1. Teaching Strategies (TS) GOLD SAL TRAINING 2014-2015

2. What Will Be Covered Role of the SAL Why TS Gold – CAP4K
State Windows & Deadlines
Training Requirements & Opportunities
SPF
Proficiency bands
Reports
Resources
Website/App overview

3. Housekeeping Please sign-in TS Gold accounts Agenda Handouts Rosters!
Data Privacy

4. Data Privacy DPS is committed to protecting student data
TS Gold is an approved vendor and DPS has negotiated a contract that includes FERPA-compliant language.
Be mindful when sharing student data
how you share it
who you share it with
Never share your password!
More information:

5. Role of the Site Assessment Leader (SAL)
Assume an assessment leadership role at the school
Serve as the primary contact for the ARE Department.
Represent the school at required in-services.
Meet regularly with the principal and teachers (e.g., individually, grade level teams, departments, data teams etc.) about assessment to provide them information about assessment requirements and the use of assessment results.
As required, keep records of staff attendance at assessment in-services.
Communicate assessment information with school and district staff
Provide training for teachers about the procedures for administering assessments, keeping test materials secure, and preparing materials for return.
Share pertinent information regarding assessment with school personnel regularly at faculty meetings.
Communicate and demonstrate ethical testing procedures.
Report all testing irregularities to your principal and designated central staff.
Recognize that violations of testing guidelines can result in serious consequences for the student, test administrator, and/or school and act proactively to prevent them.
Use all available sources of information in role as SAL
Check district at least once a day.
Work with your office staff to notify you of assessment deliveries to avoid lost items
Know your mail pick-up and delivery days in the week in order to meet assessment pick-up deadlines
Verify access to the school’s electronic folder and distribute information to staff as needed.
Access and use the ARE website for updated information and distribute to staff as needed
Be familiar with all aspects of federal, state, and district tests, including
Coordinate the administration of federal, state, and required district assessments   

6. Why TS Gold?
Senate Bill 08‐212, Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K):
passed in 2008 with the goal of aligning Colorado’s preschool through postsecondary education system
includes provisions related to school readiness
school readiness describes the status and ongoing progress a child makes within the domains of physical well‐being and motor development, social and emotional development, language and comprehension development, and cognition and general knowledge
information gathered from school readiness assessments is to be used for supportive and instructional purposes and cannot be used to deny a student admission or progression to kindergarten or first grade

7. Why TS Gold? CAP4K Requirements:
Beginning in the fall of 2013, local education providers are required to ensure all children in publicly‐funded preschool or kindergarten receive an individual school readiness plan.
Local education providers must administer the school readiness assessment to each student in kindergarten.
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is advising districts to phase‐in this provision of CAP4K in either the 2013‐14 or 2014‐15 school year.

8. Why TS Gold? CAP4K Requirements:
In approving school readiness assessments, CAP4K directs the State Board of Education to consider assessments that are research‐based, recognized nationwide as reliable instruments for measuring school readiness; and suitable for determining the instruction and interventions students need to improve their readiness to succeed in school.
 The first approved assessment tool for the menu is Teaching Strategies GOLD.  
More information can be found on the CDE website at

9. State “Windows” & Checkpoint Deadlines
FALL
Observe & document: August 26 – October 20
Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue): October 20 – October 27
Checkpoint decisions finalized online: October 27, 2014
WINTER
Observe & document: October 28 – January 26
Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue): January 26 - February 2
Checkpoint decisions finalized online: February 2
SPRING
Observe & document: February 3 – May 4
Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue):
May 4 – May 11
Checkpoint decisions finalized online: May 11

10. Teacher Training: Required
1) Teaching Strategies GOLD® Basic Course (online)
Module 1: Introducing Teaching Strategies GOLD®
Module 2: Looking Closer: Teaching Strategies GOLD®
Module 3: The Assessment Cycle
Module 4: Exploring the Features of TS GOLD® Online
Completion due date: December 19, 2014
Each module is interactive, taking you through a guided, self-paced learning experience. You will type in individual reflections, view video clips, and complete short activities and quizzes.
We recommend that you complete the modules in order from Module 1 to Module 4, but you can choose to view any module in any order. You must complete all 4 modules to receive a certificate of completion.
The modules do not save your answers, and there is no scoring for correct answers. If you close the module and return at a later time, you will not see your answers from a previous session.
Each interactive module includes audio. You will need speakers or headphones to hear the audio. A transcript of the audio can be viewed under the Transcript tab.
**A clickpath on how to access this training can be found on the ARE TS Gold webpage.

11. Teacher Training: Required
2) Teaching Strategies GOLD® ‐ Inter Rater Reliability Certification (online)
Completion due date: January 15, 2015
Interrater reliability is the extent to which the ratings assigned by two or more individuals (observers/raters) agree. It addresses the consistency with which a rating system is used by multiple persons.
Being awarded Teaching Strategies interrater reliability certification means that your ratings of children’s knowledge, skills, and behaviors agree (within an acceptable range) with the ratings determined by Teaching Strategies GOLD® developers.
To be awarded interrater reliability certification, at least 80 percent of your ratings in each of six areas of development and learning must agree with the master ratings (within the acceptable range of ±1).

12. Teacher Training: Optional
3) Facilitated trainings (Led by Early Ed Coordinators)
Basic Course Modules
October 20 (TBD)
Documentation training
October 21
January 5
February 17
April 13
4) App training…coming soon!

