1. Come in, get settled, and please complete our survey:
Slide #1

2. Ready for Kindergarten: Early Learning Assessment Pilot
Welcome!
Ready for Kindergarten: Early Learning Assessment Pilot
Slide #2

3. Introductions Your name What you do Your favorite children’s book
Slide #3

4. Agenda: The ELA Implementation Pilot
The Big Picture of Ready for Kindergarten (R4K)
ELA Overview
ELA Technology
R4K Online System
ELA App
Online Professional Development Resources
Wrap Up
Slide #4 Time: 1 min.

5. General Education Special Education Child Care Head Start
Purpose of ELA Implementation Pilot
General Education
Special Education
Child Care
Head Start
Slide #5

6. Educator/Child Care Provider Data Manager Trainer
Roles in the Pilot
Educator/Child Care Provider
Data Manager
Trainer
Slide #6

7. Ready for Kindergarten Online
Support
Assessment
Slide #7
At its core, Ready 4 Kindergarten has a simple purpose: to improve outcomes for young children. While this seems simple enough, fulfilling the purpose is more complex. It requires a comprehensive system to ensure that this simple, yet vitally important purpose is met.
Aligned with early learning standards, this comprehensive assessment system is designed around three main elements: assessment, supports for teachers, and technology for children and teachers.
Through this training you will gain a deeper understanding of how these three elements interact to form a unique comprehensive system aimed at improving outcomes for young children. Specifically, you’ll learn about the Early Learning Assessment and the technology supports that allow teachers to gather, record, and use student data to inform instruction.

8. Why do you assess? What do you hope to learn?
find out what children are learning
find out how children are developing
guide how we interact with children
determine where to go next
communicate with families
make decisions about services
communicate with colleagues
Slide #10
This is already a part of their daily practice and teaching strategies.
Points to consider:
Share points on the slide. Discuss other reasons they may have considered in their discussion with a peer.

9. Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment is “a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes.”
Slide #9
The Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (FAST SCASS) defines formative assessment as “a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes.”
What are some key points in this definition that stand out for you? [pause] Maybe you found the term process interesting, or the fact that it includes teachers AND students, or that it takes place during instruction, or that it’s about feedback. Different aspects of this definition will impact different people in different ways. One key walk away from this slide is that formative assessment provides feedback. Feedback that feeds forward…forward to making decisions about where to go next for each child, what to do next for each child, how to help each and every child in your care grow and learn.
Teachers and caregivers who use formative assessment gather information about the skills, knowledge and behaviors that children demonstrate. After reflecting on what they've seen and heard effective kid watchers make decisions about where to go next. They consider the physical environment and what, if anything, needs to change. They consider the activities that they make available to the children. They wonder, are there new activities that could be added that would appropriately challenge a child or a group of children? Are there new or different activities that would build necessary skills, knowledge or behaviors? Are there things the family could do at home to reinforce or enhance particular skills or behaviors? They make decisions, make a plan, and put that plan into action all the while checking to see if adjustments need to be made to best meet the needs of each child in the classroom.
As we move into learning about the Early Learning Assessment, we invite you to begin to think of assessment as a cycle--a cycle that weaves together gathering information about what children know, understand, and can do; taking that information and reflecting on it; and making decisions about what to do next in terms of teaching, learning, curriculum and materials, the environment, support at home, and more. Throughout the Early Learning Assessment training you’ll learn more about this cycle and find ways to use it in your own classroom with the children in your care.

10. Formative Assessment Cycle
Slide #17
As you know, formative assessment is a cycle. The cycle includes gathering and documenting information from multiple sources and in multiple instances to find out about a child’s skills, knowledge and behaviors across learning domains. Teachers then review the information by summarizing and analyzing it to look for individual patterns and trends, as well as by looking for patterns and trends across groups of children. Teachers then use this information to make decisions to support the child’s growth and development. This includes making decisions about the classroom environment, materials, learning opportunities and more.
This needs to happen in the most natural way possible – we want to see what children do in their natural flow of the day – The goal is to observe them in what they are doing naturally, not to create an artificial situation to observe the LP but know the LP’s well enough to recognize them when we see them in the flow of the day.
If you don’t have the opportunity to observe this – then you need to communicate with other people that do have that opportunity – family, other teachers, specialists, etc.

11. Learning Domains Slide #11 Time: 1 min.
The seven domains are Fine Arts, Social Foundations, Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Physical Well-being and Motor Development
Professional Development by Johns Hopkins School of Education, Center for Technology in Education

12. Provides insight into children’s development across multiple domains
Early Learning Assessment
Why it’s important –
Supports growing knowledge and research about the variability of young children’s growth, development, and learning
Provides insight into children’s development across multiple domains
Aligns with best practice for assessing young children
Gives early childhood educators research-based tools to gauge student learning and ensure that children are entering school ready to learn and thrive
Slide #12 Time: 1 min.
The Early Learning Assessment supports growing research in the field of early childhood. Aligned with best practice in the assessment of young children, the Early Learning Assessment gives teachers insights about children that informs instruction and promotes continued growth and development.

13. Early Learning Assessment
Purpose –
Monitor children’s learning over time
Ensure that children are on the path for kindergarten readiness
Individualize learning opportunities and plan for intervention
Report out on Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act required Early Childhood Outcomes
Slide #13
The purpose of the Early Learning Assessment is to monitor children’s progress over time, to ensure that children are on the path for school readiness, to individualize learning opportunities for each child and to plan for intervention when needed. Also, the Early Learning Assessment will be used to report out on the required early childhood outcomes.

