Massachusetts Kindergarten Early Assessment Advisory 1 - April 2014

Massachusetts Kindergarten Early Assessment

Advisory 1 - April 2014

Dear Local Association President:

  

Please forward this email to your members who teach pre-kindergarten or kindergarten as it provides information about the Teaching Strategies Gold and Work Sampling assessments currently in use in many districts.

Sincerely,

Paul F. Toner, President

Timothy Sullivan, Vice President

MKEA Background

Massachusetts is one of the United States Education Department's Round 1 Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant recipients. The Commonwealth was awarded $50M in 2011. According to the USED, Early Learning Challenge grants are administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services around five key areas representing the foundation of an effective early learning and development reform agenda. One area is: "Measuring outcomes and progress through the collection, organization, and understanding of evidence of young children's progress across a range of domains, as well as implementing comprehensive data systems and using data to improve instruction, practices, services, and policies."

Massachusetts had already established its Quality Rating and Improvement System. According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, "a key standard in the Quality Rating and Improvement System is the ability to measure through evidence-based formative assessment tools the growth and development of children across multiple domains." Under the auspices of the Department of Early Education and Care, such tools have been used in early education programs since 2007 primarily in EEC's mixed delivery system, which includes child care centers, out-of-school time programs, family child care homes, public preschool programs, private school preschool and kindergarten, and Head Start programs.

According to the Department of Early Education and Care:Participation in MKEA is required for all districts receiving the Quality Full-Day Kindergarten Grant (Fund Code 701). EEC is paying for all the child licenses for the assessment tools and the professional development required for educators. In addition, there is some funding for substitutes or stipends to offset the participation in the professional development and/or the work of the project.

Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, Department of Early Education and Care has worked with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement the MKEA requiring kindergarten teachers in participating districts to usean evidence-based formative assessment tool aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Department of Early Education and Care identified Teaching Strategies-GOLD System and the Work Sampling System as the assessment tools for cohorts 1 (2012-13) and 2 (2013-14); only the former will be used with cohorts 3 (2014-15) and 4 (2015-16).