13. TS Gold Assessment

14. What is TS Gold?
Authentic, observational assessment system for children from birth to kindergarten (1st grade is coming soon)
Shows what children can do as well as their strengths, needs, and interests. With this information you can scaffold children’s learning
Collects evidence of children’s knowledge, skills and behaviors during meaningful everyday experiences
Inclusive of children with disabilities, children who are developing typically, and children who are above expectations
Fully aligned to the Common Core (crosswalk posted on ARE TS Gold webpage)
Designed with early childhood teachers and caregivers in mind
Based in the latest research and proven valid and reliable
Available in English & Spanish
Formative (preliminary data) AND summative (checkpoint data)

15. What is TS Gold? Primary Purpose:
Observe and document children’s development and learning over time
Plan instruction and scaffold children’s learning
Identify children who might benefit from special help, screening or further evaluation
Report and communicate with family members and others
The information obtained should be used as just one part of a larger system of collecting data for decision making

16. What is TS Gold? Covers 10 Areas of Learning
Social-Emotional
Physical
Language
Cognitive
Literacy
Mathematics
Science and Technology
Social Studies
The Arts
English Language Acquisition
38 Objectives (a statement of expectations of knowledge, skills, and behaviors)
21 Dimensions (specific aspect or subskill of an objective)

17. What is TS Gold? Areas of Learning Objective Dimensions
Literacy
Objective
15: Demonstrates phonological awareness
Dimensions
15a: Notices and discriminates rhyme

18. Is it objective?
When teachers and staff members use the tool with fidelity and collect appropriate documentation within each dimension of learning, it is an objective measure of student growth

19. Who is assessed?
A minimum of 5 students in each kindergarten classroom must be assessed. ECE will continue to assess all students.
Whenever possible the 5 students should be:
3 students with historical data
2 students new to DPS or TS Gold
1 student perceived to be above grade level
1 student perceived to be at grade level
1 student perceived to be below grade level
1 Student classified as an ELL and/or having an IEP

20. Documentation & Preliminary Data
Documentation should be ongoing and uploaded in a continuous, timely manner, and preliminary data should be entered for each child on a weekly basis.
Preliminary data will help guide instruction. Without preliminary data, you can’t gain any formative information. THINK: SLOs
ECE: A minimum of 1 piece of documentation is required for each objective and dimension per child at each checkpoint. The more documentation you have, the better!
Kinder: A minimum of 1 piece of documentation is required for each objective and dimension (1-23 only) per child at each checkpoint. The more documentation you have, the better!
The Documentation Rubric guides teachers on documentation that meets expectations. (posted on ARE TS Gold webpage)
Do NOT wait until the week before the checkpoint to upload documentation!

21. Documentation & Preliminary Data
Documentation includes:
observation notes
photos
video clips
audio clips
scanned work
on-the-spot checklists
assessment opportunity cards
**Use the TS Gold App to make documentation easier!
**Documentation trainings will be offered throughout the year!

22. Proficiency Levels

23. SPF
TS Gold KINDER data will NOT be included in the SPF for any schools.
Early Ed Centers will continue to use ECE data for the Early Ed SPF.

24. TS Gold Online

25. Home page

26. Home page

27. Finding Classes/Students

28. TS Gold Documentation App
Download the App:
Open the App Store icon on your iPad or iPhone
Search for “GOLD Documentation”
Download the app to your device—it’s free!
All you need is an Apple ID and password.
**A more detailed guide on how to use the app can be found on the ARE TS Gold site.

29. Reports

30. Finding Reports

31. Recommended Reports For Family Communication: Family Conference Form
Development & Learning Report
Advantages:
Family-friendly language
Concise
Allows teachers to focus on child strengths and specific next steps

32. Recommended Reports: Family Conference
Narrative summary for families
Highlights students strengths & areas of support

33. Recommended Reports: Development & Learning
Provides recommended activities to promote the next level of growth
Can be shared with families
Some districts use this as a report card

34. Recommended Reports
For data team discussions & planning for differentiation:
Class Profile Report
Individual Child Report
Snapshot Report
Advantages:
Easy to generate at any point during the year
Visual representation of color-bands and widely-held expectations

35. Recommended Reports: Class Profile
Groups students for differentiation

36. Recommended Reports: Individual Child
Compares data from checkpoint to checkpoint
Some districts use this as a report card

37. Recommended Reports: Snapshot
Shows outcomes data at any given time

38. Recommended Reports: Individual Learning Plan
NEW!
A new Individual Learning Plan has been added for Colorado users.  This plan meets the CPP requirements for an Individual Learning Plan as well as the CAP4K requirement that every state funded preschooler have an Individual School Readiness Plan. 
**More information coming soon 

39. Resources

40. TS Gold Resources: ARE Site & Email

41. TS Gold Resources

42. TS Gold Resources

43. TS Gold Resources TS Gold Tech Support: Phone: 866-736-5913
Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 6:00am-5:00pm MST
Friday: 6:00am-4:00pm MST

44. What’s Next

45. What’s Next What to do next:
Make sure all of your teachers have a TS Gold log-in and have downloaded the app (if they have an ipad mini)
Present this training to your ECE and kindergarten teachers. Things to highlight:
Training opportunities and deadlines
The importance of preliminary data and documentation requirements
State checkpoint deadlines
Resources
ARE and the Early Ed Coordinators will send updates on training completion, documentation and other important information including deadline reminders and new/upcoming training opportunities

46. Tool Overview