District-Level Respondents

District State Date

Kindergarten Entry Assessment Case Studies

Interview Protocol

Professional Development Provider

Introduction and Purpose of Interview

Thank you for your willingness to participate in this interview. We are talking with state and district administrators, principals, kindergarten teachers, preschool administrators, and professional development staff in your state about the Kindergarten Entry Assessment, including the development and implementation of the assessment and how the data are used. We’d like to learn what is working well in addition to the challenges and how people are overcoming them. We believe information about your experiences will be valuable for other states and districts interested in implementing KEAs. Your experience also can help inform federal policy and help the U.S. Department of Education build technical assistance that is useful for all states tackling this important effort. A public report will be available at the end of the study to promote sharing of lessons learned but it will not identify any individual districts, schools, or people.

This interview will take approximately 45 minutes. We might ask questions that do not apply to your state, district, or schools. If so, please just let us know that this is the case.

Consent Process

Email the consent form to the respondent before the interview so he or she can read it, sign it, and send it back to you. Ask permission to audio-record the conversation.

______________________________________________________________________________

Let’s begin with a description of the training you provide(d).

1. What are the goals of your training? What attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors do you want participants to have by the end of the training?

2. To whom do you provide training, supports, or resources? For which regions, districts, or schools are you responsible? (Check all that apply.)

• K teachers

• Other teachers.

• School administrators

• Trainers

• District staff, which ones

• Preschool teachers and/or directors

• Other (specify): _______________________________________________

1. Are any of the attendees from private schools (preschools or elementary schools)?

2. If using a train-the-trainer model, who are the local trainers and who provides their training?

3. Describe the types of training, supports, and resources that you provide to each of the staff you mentioned above regarding the administration and use of the [KEA measure]. [Probe for each type of staff mentioned above.]

1. How does the training differ for staff in different roles (e.g., for principals versus teachers or for school versus district staff)?

4. In what format is the PD delivered? [Probe for each type of training provided and for staff in different roles.] (Check all that apply.)

• Workshops

• Webinars

• Coaching

• On-line modules (e.g., PPTs on websites)

• Resource documents such as administration manuals

• Other (specify): _______________________________________________

5. How long does the training last? How often does the training occur? How, if at all, is the training divided into segments?

[Probe for each type of training provided and for staff in different roles.]

6. Where do your training, supports, or resources fit into other state and district training, supports, or resources around the kindergarten entry assessment? (What training came before? What training is planned to come after?)

1. Is there a way for teachers or other staff to contact you or others for support after the training ends if they have questions? (Probe: Is there a help desk or coaches?) If so, whom should they contact for certain types of support?

7. How, if at all, did you use professional learning standards or adult learning theory to design the training?

Now, let’s talk about the topics the trainings covered.

8. What do you tell participants about the purpose of the kindergarten entry assessment? Listen for and ask about (check all that apply):

• Screening: To identify children who may need additional supports or further assessment

• Data-informed instruction: Identify specific skills where students need improvement to inform teaching of individual students or groups of students or curriculum planning

• Family engagement: To inform parents about children’s strengths and needs and ways to support learning

• Professional development: To inform what professional development is offered to teachers based on common student needs

• Professional development: To help teachers understand where children should be on a comprehensive set of domains and how to assess children's progress

• Benchmark: A baseline to benchmark learning in order to track progress throughout the year

• EC system improvement: A snapshot to inform improvement of early learning programs/policies by understanding the needs of children

• Longitudinal data tracking: To follow cohorts and subgroups of students over time to inform progress on closing achievement gaps

• Alignment around school readiness: To promote dialogue between early childhood and elementary educators

• Other (specify): _______________________________________________________

7. What do you tell participants about what the kindergarten entry assessment is trying to assess? Do you describe the essential school readiness domains?

7. What background information on the [selection or development] of the [local KEA name] do you share with participants about the kindergarten entry assessment?

• Selection process—Summary of how district/state kindergarten entry assessment instrument was selected or developed

• Stakeholder engagement process—How the kindergarten entry assessment selection/modification/development was informed by stakeholders

• Evidence-base, including its reliability and validity for certain purposes

• Pilot-/field-testing process and key findings presented

• Cultural competence—How it meets needs of diverse students of state/districts (e.g., poverty, race/ethnicity)

• Alignment of kindergarten entry assessment with standards or other assessments—early learning standards, Common Core Standards, other K-12 standards and assessments

• Other (specify):________________________________________________________

7. Please describe the information you provide related to the logistics of administering the kindergarten entry assessment. Listen for and ask about (check all that apply):

• Administration timeline—When kindergarten entry assessment should happen (e.g., first 2 weeks of school/enrollment, first 60 days of school/enrollment, 6 months after first administrations, end of school year)

• Administration frequency—Number of required administrations (e.g., beginning of school year, middle of school year, and end of school year, or at teacher’s or district’s discretion)

• Optional administrations—In addition to the required administrations, teachers are encouraged to use the kindergarten entry assessment more frequently for progress monitoring

• Personnel qualifications—Description of appropriate personnel to conduct the kindergarten entry assessment (e.g., any staff who attended the appropriate trainings, teacher aids, parents)

• Consent requirements—School or district policy on consent and/or process to obtain consent, if needed

• Family data—How to gather data from families if applicable

• Data recording—Process of providing/submitting data to school/district/state (e.g., via paper submission through schools; enter or upload data online)

• Special circumstances—Procedure for assessing children who enrolled later in the school year, children who are chronically absent, late to school or sick, etc.

