1. Administering the Kindergarten Assessment Early Literacy Segment
Letter Names and Letter Sounds
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

2. Preparing for the Early Literacy Segment
Assessors need:
Clipboard
Stopwatch/ timing device
Pencil
Place marker or cover sheet
Assessor booklet
Student booklet (English or Spanish/English)
A quiet location
There are two early literacy measures in this assessment: Letter names and letter sounds.
They are timed measures which means the assessor will need to have a stopwatch or timing device. It is best practice to have a stopwatch that can be set at one minute and count down—such as those used for DIBELS assessment.
We are aware, however, that not everyone has this kind of timer. Many people have timing capabilities on their phones—and that is acceptable as well. The assessor also needs a clipboard, pencil, place marker or cover sheet (optional for student use), the assessor booklet, the student booklet, and a quiet location.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

3. The Letter Names Measure
Measures students' ability to name the letters of the English alphabet, in both lower case and capitalized forms
All students participate in the assessment, with accommodations if determined to be necessary for equal access for that individual student
Students are shown letters in a chart
This is a 60 second timed assessment
Students have 60 seconds to name as many letters as they can
The letter names assessment measures the students’ ability to name the letters of the English alphabet, in both lower case and capitalized forms.
All students will have the opportunity to participate in this assessment, with accommodations if determined to be necessary for equal access for that individual student.
In this assessment, the student is shown a chart with letters.
This is a 60 second timed assessment. Students have 60 seconds to name as many letters as they can in 60 seconds. It is important to note that this timed assessment measures fluency (which we know is a strong component in reading at grade level).
All Spanish-speaking ELL Kindergarteners will be assessed in literacy in both English and Spanish. Spanish-speaking ELLs will take the English letter names and letter sounds assessment, and will also be administered the Spanish syllable sounds assessment. This is required for all Spanish-speaking ELL Kindergarteners.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

4. Procedure for the Letter Names Measure
Seat yourself across the table from the student who is also seated
Position yourself so the student cannot see the documents on the clipboard or the stopwatch/timing device
Place the Student Copy English Letter Names in front of the student
The assessor should be seated across a table from the student who is also seated.
The assessor should be positioned so that the student cannot see the documents on the clipboard or the stopwatch/timing device.
It takes some practice to do the timing and scoring in such a way that is not obvious to the student. We want to remember that these are young kindergarteners entering a whole new learning environment-- and we want them to walk away feeling successful—regardless of how they performed on the assessment.
The only thing that the student will see is a chart of letters. It is important to note that it is okay to use a guide or marker for the student to track the rows. This could be as simple as a sheet of paper used to reveal one row at a time. The student can be asked if this makes it easier for them or not. The assessor will need to determine (after observing the student) whether the student can move the marker down independently or whether they will need assistance.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

5. Sample Student Chart (not the actual form included in the fall 2013 kindergarten assessment)
This is an example of what the student will see. This is not the actual form included in the statewide assessment—but it gives you an idea of what the student will be looking at.
As you can see, a sheet of paper could be placed on top of the chart to reveal the first row, then moved down to reveal the second row, and so on….
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

6. Read the directions verbatim to the student
There are also directions for gesturing and using a guide or marker
Start the stopwatch/timing device when the student says the first letter name
At 60 seconds mark the last letter with a bracket and then say “Stop”
The assessor copy includes a script and directions for gesturing. It is very important that the assessor reads the directions verbatim to the student and performs the gestures exactly as indicated.
The assessor will start the stopwatch/timing device when the student says the first letter name.
At 60 seconds, the assessor will mark the last letter named with a bracket and then say “stop.” This piece should be handled very sensitively—we don’t want the student to be abruptly cut-off. What is important is that the last letter named at 60 seconds is bracketed. The assessor can wait to say stop until the student completes their thought or completes the row—whatever makes the most sense.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

