TS GOLD SAL TRAINING

August, 2015

WHAT WILL BE COVERED

• Role of the SAL• Why TS Gold – CAP4K• TS Gold Assessment• Deadlines & Requirements• Training• Reports• Resources

HOUSEKEEPING

• Please sign-in• TS Gold accounts: Teacher vs Administrator• Agenda & Handouts• Rosters!• Data Privacy

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: http://www.dpsk12.org/studentdataprivacy/

ROLE OF THE SITE ASSESSMENT LEADER (SAL)

The SAL is the official liaison between Accountability, Research & Evaluation (ARE) and the schools. Communications from ARE will be directed to the designated SAL. Every SAL role at a school will carry these responsibilities:

• Be familiar with aspects of federal, state, and district tests• Coordinate the administration of federal, state, and required district

assessments and surveys • Assume an assessment leadership role at the school• Communicate assessment information with school and district staff*• Use all available sources of information in role as SAL  More information on the SAL role can be found here: http://dpsare.com/

ROLE OF THE SITE ASSESSMENT LEADER (SAL)

*Communicate assessment information with school and district staff:• SALs will need to deliver this training to all ECE and kindergarten

teachers by September 11, 2015

• Use this PowerPoint or modify as needed (posted on the ARE TS Gold webpage)

• Email the School Staff Training Sign-in Sheet by September 11, 2015 (posted on the ARE TS Gold webpage) to mackenzie_lane@dpsk12.org

  

WHY TS GOLD

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

• More information can be found on the CDE website at http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolreadiness

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.

• 2015-2016 is the first year of full implementation• The state has approved 2 additional assessments that meet the

readiness requirements; DPS has chosen to continue using TS Gold

TS GOLD ASSESSMENT

WHAT IS TS GOLD?

• Authentic, observational assessment system for children from birth to 3rd grade (DPS currently uses birth-kindergarten)

• 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

• Aligned to the Common Core (crosswalk posted on ARE TS Gold webpage)

• Aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards (posted on the 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)

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

• 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

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)

WHAT IS TS GOLD?

Areas of LearningLiteracy

Objective15: Demonstrates phonological awareness

Dimensions15a: Notices and discriminates rhyme

DEADLINES & REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT “WINDOWS” & STATE CHECKPOINT DEADLINES

FALLObserve & document: August 24 – October 9Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue): October 9 – October 23Checkpoint decisions finalized online: October 23, 2015

WINTERObserve & document: October 24 – January 18Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue): January 18 - February 1Checkpoint decisions finalized online: February 1, 2016

SPRINGObserve & document: February 2 – April 25Make final determinations (observation & documentation continue): April 25 – May 9Checkpoint decisions finalized online: May 9, 2016

*NOTE: all DPS checkpoint deadlines are approximately 5 days prior to the state deadline to ensure the accuracy of our data prior to sending it to the state.

2015-2016 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

  ECE Students Kindergarten Students

Who is assessed?•All students •All students

How often are checkpoints finalized?

3 times/year:· 10/23/15· 2/1/16· 5/9/16

1 time/year: · 10/23/15* *Kindergarten students who fall below expectations on any one or more of the domains at the first checkpoint must be progress monitored on those domains until they meet expectations. ARE will provide schools with a list of students who fall below expectations. Progress Monitoring will be determined at the school level.

Which Domains are assessed?

•Social Emotional•Physical•Language•Cognitive•Literacy•Math•Science & Technology•Social Studies•The Arts•English Language Acquisition (where applicable)

•Social Emotional•Physical•Language•Cognitive•Literacy*•Math•English Language Acquisition (where applicable) *The Literacy domain is not required if a READ Act assessment is given prior to the first checkpoint.

2015-2016 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

  ECE Students Kindergarten Students

Is documentation 

required?

•Yes •No, but strongly recommended

Who is required to have an Individual

Readiness Plan?

•All Students •All Students

Are teachers required to be IRR certified?

•Yes* *All ECE teachers must complete the IRR certification prior to the first checkpoint. Paras are not required to complete IRR certification.

•Yes* *All Kindergarten teachers must complete the IRR certification prior to the first checkpoint. Paras are not required to complete IRR certification.

KINDERGARTEN PROGRESS MONITORING

Kindergarten students who fall below expectations on any one or more of the domains at the first checkpoint must be progress monitored on those domains until they meet expectations.

• ARE will provide schools a list of students who fall below expectations after the first checkpoint

• Schools can also use the Widely Held Expectations report in Gold to see students who fall below expectations

• ARE strongly recommends that schools use TS Gold to progress monitor, but not required

• Schools must have a plan in place to progress monitor if they do not use TS Gold and this plan must be communicated and approved by the IS

• Schools not using TS Gold to progress monitor will need to determine when a student is no longer below expectations

*Talk to your school leadership if you are unsure on how your school will progress monitor

INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL READINESS PLANS (IRP)

CAP4K requires that each ECE and kindergarten student have an Individual School Readiness Plan (IRP):• Informed by ongoing assessment of a child’s progress in both the

developmental and academic domains• Living document where a child’s progress is recorded and is a tool

for informing instruction• Information gathered from TS Gold will be used to inform and create

the Readiness Plan• The Readiness Plan should contain the child’s strengths, areas for

growth, priority areas and strategies for growth• More information can be found here: http://

www.cde.state.co.us/schoolreadiness/assessment

INDIVIDUAL READINESS PLANS: ECE

ECE will use TS Gold in its entirety with finalized data at three state determined checkpoint deadlines. Therefore TS Gold reports can be used as the Individual Readiness Plan for ECE students.

