …  not always helpful for all.

Next Steps  Look systematically at SR assessment Clarify purpose and decisions Identify best assessments across domains Determine who, when, where, & how Strategies to make it work for all children  Spring workshop & Summer Institute