1. A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System

2. EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT: BEST PRACTICES Part I

3.  What comes to mind when you hear the word assessment?  Why do we assess children?

4. Assessment Defined … a process of gathering information about a child (or group of children) for the purpose of making decisions ….

5. Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards: Assessment Considerations 1.Young children learn in ways and at rates different from older children. 2.Young children come to know things through doing as well as through listening and often represent their knowledge better by showing than by telling.

6. 3. Young children’s development and learning is rapid, uneven, and episodic, so that point-in-time assessments do not give a complete picture of their learning. 4. Young children’s achievements are the result of a complex mix of their ability to learn and their past learning opportunities. Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards: Assessment Considerations

7. WHY we assess children - 1 A. To monitor children’s development and learning Screening - A process - including administration of a quick, valid and reliable screening tool or tools - to guide decisions about “next steps” to address individual children’s needs Developmental Academic

8. WHY we assess children - 1 B. To monitor children’s development and learning on-going assessment; data collected over time multiple methods often anchored to a criterion-referenced assessment tool can increase in intensity or frequency when used with ‘interventions’ or ‘additional challenges’

9. WHY we assess children - 2 Eligibility – to determine if a child might benefit from special education (Birth to 3 or Early Childhood Special Education) “Evaluation” – more in-depth assessment by a team of specialists, including the classroom teacher and family Can lead to “placement”, an IFSP or IEP, and related services

10. WHY we assess children - 3 To guide our planning and decision making Curriculum decisions/what to teach Thematic units/projects/lesson plans For individual children and groups of children

11. WHY we assess children - 3 To guide our planning and decision making Information used to decide WHAT & HOW to teach the child Assessment Implementation Program Planning WI Model Early Learning Standards Teaching Cycle

12. WHY we assess children - 4 To report to or communicate with others Accountability Family conferences/report cards/progress reports State requirements (early literacy) Program evaluation – is the program achieving its intended outcomes?

13. Systematic On-going Assessment Is the child making progress toward milestones or learning goals? Often based on observations, work samples Portfolios Serves to continually guide teaching decisions (i.e. – ‘curriculum’) “Snap shot” vs. “movie” Can be “anchored” to a valid and reliable tool

14. HOW we assess children Assessment is Authentic Assessment is Based on Multiple Sources of information Assessment Information is Anchored to an Assessment Instrument the Facilitates the Interpretation of Progress Assessment is Systematic, Continuous and Guided by an Assessment Plan 14 Principles of Ongoing Assessment

15. Definitions -- Authentic Assessment “The best way to understand the development of children is to observe their behavior in natural settings while they are interacting with familiar adults over prolonged periods to time.” (Broffenbrenner, 1977) Functional assessment Performance assessment

16. Strategic Assessment Process when anchoring authentic data to a valid and reliable assessment tool Gathering documentation* “anchor” to tool Gathering documentation* “anchor” to tool Gathering documentation* “anchor” to tool 1 st checkpoint2nd checkpoint3rd checkpoint Beginning of year End of year/term Midyear/ semester 4-6 weeks into year/term Formative assessment data Benchmark assessment data AND Formative assessment data Benchmark assessment data AND Summative assessment data *Gathering documentation: Daily/weekly observation notes, photos, audio/video recordings, work samples, teacher-made tallies/rubrics, information from families and other service providers

17. Strategic Assessment System By Type: What are the differences between assessment types within a strategic system? Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction http://dpi.wi.gov/strategic-assessment Daily, ongoing instructional strategies Student/Classroom-centered What comes next for student learning? Multiple data points across time Periodic diagnostic/common assessments Grade-level/School-centered What progress are students making? Is the program working? Cumulative snapshots Standardized assessments School/District/State-centered Are our students meeting the standards? FORMATIVEINTERIMSUMMATIVE …assessments are designed to… Quickly inform instruction Specific, immediate, actionable feedback Benchmark and monitor progressEvaluate learning …by providing… …through…...that are… …and that answer…

18. EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT: A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM Part II

