Work Sampling System

KEA Assessment Aspire Institute Center for Assessment & Screening Excellence

MA Kindergarten Entry Assessment (MKEA)  Race-to-the-Top Early Learning Challenge Fund initiative  Focus on formative assessment in kindergarten  Purpose: • Support alignment of education systems from birth through third grade • Give teachers information across all domains at the classroom level that can be shared with parents • Create individualized learning opportunities for all children in the classroom  4 year roll-out plan for districts

MKEA: Year 2 Roll-Out Plan  Winter 2012-2013: • Decision whether to participate as part of Cohort 2 • Select a tool and develop a plan for professional development and implementation  Feb. – Sept. 2013: Professional development  Fall of 2013: Implement the selected assessment tool

MKEA: Year 2 Expectations  Data collection in the fall required; winter and spring collections highly recommended  Data collection across all developmental domains  Assessing all kindergarten children

EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT SYSTEM  Assessment systems should be aligned with appropriate curriculum and instructional goals/practices.  Interconnected components: • assessment of children • adult-child interaction • program measurement

 Important and careful decision making in: • • • •

selecting instruments administration data collection analysis

ASSESSMENT

A dynamic process of collection & synthesizing information Authentic assessment gives a picture of the whole child.

Authentic Assessment Defined  A tool or process for answering specific questions about various aspects of children’s knowledge, skills, behaviors or personality.  Root word of assessment comes from the Latin word “assis”.

Assessment is more than a tool Assessment is an interconnected system Intentional curriculum planning Enable differentiated instruction

Inform policy

PURPOSE Evaluate program effectiveness & measure accountability

Support teachers’ professional growth Support children’s transition to public school systems

Effective assessment methods and tools are…

Developmentally appropriate

Authentic

Fair and Inclusive

Tied to children’s daily activities

Drawn from Multiple Sources of Information

Culturally and linguistically responsive

Supported by professional development

Conducted in Familiar Contexts and Settings

Inclusive of all children and families

Reflective of everyday relationships and experiences

Inclusive of Children with Special Needs

Have Continuity

An Assessment Tool Should… document progress in all areas of child development, including emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development.

can be used to identify and address areas where a child needs further attention.

help educators learn more about the children in under their care.

provide educators critical information for curriculum planning.

be used to help educators communicate with families.

Why is this important to classrooms?  Allows intentional curriculum planning and guides instruction  Addresses individual needs and enables differentiated instruction  Evaluates program effectiveness  Ensures program accountability

Assessment Guides Curriculum Development Core of Curriculum Development: Being able to “integrate the children’s needs, interests, and abilities with your conceptual plan for implementing goals and objectives” (Jackman, H.L., 2012).

Linking Curriculum & Assessment Learning Goal

Related Materials available in classroom areas

Intentional & planned play experiences

TS Gold 9.D Tells about another time: elaborates stores

II Language & Literacy C Reading 4 Comprehends & Responds to stories read aloud

WSS

LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT TWO TOOLS….

Teaching Strategies GOLD® Birth Through Kindergarten

Assessment System

A Massachusetts EEC recommended assessment tool

Curriculum

Assessment

Professional Development

Family Connection

The Components of Teaching Strategies GOLD®  Objectives for Development & Learning  Progression of development and Learning  Inclusion (Children with Special Needs, Exceptional Children and English Language Learners)  Child Assessment Portfolio  Assessment Opportunity Cards  On The Spot Observation Recording Tool

Assessment Tools to Carry Out the Cycle

Dimensions and indicators help educators to understand a child’s learning & development through a scaffold model. Arts

Area of Learning and Development

Physical English Language Acquisition Objective

Science/Technology

Mathematics

Social Emotional

Dimension

Cognitive

Social Studies Indicator

Literacy Language

Example

Area of Learning and Development Area of Learning and Development

There are 10 areas of learning and development. The first 4 are major areas of child development: •Social emotional •Physical •Language •Cognitive The next 5 areas represent content: •Literacy •Mathematics •Science/Technology •Social Studies •Arts The last area is: •English Language Acquisition