Purpose of MKEA

According to USED, the purpose of the Early Learning Challenge grant is to improve early learning and development programs for young children by supporting States' efforts to: Increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in each age group of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who are enrolled in high-quality early learning programs; Design and implement an integrated system of high-quality early learning programs and services; and Ensure that any use of assessments conforms to the recommendations of the National Research Council's reports on early childhood. Teaching Strategies Gold Assessment Assists teachers: with observing and documenting children's development and learning over time; supporting, guiding, and informing planning and instruction; identifying children who might benefit from special help, screening, or further evaluation; and reporting and communicating with family members and others. Enables to teachers to Collect and gather child outcome information as one part of a larger accountability system and Provide reports to administrators to guide program planning and professional development opportunities. Addresses the following developmental domains: Social-Emotional Physical Language Cognition Literacy Mathematics Science and Technology Social Studies The Arts English Language Acquisition Work Sampling Assessment Assists teachers with documenting and evaluating children's skills, knowledge, and behaviors using actual classroom experiences and interactions. Addresses the following developmental domains: Social and emotional development (self-concept, self-control, cooperation, social relationships, and knowledge of families and communities) Approaches to learning (initiative and curiosity, engagement and persistence, and reasoning and problem-solving) Language development (listening and understanding and speaking and communicating) Literacy (book knowledge and appreciation, print and alphabet awareness, early writing, patterns, and measurement) Mathematics (problem-solving, number and operations, and Geometry and spatial awareness) Science (scientific skills and methods and scientific knowledge) Creative arts (music, art, movement, dramatic play, and appreciation) Physical health and development (gross motor skills) Teachers' Concerns about MKEA Beginning in mid-December, MTA's Center for Education Policy and Practice and the Affiliate Services staff have been hearing from local leaders indicating that kindergarten teachers have articulated concerns about the implementation of these assessments. The primary focus appears to be the Teaching Strategies GOLD (TS GOLD) assessment; less has been heard to date about the Work Sampling System because fewer than 20 percent of districts are using this assessment.    Concerns fall into three broad categories: Administration Time, Reporting Time and Professional Learning. Assessment Administration Time Because TS GOLD is an individually administered assessment, teachers report that in some instances it has required that the kindergarten teacher assess two students per day, each for approximately one hour. For example, in a class of 20 students, the teacher would spend two hours per day away from the whole class during the assessment administration. For each domain, ten academic days is required to assess the whole class. As a result of this time commitment, teachers are reporting an inability to provide the instruction and developmentally appropriate learning activities for all of their students in order to address the requirements of the district scope and sequence, pacing guide or curriculum guide. DEEC staff acknowledges that the professional learning provided to kindergarten teachers was either inadequate, inappropriate, or non-existent and, as a result, many teachers may not have accurate information about the assessment and its administration requirements. According to DEEC:TS GOLD is a tool that requires ongoing observation and documentation of children; it doesn't have a specific time requirement per day per child. DEEC will be working with the TS GOLD trainers to emphasize only collecting data that will be useful in helping make a choice about where a child is at, as opposed to feeling like they need to collect and document everything a child is doing. DEEC will only require two domains, instead of ten, in 2014-2015 school year which should diminish the time requirements. Reporting Time TS GOLD requires that twice a year each kindergarten teacher finalize the data in the online system for the students assessed. Teachers are reporting that this process is taking approximately 15 hours, or two full work days, at the end of the second and fourth marking periods. This is time taken away from preparation and the completion of what teachers report are more meaningful assessments of student development and learning provided to parents. According to DEEC:Reporting is actually done through entering the observational data into the online system (TS GOLD) which is an ongoing process with the teacher reviewing and finalizing the data twice a year. Professional Learning TS GOLD requires that teachers learn how to administer the assessment, how to manage individual student responses, and how to report student outcomes to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2013-14, teachers have reported frustration over the poor quality of the professional development provided: scheduling was done after the school year had commenced, staff developers often arrived to PD sessions late, many were unprepared, and some were disrespectful to the kindergarten teachers. The PD vendor was contracted by the Department of Early Education and Care. The initial vendor's contract with Department of Early Education and Care has been discontinued; a new vendor has been hired for the PD to begin with Cohort 3 in 2014-15. Department of Early Education and Care has also decided to assign a staff person to oversee and guide the MKEA rollout. According to DEEC: The new vendor is the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES). Their website ishttp://www.collaborative.org/programs/early-childhood/assessment-responsive-teaching/mkea-training Collective Bargaining Considerations Local association leaders should meet with district leaders about the impact of MKEA implementation in the district. Some locals have bargained about the time commitment for both the professional development and the required data upload after the second and fourth marking periods. Professional Development Time As MKEA rolls out, the Department of Early Education and Care plans is to have some of the professional development available online. There are two major PD topics: observation and documentation and data upload. At this juncture, we are not sure how much actual time will be required or needed for each topic. However, once this time commitment is defined, association and district leaders should determine when this will happen and if compensation is required. According to DEEC:Two 6-hour days of face-to-face PD are required. Additional online modules to support educators as they implement assessment will be available for free through the TS GOLD portal. DEEC is hoping to come to an agreement with TS GOLD to video one of their trainings for later viewing, but this is not yet confirmed. Data Uploading Time MKEA requires the kindergarten teacher to upload data is on-going and the data is finalized twice a year - roughly at the end of the second and fourth marking periods. Anecdotally, we know that this takes about 15 hours. Some associations have bargained release time for kindergarten teachers to do this required task while others have provided additional compensation for those who do the work during out-of-school hours or on weekends. Staffing MKEA requires the kindergarten teacher administer an individual assessment one student at a time. As a result, the other students in the kindergarten teacher's class do not have the full attention of the teacher. Some districts have opted to have instructional aides (paraprofessionals, teaching assistants) complete the professional learning program and administer the assessment to kindergarteners so that the class is not deprived of the teacher's attention. Associations and districts  should determine the most equitable staffing patterns so that the needs of all students are met while test administration continues. Sample MOA Language On February 25, 2014, the Beverly Teachers Association and Beverly Public Schools signed a memorandum of agreement containing the following language: For the months of March, April, May and June, all of the full day Kindergarten teachers will receive a full day without students to work on compiling and submitting the data for the Kindergarten Gold Testing. (Teachers who teach one half day class will also receive the full day without students.) A substitute will be provided. Half day Kindergarten teachers will receive two full days without students for the month of March, and one full day for the months of April, May and June. Substitutes will be provided. On or about April 1, 2014, the Superintendent, Special Education Director, and the Beverly Teachers Association President will meet to discuss and determine what additional time may be needed for the half day Kindergarten teachers and possibly the full day Kindergarten teachers. The Superintendent, Special Education Director, and the Beverly Teachers Association President will meet prior to the end of the 2013-2014 school year to discuss and determine a plan going forward. Cohort 1 Districts: 2012-13 Boston* Ludlow South Hadley Brookline * Lynn Southbridge Chelsea * New Bedford * Springfield Everett Northampton * Ware Holyoke Old Rochester Watertown Lawrence Pittsfield * Worcester * Lowell  * Work Sampling System, all others are using Teaching Strategies GOLD Cohort 2 Districts: 2013-14 Acushnet * Foxborough Norfolk Adams-Cheshire Framingham North Andover Attleboro Frontier Norton Avon Gardner Norwood Ayer-Shirley Granby Orange * Belchertown * Haverhill Peabody Berkshire Hills Hawlemont * Pembroke Berlin-Boylston * Hull Pioneer Valley Brockton Ipswich * Plainville Beverly Malden Quabbin Carver Mansfield Rowe * Central Berkshire Marblehead Salem Cohasset Marlborough Scituate Dracut Mashpee * Seven Hills CS * East Longmeadow * Maynard Somerset * Erving Milton * South Shore CS * Fall River Mohawk Trail * Southern Berkshire * Farmington River * Narragansett Triton Fitchburg Nashoba Winthrop  * Work Sampling System, all others are using Teaching Strategies GOLD Cohort 3 Districts: 2014-15 Amesbury Lee Northbridge Arlington Leicester Quincy Ashburnham-Westminster Leominster Randolph Ashland Leverett Rockport Athol-Royalston Lexington Shrewsbury Barnstable Lincoln Shutesbury Belmont Lunenburg Silver Lake Berkley Manchester Essex Regional Somerset Blackstone-Millville Medford Somerville Canton Melrose Southborough Chicopee Methuen Southwick-Tolland-Granville RSD Clinton Middleborough Spencer-E Brookfield Danvers Milford Stoughton Dennis-Yarmouth Millbury Sutton Douglas Millis Swampscott Dudley-Charlton Reg Monomoy RSD Tewksbury Duxbury Monson Truro Fairhaven Nahant Uxbridge Falmouth Natick Webster Franklin Nauset West Springfield Georgetown New Salem-Wendell Westfield Gill-Montague Newburyport Weston Gloucester Newton Westport Greenfield North Adams Westwood Hadley North Brookfield Williamstown Hampden-Wilbraham North Middlesex Wilmington Hampshire Northborough Winchendon Harvard Martha's Vineyard CS Woburn Prospect CS Neighborhood House CS River Valley CS