ARE Recommendations:• Print the Development and Learning Report or the Family

Conference Form in TS Gold for each student three times each year following the checkpoint deadlines:– Use only finalized checkpoint levels– Share with parents– Use to inform instruction

INDIVIDUAL READINESS PLANS: KINDERGARTEN

Options for Individual Readiness Plans for kindergarten:1) Schools use TS Gold to assess all kindergarten students at all three state

determined checkpoints:– TS Gold Development and Learning Report can be used as the IRP

• Print 3 times each year following the checkpoint deadlines• Use only finalized checkpoint levels• Share with parents• Use to inform instruction

2) Schools use TS Gold to assess all kindergarten students only at the first checkpoint:– TS Gold Development and Learning Report can be used as the IRP at the

beginning of the year– Teachers will need to update the IRP 2 more times during the year for all

students in a separate Readiness Plan online application using data from other school assessments (must include both academic and developmental domains)

• Online application information and deadlines (following the state checkpoints) will be communicated by ARE in the near future

Note: The Readiness Plan is not the same as a READ Plan that might be required for some kindergarten students. However, the application used to enter the Readiness and READ Plan information will be the same.

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: Not required, but strongly encouraged!

• 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!

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!

TEACHER TRAINING

TEACHER TRAINING: REQUIRED

Teaching Strategies GOLD® ‐ InterRater Reliability Certification (online)Completion due date: October 23, 2015Required for all ECE and Kindergarten teachers (paras are excluded)

• 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).

• The certificate is good for 3 years.

*A clickpath on how to access this training can be found on the ARE TS Gold webpage.

TEACHER TRAINING: OPTIONAL

1) Teaching Strategies GOLD® Basic Course (online)Module 1: Introducing Teaching Strategies GOLD®Module 2: Looking Closer: Teaching Strategies GOLD®Module 3: The Assessment CycleModule 4: Exploring the Features of TS GOLD® Online

• 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.

TEACHER TRAINING: OPTIONAL

2) Facilitated trainings (Led by Early Ed Coordinators)• October 19-20: TS Gold Documentation & Data Collection – Generating

Reports/Analyzing Data• January 4-5: TS Gold Generating Reports/Analyzing Data 2.0 – Family

Communication Resources• February 29: TS Gold Generating Reports/Analyzing Data 3.0 – Coming Soon

3) Personalized Support Available by appointment for:• Grade level meetings• Side-by-side coaching in classrooms• Live classroom demonstrations on documenting with iPad• iPad orientation to TS Gold App

4) TS Gold Online Orientation Videos (55 minutes each)• Gold Dashboard, Documentation and Checkpoints• Planning, Communications, Family Central and Reporting

TS GOLD ONLINE

HOME PAGE

http://teachingstrategies.com/

HOME PAGE: TEACHER SITE

http://teachingstrategies.com/

HOME PAGE: ADMINISTRATOR SITE

FINDING CLASSES/STUDENTS

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 TS Gold site.

REPORTS

FINDING REPORTS

RECOMMENDED REPORTS

For Family Communication:• Family Conference Form• Development & Learning Report (Use as the Readiness Plan)

Advantages:• Family-friendly language• Concise• Allows teachers to focus on child strengths and specific next steps

RECOMMENDED REPORTS: FAMILY CONFERENCE

• Narrative summary for families• Highlights students strengths & areas of support• Great for parent-teacher conferences

RECOMMENDED REPORTS: DEVELOPMENT & LEARNING

• Provides recommended activities to promote the next level of growth

• Can be shared with families• Use as the Readiness Plan

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

RECOMMENDED REPORTS: CLASS PROFILE

• Groups students for differentiation

RECOMMENDED REPORTS: INDIVIDUAL CHILD

• Compares data from checkpoint to checkpoint

RECOMMENDED REPORTS: SNAPSHOT

• Shows outcomes data at any given time

RESOURCES

RESOURCES: ARE SITE

NEW ARE Website: www.dpsare.com

RESOURCES: ARE SITE

TS GOLD RESOURCES

TS GOLD RESOURCES

TS GOLD RESOURCES

TS Gold Tech Support:• Phone: 866-736-5913

• Email: techsupport@teachingstrategies.com

• Hours:– Monday-Thursday: 6:00am-5:00pm MST– Friday: 6:00am-4:00pm MST

WHAT’S NEXT

WHAT’S NEXT

What to do next:• Make sure you can log in as an administrator• Make sure all of your teachers have a TS Gold log-in and have

downloaded the documentation app (if they have an ipad mini)• Present this training to your ECE and kindergarten teachers by

September 11, 2015. Things to highlight:– Windows and state checkpoint deadlines– 2015-2016 minimum requirements– Readiness Plans– Reports– Resources

• Watch for additional updates regarding Readiness Plans• Watch for a TS Gold Guidebook coming coon!