• Other administration procedures—List any mentioned:

7. How do you help to ensure that the kindergarten entry assessment is administered consistently and according to instructions and protocols? Listen for and ask about (check all that apply):

• Cover requirements to complete the assessment—Required ratings on specified items to obtain a valid score; required documents or documentation

• Demonstrate how to administer the measure

• Conduct practice or reliability ratings (role-play, vignette, video exercises)

• Administer certification exam

• Provide an administration manual or script

• Other (specify): _______________________________________________

7. What concerns have participants raised about administering the KEA? How do you address those concerns?

Finding one assessment that can accurately identify young children’s development status across multiple learning domains is challenging. Ensuring that the measure is also linguistically appropriate for children whose primary language is not English adds another layer of complication, as does the need to accurately assess the strengths and needs of young children with developmental delays or disabilities. Within this context, we’d like to ask about training for the use of the kindergarten entry assessment with these particular populations.

7. Please tell me about how you address using the kindergarten entry assessment with English learners.

1. How do you discuss appropriate usage of the kindergarten entry assessment with English learners?

2. What accommodations do you suggest when administering the kindergarten entry assessment to English learners? (For example, translation, nonverbal stimuli, observations done by bilingual staff or adults)

3. What issues have participants raised around using the kindergarten entry assessment with English learners? How do you address those concerns?

7. Now tell me about how you address using the kindergarten entry assessment with children with disabilities and special needs.

1. How do you discuss appropriate usage of the kindergarten entry assessment with children with disabilities and special needs? Do you recommend not using the kindergarten entry assessment with some children who have disabilities? If so, which children?

2. What accommodations do you suggest when administering the kindergarten entry assessment to children with disabilities and special needs? (For example, augmentative or alternative communication or written systems, visual or sensory support, assistive equipment or devices, input from special education staff)

3. What issues have participants raised around using the kindergarten entry assessment with children with disabilities and special needs? How do you address those concerns?

Let’s turn now to training on how to use the data gathered.

7. Please describe any information you provide and activities you do to help staff accurately interpret kindergarten entry assessment results/data? Listen for and ask about (check all that apply):

• Provide documentation that explains what various scores mean or how they might be used

• Review reports and scores provided

• Hold practice activities in which staff try to read reports

• Demonstrate how to examine data at various levels to answer specific questions

• Assess reliability of staff at interpreting results

• Encourage using the kindergarten entry assessment data in combination with other data

• Other (specify): _______________________________________________

7. Please describe any suggestions you provide for using the kindergarten entry assessment data? Listen for and ask if trainer suggests they use results to (check all that apply):

• Identify students in need of extra services or further assessment? If so, how?

• Identify specific skills where students need improvement to inform teaching of individual students or groups of students or curriculum planning? If so, how?

• Engage families in knowing children’s strengths and needs and ways to support learning at home? If so, how?

• Promote dialogue between early childhood and elementary educators about ways to increase children’s readiness (e.g., align expectations and/or instruction)? If so, how?

• Help teachers understand where children should be on a comprehensive set of domains and how to assess children's progress? If so, how?

• Benchmark learning to track progress in kindergarten throughout the year, If so, how?

[Ask items below if trains administrators]

• Follow cohorts and subgroups of students over time to inform progress on closing achievement gaps? If so, how?

Make decisions about [at state, district, school, or program levels]:

• Budget allocations or targeting of investments? If so, how?

• Curriculum? If so, how?

• Professional development for PreK or K-12 teachers? If so, how?

• Early childhood policies and practices? If so, how?

• K-12 policies and practices? If so, how?

• Other (specify): ________________________________________

7. How, if at all, do you tell participants not to use kindergarten entry assessment data? Listen for but don’t say the uses below, let the respondent say them. (Check all that apply):

• Determine promotion or prevent kindergarten entry in any way

• Principal evaluation, teacher evaluation

• Evaluation of preschool programs

• Screenings of children

• Other (specify): ____________________________________________________

7. What concerns have participants raised about the kindergarten entry assessment approach and using kindergarten entry assessment data? How do you address those concerns?

This is our final set of questions! In closing we’d like you to reflect on your experience providing professional development.

7. What content or procedures in your training are hardest for district and/or school staff to understand or learn? Please explain.

7. Do you feel that the training, supports, or resources you provide is sufficient for teachers and other staff to administer and use kindergarten entry assessment data reliably and as intended? What suggests this is the case?

7. What additional support do you feel district and/or school staff need to administer the kindergarten entry assessment reliably and as intended?

7. What additional support do you feel district and/or school staff need to use the kindergarten entry assessment results reliably and as intended?

Try to obtain the following materials before the interview. If you haven’t received these materials, then ask this question.

7. Are you able to share any of the following materials with us?

• Links to training materials

• Copies of announcements for training opportunities

• Presentation and handout materials (if not all available on the web)

• Attendance/sign-in or registration list or numbers of staff trained by role and school/district

• Evaluation form and results

• Links to online materials referenced in training (and resources, documents)

Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses.

9

Appendix J: District Version Interview Protocol