7. Sample Assessor Form (not the actual form included in the fall 2013 kindergarten assessment)
This is an example of the assessor form. Again, the letter chart is not the same chart that will be used in the statewide assessment. You can see that there are procedures, directions, and scoring information included at the top of the form. You will also see that the procedures portion includes encouraging words that are okay to say to the student during the assessment process. (We’ll talk more about that in a minute).
In the directions, the assessor reads the bolded items verbatim and performs the gestures indicated. (DTC trainer to READ DIRECTIONS) You will notice that the assessor asks the student if they would like to have the directions read again. If so, read them again.
Again, please remember that the timed nature of the assessment should be subtle. We spent a lot of time discussing how to let the student know that it is time to start and, with input from the accommodations panel and early educators, decided on the classic, “Ready, go.” This should be subtle and remember to start the timing device after the child says the first letter—not when the assessor says go. Again, when the 60 seconds is up—mark the last letter with a bracket but allow the student to complete their thought or the row if appropriate. Say stop when it is appropriate.
(We’ll discuss more about scoring in the next slide).
SAMPLE
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

8. Letter Names—Scoring If student:
is correct, do not mark the letter and count as correct
clearly loses his/her place, point to the next letter
self corrects, write SC above the letter and count as correct
says incorrect letter name, slash through the letter, and count as incorrect
hesitates more than 3 seconds, slash through the letter, supply the letter name and count as incorrect
skips letter, circle the letter and count as incorrect
Record number of correct letter sounds in # correct at bottom of assessor copy
Record number of attempts, correct or incorrect, in # attempted
The assessor will keep the student response record on the assessor sheet.
If the student names the letter correctly, the letter is not marked.
If the student appears to lose their place, the assessor can redirect them back to the next letter.
If the student incorrectly names a letter and then self-corrects-the assessor can mark SC above the slash and can count it is correct.
If the student says the wrong sound, slash through the letter.
If the student gets stuck and hesitates for more than 3 seconds, the assessor puts a slash through the letter as incorrect and gently supplies the letter name and moves the child on to the next letter.
If the child skips a letter, circle it and count as incorrect.
When the assessment is complete, the assessor is to record the number of correct letter names in # correct at bottom of assessor copy and also record the number of attempts, (both correct or incorrect), in # attempted. We are recording both the number correct and the number attempted because it is important to know what the child attempted to do as well as what they did correctly. It tells you something if a student attempted to name 30 letters and only got two right as opposed to a student that attempted 7 letters and got 6 right. We want to reflect their effort as well as their knowledge.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

9. Providing Encouragement
Avoid providing visual or auditory clues about the correctness of responses during the assessment
It is allowable to say these encouraging words:
“Good effort”
“Keep trying”
“Next”
“It is OK to guess”
“Thank you”
“Buen esfuerzo”
“Sigue intentando”
“La siguiente”
“Está bien si tratas de adivinar”
“Gracias”
You saw that in the previous procedure section there were encouraging words provided. We heard from the field that it was really necessary for the assessor to be able to provide encouragement for these young students throughout the process. While it is important that the assessor does not provide visual or auditory clues about the correctness of the responses, it is okay to say encouraging words to make the student comfortable and to encourage them to keep trying. (DTC trainer, Read the ENCOURAGING WORDS)
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

10. Additional Considerations for English Letter Names
If student does not name a letter in the first row, move to second row.
If the student still does not identify a letter in the second row, the timed fluency assessment can be discontinued. The score will be 0.
At this point, it is best practice to ask the student if he/she recognizes any letters on the page (remove the guide if used). While this does not contribute to the score, it is still valuable information.
It is important for the student to feel successful. If the student does not recognize any letters, the assessor can provide support, for example, “I see the first letter in your name. It is a ‘T’.”
Some additional considerations:
If student does not name a letter in the first row, move to second row.
If the student still does not identify a letter in the second row, the timed fluency assessment can be discontinued. The score will be 0.
At this point, it is best practice to ask the student if he/she recognizes any letters on the page (remove the guide if used). While this does not contribute to the score, it is still valuable information.
It is important for the student to feel successful. If the student does not recognize any letters, the assessor can provide support, for example, “I see the first letter in your name. It is a ‘T’.”
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