Objective Area of Learning and Development

Objective

An objective indicates a goal for the children to achieve in a particular area of development: •The tool has a total of 38 objectives across all the areas of learning and development •2 of these 38 objectives are specifically related to English language acquisition; designed to support English language learners in your programs

Objectives are found within each area of learning and development

Dimension Area of Learning and Development

Objective Dimension

• Some objectives are further broken down from objectives to dimensions. Dimensions are “sub skills” that make up that objective. They allow us to unpack the objective and take a closer look. • Seventeen of the 38 objectives have dimensions. The arts, social sciences and technology do not have dimensions.

Development and Learning Progression  Color Coding = Widely Held Expectations for birth through kindergarten

 Red, orange, and yellow code each year of life for the first 3 years.  Green, blue and purple code classes/grades for the next 3 years and represent school years.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM  GOLD® is an authentic assessment tool designed for children birth through age 6.  GOLD® used a color coding system • Birth – age one Red • 1 -2 years Orange • 2-3 years Yellow • 3-4 years Green • 4-5 years Blue • 5-6 years Purple

Portfolio versus ODL

The Assessment Cycle: Ongoing, Authentic Step 1: Observe and Collect Facts • What are children doing and saying? Step 2: Analyze and Respond • How does this relate to my curriculum’s objectives? • How can I adjust my materials, activities, and interactions according to my observations?

Collect

Analyze and Respond Evaluate

Step 3: Evaluate • How does this child’s development and learning compare to widely-held expectations for this age-group? Step 4: Summarize, Plan, and Communicate • How do I summarize this information and use it for planning? • How do I communicate this information?

Data Collection  Gathering information about an individual/group of children from multiple sources  The first step in the assessment process is to learn about the children you teach: what they know and can do in relation to each of the widely expected objectives/standards.  Ongoing observation = connection to assessment and curriculum planning.

Data Collection Data collection should include: • Work Samples:  children’s work  including photos, dictation and other documentation • Information from Parents/Primary Caregivers  interviews, conversations and input are key to obtaining a whole picture of a child • The Child!

YOU AS THE OBSERVER  What you bring to observing • Your culture • Beliefs and values about child rearing • Beliefs and values about appropriate ways to communicate • Beliefs and values about children’s independence • Cultural competency and assessment of young children

 Your Professional Expertise

In order to respond to the children appropriately:  The Objectives for Development and Learning Birth though Kindergarten will serve as a resource to: • focus your observations on particular objectives • to understand the development and learning progression that children typically follow.

 The 10 Areas will help in focusing lens during observations.

 Decide what you are looking for & choose areas you are likely to see these skills and/or behaviors exhibited.

Data Collection

Analyze & Respond

Teaching Strategies GOLD® Summarize Plan & Communicate

Evaluate

Evaluate • Evaluating children’s progress means deciding what level each child has reached in terms of the objectives. • To evaluate children, educators first need to gather and think about all the documentation you have collected.

• Using the ODL and child assessment portfolio, they can begin to evaluate a child’s progress.

Recording your data in the Child Assessment Portfolio  Analyzed data is recorded in the Child Assessment Portfolio 1. Child Assessment Portfolio has an important role in the evaluation process. 2. The Child Assessment Portfolio is the place to record and preserve important information about the child’s progress. 3. This is the record keeping tool for each child. 4. Rating should be based on data collected on the child over time

Child Assessment Portfolios  Address individual objectives  Document Progress Checkpoints • Identified points in time that are indicated in the portfolio, typically 3-4 times a year • Designed for educators to pause, reflect and take a snapshot of how a child is progressing in relation to the widely held expectations for their age/grade level in the objectives and dimensions.

Application of Progress Checkpoint • Think about and review the documentation you collected in relation to each objective • For each objective and dimension, focus on indicators that match the child’s age or developmental level.

• Start at the lowest appropriate developmental level read the indicators to the right and left of your starting point.