14. Early Learning Assessment (ELA) Learning Progression
Slide #14
There are a total of 32 Learning Progressions. Each learning progression is subdivided into one or more Skills, Knowledge, or Behaviors, (SKBs) which are further defined by Level Descriptors.
The Learning Progressions define the pathway of skills, knowledge, and behaviors that children develop between the ages of 36 months and 72 months, including children who may be at earlier developmental levels than their typically developing peers. The operational definition of each Learning Progression summarizes the focus of that Learning Progression.
Each Learning Progression is made up of one or more Skills, Knowledge, or Behaviors that are significant to that Learning Progression. Each of the Skills, Knowledge, or Behaviors is depicted as a row within the Learning Progression and includes level descriptors (i.e., Levels A, B, C, D, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that represent the milestones of a typical child’s development. Levels 1, 4, and 5 represent the milestones at approximately three years of age (Level 1), at entry to kindergarten (Level 4), and at the end of kindergarten (Level 5). Levels 2 and 3 represent a child’s progress between three years of age to kindergarten entry. These are the levels of our typically developing children in our preschool programs. Levels A–D represent developmental stages that precede Levels 1–5 and allow a teacher or caregiver to assess children in our preschool programs who may be at earlier developmental levels, including children with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and children who are English language learners.
The table shown here summarizes the developmental levels for each of the Skills, Knowledge, or Behaviors within the Learning Progressions.
(ELA Instructional Guide, p.6)

15. Early Learning Assessment (ELA) Learning Progression
Slide #15 P.20
In some cases, specific developmental milestones are less evident or observable; therefore, no descriptor is given for some levels in a progression. In cases where there are no descriptors at early levels, developmental milestones are not yet observable. In other cases where there is a gap between two descriptors (e.g., Level 1 and 3 have descriptors, but there is no descriptor for Level 2), it does not imply that a child’s progress stops. Rather, it is assumed that a child begins progress toward the next milestone in the progression.
(ELA Instructional Guide, p.20)

16. Observational Rubrics
SKB Operational Definition:
Observation Directions:
Level Descriptors:
Evidence Examples:
This is only a single example of what you might see at each level– NOT an exhaustive list.
Slide #16 Animated Slide
The Early Learning Assessment contains observational rubrics for each Learning Progression to help teachers and caregivers document a child’s behaviors and/or performance. Each observational rubric contains information about Universal Design and Adaptations, as well as a review of the Framework. Each SKB contains the Operational Definition.
Observational rubrics are intended to aid teachers and caregivers in documenting observable behaviors during regular daily classroom routines, whenever possible. (Click) Each observational rubric contains Observation Directions that include important aspects of the Skills, Knowledge, or Behaviors and other information to assist the teacher or caregiver when observing the children.
(Click) It is important to recognize that the Evidence Examples provided are intended to be one of many observable behaviors that a teacher or caregiver might see or hear when observing a child. The examples are not in any way intended to be the only evidence that a teacher or caregiver might observe.
(ELA Social Foundations Observational Rubrics, p.17, *p. 20 in the 1st edition copies distributed in Jan.)

17. Learning Progression: Evidence Sheets
OPTIONAL
Slide #17 Last page – Instructional Guide
The Early Learning Assessment contains Evidence Sheets for each learning progression for educators to document their observations. There are formats for individual child or class observations. Remember, these are optional tools – teachers can use any documentation format that they are comfortable with, and there will be additional options becoming available at the online technology rolls out in the Fall.
(ELA Instructional Guide, Recording Forms)

18. Break and Move to Labs 205/206 10-15 minutes
Professional Development by Johns Hopkins School of Education, Center for Technology in Education

19. ELA Technology Overview
Ready for Kindergarten Online System (
Admin functionality – add teachers/providers, students, and enrollments
Teacher – spreadsheet feature
Teacher – classroom and student reports (targeted to be available in May)
Professional development sites and resources
ELA Application (
Desktop version (PC and Mac)
iOS
Android

20. R4K Online System: Admin Overview
Ready for Kindergarten Data Manager Guidelines Site:
Data Manager = an individual (one or two) at each public school district, childcare location, or head start facility that is responsible for the following within the district or location:
Adding teachers and providers to the system, which creates their accounts and associates them to a specific location
Adding student names, IDs, and demographics to the system
Adding enrollments to the system, which associates specific students to the appropriate teachers/providers to enter the assessment data
Multiple teachers/providers can be assigned to one student

21. R4K Online System: Admin Functionality
There are three ways to enter teacher/provider, student, and enrollment data into the R4K system:
Manual
Bulk Loader
Secure FTP
Manual – Add Teachers and Providers:
Click on the 'Users' page
Click the 'Add a User' button
Enter in the required fields and click 'Save'

22. R4K Online System: Admin Functionality
Manual – Add Students:
Click on the 'Organizations' page and navigate to the specific location/school/site where the student is located
Click the 'Add Student' button
Enter in the required fields and click 'Save and Open‘
Manual – Add Enrollments:
After clicking 'Save and Open' at the last step above, click on the 'Data Collection Assignments' tab and assign the student to the appropriate data collection
Click on the 'Enrollments' tab and assign the appropriate teacher(s) to the student

23. R4K Online System: Teacher - Spreadsheet

24. R4K Online System: Teacher - Reports

25. ELA Application Overview

26. ELA App Guided Practice

27. Professional Development Sites and Resources pd.kready.org

28. Wrap Up Questions Post-training survey at http://bit.do/elapilot
R4K Overview Site