State Board of Education February 10, 2016

Update on EOC Reports: Assessment Survey Results Full-Day 4K, CDEP

Survey of District and School Assessment Practices: December 2015 Part I – District Instructional Leaders 39 districts volunteered to participate 34 actually completed survey (41%) Part II – Classroom Teachers 5,518 teachers in 37 districts participated

Grade or SubjectAssessment Estimated Time Testing (Hours) 4K and Kindergarten CIRCLE CogAT Academic Achievement Test (e.g., MAP or ITBS) 3ACT Aspire ELA & Math through 8ACT Aspire ELA & Math SC PASS Science & Social Studies Grade 4: 5.8 Grade 5: 5.8 Grade 6: 6.6 Grade 7: 6.6 Grade 8: 6.7

Grade or SubjectAssessment Estimated Time Testing (Hours) English IEnd-of-CourseEach of the end-of- course assessment is untimed, and information is not available to determine the amount of testing time for the assessment. Algebra IEnd-of-Course BiologyEnd-of-Course US History & The ConstitutionEnd-of-Course 11 th – Career ReadinessWorkKeys th – College ReadinessThe ACT Plus Writing 5.0

Other Assessments PreK through Grade 2 Number Assessments PreK through Grade 2 DistrictTeachers (12) (15) (26) (20) (14) (8) 6345 (3) 7215 (1) 828 (1) 9 1 (<1)

Other Assessments Grades 3- 8 Number of Assessments Grades 3- 8 DistrictTeachers (11) (7) (11) (17) (13) (8) (7) (6) (8) (7) (3) (1) (<1) 13 6 (<1) 14 9 (<1) 15 9 (<1) 16 2 (<1)

Test Preparation Amount of Time Number (% of Responses) No test preparation was done 97 (5%) 1 day 36 (2%) 2-3 days 265 (13%) 4-5 days 460 (22%) 1 week before testing (sum of 1 day, 2-3 days, and 4-5 days) 761 (36%) 2 weeks before testing 497 (24%) 3 weeks before testing 251 (12%) 4 weeks before testing 495 (24%)

Teacher Comments Purposes for testing often not understood by teachers Teachers do not distinguish among assessments administered for district, state, or federal purposes when judging whether too much assessment is occurring. Little agreement about who is the primary communicator of assessment results to students and parents. Issues raised: (a) the amount of assessment; (b) the redundancy of assessment; (c) the time taken from instruction; (d) the desire to obtain more information from assessment in order to use it effectively and communicate it to others; and (e) the focus on standardized assessments leading to a loss of focus on instruction.

Full-Day 4K (CDEP) Report Researchers – EOC Staff, USC Team, Institute for Child Success Three Areas: Impact, Quality, Growth Part I Released Part II to be Released when EOC receives assessment data on 4K and 5K early literacy assessments from

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Findings IMPACT: Does 4K impact young children’s learning and their readiness for 5K? EOC SCPASS performance of former CDEP students. –Grade 3 achievement in ELA and math for CDEP students indicated the achievement gap between CDEP students and all SC students is not narrowing. The achievement gap in math may be increasing EOC Report Part I: –Students enrolled in 4K in private settings scored higher on CIRCLE in the fall 2014 assessment than public school 4K students However, these differences in scores did not continue upon their entry into 5K. The scores of 5K students who participated in CDEP in were equivalent, regardless of their CDEP participation in a private center or public school setting.

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Findings QUALITY: What does high-quality 4K look like? How can it be measured? “Interactions explicitly aimed at supporting learning…are related to gains…Second, learning…is enhanced in the context of warm, responsive teacher-child relationships and interactions that are characterized by back and forth - serve and return – conversations to discus and elaborate on a given topic.” Yoshikawa, et al. (2013) Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education. Ann Arbor, MI: Society for Research in Child Development

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Findings QUALITY: What does high-quality 4K look like? How can it be measured? CDEP teacher education level: –64% of private CDEP teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 99% of public CDEP teachers. Average annual CDEP teacher salary: –Private CDEP annual teacher salary ($16,681) is roughly one-third (36%) of public CDEP annual teacher salary ($46,666). CDEP workforce stability: –Turnover in private settings is significant. More stable teacher workforce in public school settings. 42% of teachers in their first year of teaching at their current center. Public school teachers have been working at their school for almost nine years on average.

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Findings QUALITY: What does high-quality 4K look like? How can it be measured? December 2015 EOC Early Childhood Workgroup Specific evidence-based measures of teacher-child interactions: –Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) –Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) –Teaching Pyramid Observational Tool (TPOT) –Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale 3 rd Edition (ECERS-3) Community Block Grants for Education Pilot: –Focus on 4K Quality –Expectation that all awarded grantees will incorporate teacher-child interaction

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Findings GROWTH: Is CDEP expanding statewide? Are more at-risk four-year-olds being served in a formal early childhood education setting? 51% of all at-risk four-year-olds are currently being served in some formal setting, including CDEP, Head Start, ABC Voucher Program. This estimate does not include children served in locally-funded programs. Total enrollment in CDEP during the school year is approximately 13,643 to 13,771 students CDEP enrollment represents a 5% increase in public schools and an 11% increase in private center settings. District participation has expanded to 64 districts.

4K (CDEP) Report: Key Recommendations IMPACT: Employ consistent assessments over time to understand the impact of CDEP on kindergarten readiness. The collection, analysis and retrieval of timely and accurate data are needed to assess the quality of CDEP, as well as the young children’s progress toward kindergarten readiness. QUALITY: To better understand quality, need to measure quality. Consider both structural (teacher qualifications, class size, program standards) and process (teacher-child interactions) quality components. GROWTH: Increase the instructional reimbursement rate of $4,218 per child by $85 to $105 per child to replace instructional supplies, materials and equipment.