Child Progress and Rating  Choose the indicator that most closely matches the child’s skill and behaviors and decide if the child is “in-between” levels.

 Remember that colored bands are widely held expectations for children’s development and learning  Choose the level that most accurately describes this child’s level. using the indicators as a guide  Indicate which progress checkpoint this data reflects

Connection to Curriculum  Your portfolio will summarize the ability and skill set level of each child in the ten areas.  This information can help to • Monitor and support children’s progress • Inform your overall curriculum and weekly/monthly lesson plans • Individualization

Professional Development offered by TS Gold

TS Gold PD Calendar

The Work Sampling System®

A Massachusetts EEC recommended assessment tool

+ =

Developmental Guidelines and Checklists + Based on National Standards + Age/Grade Levels + Organized by Domains + Functional Components + Performance Indicators + Rationales + Examples

Checklists & Guidelines  Focus on teacher observations.  Define reasonable expectations for children’s performance.  Checklist helps track student performance & progress

Developmental Checklist

Developmental Guidelines

Collection Periods

 Plan, observe & record  Review Checklist making pencil ratings  Review preliminary ratings  Make final ratings

Portfolios are used to document student progress through actual work samples

Fall

Winter

Spring

Portfolio  Collection of student work by teachers and students  Organized to show how children learn and how much progress the child is making

Purpose of Portfolio 1. 2. 3. 4.

To show the quality of children’s work To demonstrate children’s progress & growth over time. To involve children in assessing their own work To assist teachers with instructional planning

Purposes of Portfolio Collection • Show quality of work and thinking across the curriculum • Demonstrate progress and growth over time • Involve children in assessing their own work • Assist teachers with instructional planning

Portfolio collection  Must be implemented in a manageable style.  Before school begins, plan and prepare.  Choose what to save

Core Item Collection Form  Represent concrete representation of student thinking.  You will choose 2 areas of learning to collect documentation • Careful selection results in Core Items that convey meaningful information about the quality of a child’s thinking and her progress over time.

 Personal & Social Develop & Physical Development documented by direct observations and the Checklist is sufficient

Effective Areas of Learning    

Are important parts of curriculum. Can show progress over time. Are relevant to all children Reflect concepts or processes & are not dependent on particular content.  Most effectively documented in Portfolio rather than Checklist.

Individual Items  Are samples of students work that: • capture a child’s individuality as a learner. • illustrate how a child integrates learning from multiple domains.

Summary Reports  Profiles of student performance and progress based on Checklist observations and ratings in the portfolio.

Summary Reports- can be generated in paper or electronic format

Professional Development offered by Pearson

Pearson Offers Monthly Webinars

Teaching Strategies Gold

Work Sampling System

Domains

Domains

Social Emotional Physical Language Cognitive Literacy Mathematics Science & Technology Social Studies The Arts English Language Acquisition

Personal and Social Development Language and Literacy Mathematical Thinking Scientific Thinking Social Studies The Arts Physical Development

38 Objectives

Functional Components

Indicators

Core Item Individual Item

GOLD

Data Collection

Work Sampling

Observation (on the spot observation tool)

Observation (Observation Notes & running records)

Portfolio

Portfolio

Developmental checklist

Developmental checklist

Teaching Strategies Gold

Work Sampling System

Widely Held Expectations Report on Child Development

Reports

Child Outcomes Report

Group Summary Reports

Group Summary Report

Development & Learning Report (Family Report)

Summary Reports (Family Report)

GOLD

Work Sampling

LANGUAGE Fully Bilingual in Spanish

Family Materials in Spanish

CURRICULUM Creative Curriculum

can be used with any Developmentally appropriate curriculum

TRAINING Two Days

1-3 days

Ongoing Professional Development

Ongoing Professional Development

Similarities  Both are on-line  Both are research based  Both are aligned with MA State Standards  Both use observation and data collection  Both take into account ELL

Your questions…

www.wheelock.edu/case www.worksamplingonline.com www.teachingstrategies.com