Washington's Kindergarten Entry Assessment Report

This descriptive study examines the development and early implementation of Kindergarten Entry Assessments or KEAs in 12 districts and 23 schools within four RTT-ELC states (Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington) during the 2014–15 school year. To see the entire report, go here: Case Studies of the Early Implementation of Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs).

The study is intended to help states learn from the experiences of other states as they work to develop and implement their own KEAs and to use KEAs to improve instruction and learning.
Key findings:

State officials and stakeholders in all four case study states considered multiple criteria when developing or adopting KEA measures: 

• reliability and validity, 
• appropriateness for all students, 
• usefulness for informing classroom instruction, 
• usefulness for informing early learning policies and program improvement, 
• feasibility of administration by teachers, 
• and cost. 

The four states trained teachers on KEA administration through self-paced webinars, in-person presentations, and train-the-trainer models. A majority of the interviewed teachers said the training prepared them to administer the KEA to students, though many teachers reported that they had difficulty in determining what were appropriate accommodations for English learner (EL) students or (dual language learners) and students with disabilities and indicated that they needed further assistance. 

Recommendations for Policymakers & Administrators

• Be clear about how KEA results will and will not be used by interested groups (i.e early childhood programs, Kindergarten teachers, school administrators, parents and legislators). 
• Use KEA tools that will take into account students with disabilities and EL student populations. 
• Be aware of other assessment requirements placed on this population of students and if possible eliminate or combine other skills assessment/inventory requirements. Provide the teachers taking the inventory with assistance to minimize time collecting and reporting assessment data. 
• Properly prepare, train and provide guidance and coaching to teachers that will be administering KEA. This will help ensure consistent and uniform results to provide the most accurate snapshot of students’ abilities. 
• KEA results must be delivered in a user-friendly and timely report in order for educators and parents to best utilize the information to help address each student’s needs. 
• Tie results back to preschool instruction and analyze data in order to identify instructional areas that early learning programs could help children be better prepared for kindergarten. 

Washington State’s KEA is called the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills or WaKIDS. As with much of the work surrounding the early learning environment in Washington State, the Department of Early Learning (DEL) worked with public and private partners in developing WaKIDS. This includes:

• The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction 
• The Gates Foundation 
• Thrive Washington 
• The Early Learning Regional Coalitions 

There are three components to WaKIDS:

• Family connection welcomes families into the Washington K-12 system as partners in their child’s education. 
• Whole-child assessment helps kindergarten teachers learn about the skills and strengths of the children in their classrooms so they can meet the needs of each child. 
• Early learning collaboration aligns practices of early learning professionals and kindergarten teachers to support smooth transitions for children. 

The intended purposes of the Whole-Child Assessment component (i.e., GOLD®) of WaKIDS are to:

• Help kindergarten teachers plan classroom instruction and individualize educational supports for each student. 
• Engage, welcome, and partner with families and inform them about children’s learning strengths and needs. 
• Inform decisions about early learning and K–12 education policy and investments at the community, district, and state levels. 
• Inform early childhood education providers about children’s learning strengths and needs.

Washington WaKIDS Timeline

(Information from Exhibit 8)

2009: Legislature appropriates funds to identify and evaluate a KEA process.
2009–2010: Advisory team and committees review tools, select GOLD®, and develop WaKIDS administration process.
2010–2011: Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) is piloted and evaluated.
2011–2012: Legislature passes SB5427; WaKIDS is voluntary in state-funded full-day kindergartens this school year.
2012–2013: WaKIDS is mandatory in all state-funded full-day kindergartens this school year.

Exhibit 9. Percentages of Washington Students Demonstrating Kindergarten Readiness

Exhibit Reads: 40% of all Washington kindergarten students demonstrated skills indicating full kindergarten readiness. SOURCE: Data from State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction n.d.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Summer To-Do List: Consider Kindergarten Readiness

 Many WA children are looking forward to their first year of kindergarten at the end of this summer. They will meet new people, spend time in a new classroom and learn new rules. As a parent or caregiver, you can help your child start kindergarten ready to succeed. In their earliest years, children can learn and develop so much--simply through playing, exploring and reading with a parent. 

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) believes that school readiness is about much more than whether a child is ready. Many people have a role to play in ensuring children enter kindergarten ready to learn. Kindergarten readiness is achieved when children, schools, parents and families, and communities are prepared.