11. The Letter Sounds Measure
Measures students' ability to produce common sounds associated with letters of the English alphabet and common digraphs
All students participate in the assessment, with accommodations if determined to be necessary for equal access for that individual student
Students are shown letters and digraphs in a chart
This is a 60 second timed assessment
Students have 60 seconds to produce as many of the corresponding sounds as they can
The letter sounds assessment measures the students’ ability to produce common sounds associated with letters of the English alphabet and common digraphs.
All students will have the opportunity to participate in this assessment, with accommodations if determined to be necessary for equal access for that individual student. This includes English language learners. All Spanish-speaking ELL Kindergarteners will be assessed in literacy in both English and Spanish. Spanish-speaking ELLs will take the English letter names and letter sounds assessment, and will also be administered the Spanish syllable sounds assessment. This is required for all Spanish-speaking ELL Kindergarteners.
In this assessment, the student is shown a chart with letters and digraphs.
This is a 60 second timed assessment. Students have 60 seconds to produce as many letter sounds as they can in 60 seconds. Again, it is important to note that this timed assessment measures fluency which we know is a strong component in reading at grade level.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

12. Procedure for the Letter Sounds Assessment
Seat yourself across the table from the student who is also seated
Position yourself so the student cannot see the documents on the clipboard or the stopwatch/timing device
Place the Student Copy English Letter Sounds in front of the student
The assessor should be seated across a table from the student who is also seated.
The assessor should be positioned so that the student cannot see the documents or stopwatch/timing device. It takes some practice to do the timing and scoring in such a way that is not obvious to the student. We want to remember that these are young kindergarteners entering a new educational environment, and we want them to walk away feeling successful—regardless of how they performed on the assessment.
The only thing that the student will see is a chart of letters and digraphs. It is important to note that it is okay to use a guide or marker for the student to track the rows. This could be as simple as a sheet of paper used to reveal one row at a time. The student can be asked if this makes it easier for them or not. The assessor will need to determine whether the student can move the marker down independently or whether they will need assistance.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

13. Sample Student Chart (not the actual form included in the fall 2013 kindergarten assessment)
The above slide is an example of what the student will see. This is not the actual form included in the statewide assessment—but it gives you an idea of what the student will be looking at. As you can see, a sheet of paper could be placed on top of the chart to reveal the first row, then moved down to reveal the second row, and so on….
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

14. Read the directions verbatim to the student
There are also directions for gesturing and using a guide or marker
Start the stopwatch/timing device when the student says the first letter sound
At 60 seconds mark the last letter with a bracket and then say “Stop”
The assessor copy includes a script and directions for gesturing.
It is very important that the assessor reads the directions verbatim to the student and performs the gestures exactly as indicated.
The assessor will start the stopwatch/timing device when the student says the first letter sound.
At 60 seconds, the assessor will mark the last letter named with a bracket and then say “stop.” This piece should be handled very sensitively—we don’t want the student to be abruptly cut-off. What is important is that the last letter named at 60 seconds is bracketed. The assessor can wait to say stop until the student completes their thought or completes the row—whatever makes the most sense.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

15. Sample Assessor Form (not the actual form included in the fall 2013 kindergarten assessment)
The above slide is an example of the assessor form. Again, the letter chart is not the same chart that will be used in the statewide assessment. You can see that there are procedures, directions, and scoring information included at the top of the form. You will also see that the procedures portion includes encouraging words that are acceptable to say to the student during the assessment process. (We’ll discuss more about that in a minute).
In the directions, the assessor reads the bolded items verbatim and performs the gestures indicated. (DTC trainer..READ DIRECTIONS) You will notice that the assessor asks the student if they would like to have the directions read again...if so, read them again.
Again, please remember that the timed nature of the assessment should be subtle. We spent a lot of time discussing as to how to let the student know that it is time to start. With input from the accommodations panel and early educators, we decided on the classic, “Ready, go.” This should be subtle and remember to start the timing device after the child says the first letter—not when the assessor says “ready, go.” Again, when the 60 seconds is up—mark the last letter with a bracket but allow the student to complete their thought or the row if appropriate. Say stop when it is appropriate.
We’ll discuss more about scoring in the next slide.
SAMPLE
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