19. A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System BLUEPRINT FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND ALIGNED SYSTEM FOR SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN Prepared for Wisconsin Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council By the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners: Healthy Children Committee (Serving as the ECAC Screening and Assessment Project Team) February 2012 Wisconsin Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) Mission: Every child will be healthy, nurtured, safe and successful Conduct periodic needs assessments Identify cooperative/collaborative opportunities and barriers Develop recommendations to increase child/family participation Identify professional development needs http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/ecac/default.htm

20. BLUEPRINT Key Points Birth – 5 years focus; across systems Prevention, early intervention, and treatment important for improving child outcomes and … healthy families Developmentally appropriate and valid screening and assessment data are the cornerstone of informed decision making Collecting both universal and targeted screening and assessment data is efficient and effective

21. Child-level Program-level Systems/Institutions A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System

22. Child – all developmental domains – motor, social- emotional, language, approaches to learning, and cognition; plus content areas – literacy and math Program –comprehensive data on each child over time; teacher effectiveness, environmental and other program quality measures Systems - all who “touch the lives of young children and their families” - health care, education, Head Start, mental health, child care, home visiting and IDEA programs A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System

23. Child level: monitoring development & learning; determining eligibility; planning for instruction and “next steps” for individual children and groups of children; communicating with families Program level:; accountability; assessing services/program quality and effectiveness; professional development Systems –Institutions level: policy development; resources allocation; professional development A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System

24. No examples of fully implemented comprehensive systems in US; still in developmental stages 2012 – of states that offered state-funded pre-K programs, 34 required assessments of children attending these programs - 19 states allowed districts to select their own tool(s) 9 provided a list to choose from 6 had mandated tool(s) Schilder, D. & Carolan, M. STATE OF THE STATES POLICY SNAPSHOT: STATE EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT. CEELO, March 2014

25. A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System: Kindergarten Entrance Assessments (KEAs) Data collected after children begin kindergarten, within the first 2 months Assesses development in the 5 Essential Domains of School Readiness Aligned with state’s early learning standards Valid and reliable for its intended purposes

26. Overall purpose: To inform efforts to close the school readiness gap To inform instruction To inform parents and involve them in their children’s education NOT intended to prevent children’s entry into kindergarten A Comprehensive Early Childhood Screening & Assessment System: Kindergarten Entrance Assessments (KEAs)

27. Selected Assessment System Examples from Other States K-3 Formative Assessment Consortium North Carolina [lead], Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, & South Carolina Working to design a formative assessment system that begins with a KEA and continues through 3 rd grade

28. California’s Desired Results System Administered by the Department of Education (CDE); applies to child care and development services for children, birth – 13 years, and their families Compatible with CDE's accountability system for elementary and secondary education Includes a KEA, Desired Results Developmental Profile – School Readiness (DRDP-SR) Coordinated with Desired Results: Access for Children with Disabilities (DR Access) Selected Examples from Other States

29. Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines, birth through grade 3 (K-3 jointly with CCSS to include social-emotional domain) Washington’s Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) considered a process for school readiness, transition into 5K Includes families; 5K teachers; and child care, Head Start, & other pre-K service providers TS Gold required at 5K entrance as KEA; pre-K providers encouraged to use TS Gold; TS Gold alignment guide provided for other tools Shared child data across systems to support smooth transitions to 5K and continuous teaching and learning Selected Examples from Other States Washington’s public-private partnership

30. New Jersey PreK-grade 3 model targeting 31 high poverty districts Requires collaboration plan with preschools, kindergartens, and elementary schools to share individual child data via portfolios TS Gold used as ‘KEA checkpoint ’ Selected Examples from Other States

31. Georgia’s ‘Bright from the Start’ Birth to age 5 focus (includes universal Pre-K) Early learning standards aligned with K-3 state standards Online Work Sampling System to share child data as they transition into 5K Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) - ongoing, year-long assessment to determine student skills entering and exiting 5K (KEA)

32. Closing thoughts … Child assessment involves multiple sources of information, including valid and reliable tools “Screening” is linked to appropriate follow-up Assessment is an on-going, continuous process Families are contributors in the process Procedures are developmentally appropriate (age/individual/cultural-linguistic) Effective training/professional development opportunities are provided Child assessment is linked to a larger system Overall purpose is to improve child outcomes

33.  Re-consider how and why we assess children.  What’s needed for YOU to have a more comprehensive system?