DEL has committed to working with our private partner, Thrive WA, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to support families, parents, schools and communities in helping children succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

The Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) helps ensure that children in Washington get a great start in kindergarten. WaKIDS is a development tracking system created to help early learners, families and educators work together, learn about children's strengths, and share information with the pre-kindergarten communities in Washington. To learn more about the program, go visit the WaKIDS page online or watch the WaKIDS video. 

According to WaKIDS standards, children who are ready to enter kindergarten show signs of development in several areas. The following are small examples of how your child might be showing signs of kindergarten readiness. 

• Social-emotional
• Example: your child might be able to easily join other children at play, and play cooperatively.
• Physical
• Example: your child is able to throw a ball or other objects, trap a thrown ball against his or her body, and/ or kick a ball forward by stepping or running up to it.
• Language
• Example: your child may be able to name the cow, horse, chicken, pig, sheep and goat as he or she sees them on a trip to the farm and is beginning to be more descriptive, such as “The red barn had three sheep inside.”
• Cognitive
• Example: your child is able to ask for a solution and use it like asking another child to hold his cup while he or she pours. 
• Literacy
• Example: your child recognizes and can say words that repeat sounds, he or she may repeat the “b” sound by singing, “I’m bringing home a baby bumble bee.” Your child is beginning to be able to identify sound patterns: “Max and Maya… our names start the same!”
• Mathematics
• Example: your child is able to combine and separate up to five objects and describe the parts. He or she may say, “I have four cubes. Two are red and two are blue.”

For the full listing and deeper explanation of the six areas of development above, read "The Characteristics of Entering Kindergarten."

For a printable brochure about Kindergarten Readiness, click here: DEL Kindergarten Readiness. 

This summer, consider working with your little learner on these six areas. Reading with your child, exploring the outdoors, and playing games with educational components contribute to kindergarten prep. Being proactive with your child's learning will be beneficial in the long run as families are children's first, most important and life-long teachers. 

Quick tip: one creative example of productive play at home was featured in yesterday's National Association for the Education of Young Children's blog regarding music.

For an even more in-depth look at developmental guidelines, read the "Washington State Early Learning and Developmental Guidelines."

See also the WaKIDS pathway to success graphic below:

WaKIDS work team created by Legislature meets for first time

A work team created by the 2012 Legislature in House Bill 2586 met for the first time today to review progress on implementing the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) and begin creating recommendations to inform WaKIDS.

The work team is legislatively charged with making recommendations on:

• Administering WaKIDS, including in half-day kindergarten classrooms.
• How to achieve the legislative intent of replacing various kindergarten assessments used around the state with WaKIDS as the kindergarten entry tool.

The work team includes kindergarten teachers, principals, parents and representatives from DEL, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Thrive by Five Washington and Encompass.

WaKIDS is a process that:

• Welcomes students and their families to kindergarten as partners in education.
• Assesses students' strengths at the start of the kindergarten school year in several developmental domains (social/emotional, physical, language, cognition, literacy and math).
• Encourages early learning providers to participate in ensuring a smooth transition into the K-12 system.
• Engages the state in a conversation about characteristics of children's development and learning that will enable them to be successful in school.

Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, WaKIDS is mandatory for all state-funded full-day kindergarten classrooms. Five school districts have applied for and been granted one-year waivers from participating in WaKIDS next school year. At least 22,000 incoming kindergarteners will participate in WaKIDS next year, up from 7,300 in the current school year.

Work team members got an overview of WaKIDS implementation to date, and an update on how WaKIDS teacher input, including a teacher survey in fall 2011, has influenced the WaKIDS process:

• OSPI and DEL are enhancing teacher trainings on Teaching Strategies GOLD, the tool used to measure where each child is in his or her development at the start of kindergarten.
• The online data entry tool for GOLD has been streamlined and customized for Washington; and teachers this coming school year will only need to enter students' names, dates of birth and ID numbers to create their classroom roster.
• OSPI and DEL have worked with the Educational Service Districts to create a regional network of support for teachers using WaKIDS.
• Real-world tips from teachers on how to successfully integrate WaKIDS into the classroom are being collected to share online.
• Introducing Me, a booklet parents can use when they meet with families at the start of the year, is being translated into 11 languages.

The work team will meet again in June. Their preliminary recommendations are due to the Legislature on December 1, 2012.

WaKIDS is funded with state dollars, the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grant, and private contributions from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Thrive by Five Washington. Learn more at www.k12.wa.us/wakids.