16. Letter Sounds—Scoring
If student:
is correct, do not mark the letter and count as correct
clearly loses his/her place, point to the next letter
self corrects, write SC above the letter and count as correct
says incorrect letter sound, slash through the letter, and count as incorrect
hesitates more than 3 seconds, slash through the letter, supply the letter sound and count as incorrect
skips letter, circle the letter and count as incorrect
Record number of correct letter sounds in # correct at bottom of assessor copy
Record number of attempts, correct or incorrect, in # attempted
The assessor will keep the individual student’s record on the assessor sheet.
If the student names the letter sound correctly, the letter is not marked.
If the student appears to lose their place, the assessor can redirect them back to the next letter.
If the student incorrectly names a letter sound and then self-corrects-the assessor can mark SC above the slash and can count it is correct.
If the student says the wrong sound, slash through the letter.
If the student gets stuck and hesitates for more than 3 seconds, the assessor puts a slash through the letter as incorrect and gently supplies the letter sound and moves the child on to the next letter.
If the child skips a letter, circle it and count as incorrect.
When the assessment is complete, record the number of correct letter sounds in # correct at bottom of assessor copy and record number of attempts, (correct or incorrect), in # attempted. We are recording both the number correct and the number attempted because it is important to know what the child attempted to do as well as what they got correct. It tells you something if a student attempted to name 30 letters and only got two right as opposed to a student that attempted 7 letters and got 6 right. We want to reflect their effort as well as their knowledge.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

17. Providing Encouragement
Avoid providing visual or auditory clues about the correctness of responses during the assessment
It is allowable to say these encouraging words:
“Good effort”
“Keep trying”
“Next”
“It is OK to guess”
“Thank you”
“Buen esfuerzo”
“Sigue intentando”
“La siguiente”
“Está bien si tratas de adivinar”
“Gracias”
Again, in the procedure section there are encouraging words provided. While it is important that the assessor does not provide visual or auditory clues about the correctness of the responses, it is okay to say encouraging words to make the student comfortable and to encourage them to keep trying. (DTC Trainer, READ ENCOURAGING WORDS)
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

18. Additional Considerations for English Letter Sounds
If student does not identify a letter sound in the first row, move to second row.
If the student still does not identify a letter sound in the second row, the timed fluency assessment can be discontinued. The score will be 0.
At this point, it is best practice to ask the student if he/she recognizes any letters on the page (remove the guide if used). While this does not contribute to the score, it is still valuable information.
It is important for the student to feel successful. If the student does not recognize any letters, the assessor can provide support, for example, “This is the first letter in your name. It makes a ‘t’ sound.”
Some additional considerations:
If student does not identify a letter sound in the first row, move to second row.
If the student still does not identify a letter sound in the second row, the timed fluency assessment can be discontinued. The score will be 0.
At this point, it is best practice to ask the student if he/she recognizes any letters on the page (remove the guide if used). While this does not contribute to the score, it is still valuable information.
It is important for the student to feel successful. If the student does not recognize any letters, the assessor can provide support, for example, “This is the first letter in your name. It makes a ‘t’ sound.”
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

19. Data Submission
For the fall 2013 collection, districts will submit the English Letter Names and English Letter Sounds number correct and the number attempted for each student
Data will be submitted through ODE’s Consolidated Collections
Data will be submitted through ODE’s consolidated collections. Districts will submit the total number correct and the total number attempted for each student.
Again, the results of this assessment will be analyzed to better understand what the scores mean and how they relate to overall kindergarten readiness.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

20. Questions?
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013