1. Administering the Kindergarten Assessment Early Literacy Segment
Early Literacy and Early Math
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

2. What is the Kindergarten Assessment?
A consistent, state-wide administration of a common tool to nearly every kindergarten student.
The results of the Kindergarten Assessment can help to inform state and local policies which:
Provide services, resources and training to increase the number of students that are ready to learn when they enter Kindergarten.
Fill geographic, demographic and economic gaps if identified.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

3. What is it NOT? The Kindergarten Assessment is NOT an entrance exam.
There is no cut score for “readiness”
Results do not impact enrollment
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

4. Components Early Literacy Spanish Literacy Early Math
Letter Naming
Letter Sounds
Spanish Literacy
Spanish Syllable Sounds
Early Math
Counting Objects
Number Sequence
Addition up to 10
Subtraction from 10 or less
Approaches to Learning
Social-Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

5. Standardized Administration
First Priority: Minimize departures from standard administration. Every student gets the same opportunity.
Give directions verbatim
Time carefully
Second Priority: Maximize performance as much as you can given standard administration.
Perform the directions
Engage the student
Make eye contact
Business-like but not unfriendly approach
Sensitive to student’s needs and responses
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

6. Test Security
Only Test Administrators trained in the current year may administer the Kindergarten Assessment.
Give every student equal opportunity to perform their best in a non-distracting environment.
Keep assessment materials in a secure location.
When in doubt about a particular testing practice, before testing begins:
Check the Manual
Check your training notes
Ask your School Test Coordinator
If all else fails, assume the answer is “no”
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

7. Accommodations
Accommodations allow students to participate but do not affect what the test measures.
Approved Accommodations include:
Enlarged fonts.
Markers or rulers to focus student attention on a single line.
Testing in a separate location.
See Appendix L of the Test Administration Manual
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

8. 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. Other kinds of quiet timing devices are 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

9. Early Literacy
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013
Letter Names

10. 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
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

11. 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

12. 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….
SAMPLE
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

13. Read the directions verbatim to the student
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

14. 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, slash through the letter and count as incorrect
Record number of correct letters 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

15. 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

16. Early Literacy
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013
Letter Sounds

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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….
SAMPLE
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

20. Read the directions verbatim to the student
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

21. Correct Letter Sounds Long and Short Vowel sounds are acceptable
eh or E sounds
Uh or U sounds
Etc…
Hard and Soft C sounds
K or S sound
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

22. 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 or digraph.
If the student gets stuck and hesitates for more than 3 seconds, the assessor puts a slash through the letter or digraph 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

23. 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.
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

24. Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013
Early Math

25. Components Early Literacy Spanish Literacy Early Math
Letter Naming
Letter Sounds
Spanish Literacy
Spanish Syllable Sounds
Early Math
Counting Objects
Number Sequence
Addition up to 10
Subtraction from 10 or less
Approaches to Learning
Social-Emotional Development
Self-Regulation
In developing the Kindergarten Assessment, the Oregon Department of Education and the Early Learning Council turned to existing research based tests of early childhood skills. The tests of Early Literacy and Early Numeracy are adapted from the University of Oregon’s EasyCBM test. These are short, one-on-one tests and will be administered by the district’s DIBELS core team in place of the DIBELS and Missing Numbers tests. The Spanish Literacy segment is also adapted from EasyCBM and is an additional, required test for all incoming Spanish-speaking Kindergarteners. ELD Specialists and Dual-Immersion teachers will assess their students with this one-minute test at the same time they’re completing IDEL and Pre-LAS testing.
In ODE’s conversations with early learning and kindergarten teachers, they heard very clearly the desire to collect information on how children approach interactions with peers and teachers. In addition, there was a desire to know how children regulate their own time and emotions. For this purpose, the Child Behavior Rating Scale by Dr. Martha Bronson, was adapted to create the Approaches to Learning segment of the Kindergarten Assessment.
The remainder of this presentation will prepare you to administer this segment to your class.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

26. Early Math: Numbers and Operations
Measures students' ability to understand numbers, number systems, relationships among numbers and meanings of operations
All students participate in the assessment, with accommodations if determined to be necessary for equal access for an individual student
The student booklet has one item per page
There are two sample items and sixteen assessment items
This assessment is not timed
The early math-numbers and operations--measures students' ability to understand numbers, number systems, relationships among numbers and meanings of operations.
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. A Spanish/English side-by-side version is available in the Spanish/English student assessment booklet.
The student booklet has one item per page.
There are two sample items and sixteen assessment items. The two sample items give the student a chance to practice using the assessment format. The assessor can use these sample items to make sure that the student understands how to look at items and choose their answer.
This assessment is not timed
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

27. Sample Item #1 English Spanish/English
The above slide displays Sample Item #1 in both the English Student booklet and the Spanish/English student booklet. You can see that there is some minimal text in some of the items. This is what will be shown in front of the student.
In this item, the assessor directions for the assessor on the assessor form are:
“We are looking at numbers, counting, adding to, and taking away. Here is one to practice. Look at what is here.” Demonstrate by pointing to the box and then sweeping your finger from the first to last number below. “How many? Point to or choose the answer.”
We will discuss more about the assessor form in the next few slides.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

28. Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student
Follow directions for gesturing
If the student does not indicate understanding, repeat the directions and gestures
Circle the student’s selected answer on the assessor copy
For each item, the three possible answers fall under columns A, B, C
The assessor can also circle NA if the student did not choose an answer
Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student
Follow directions for gesturing
If the student does not indicate understanding, repeat the directions and gestures
Circle the student’s selected answer on the assessor copy
For each item, the three possible answers fall under columns A, B, C
The assessor can also circle NA if the student did not choose an answer
(The next slide shows a sample of the assessor form).
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

29. Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student
Sample Items
Directions A B C NA 1
“We are looking at numbers, counting, adding to, and taking away. Here is one to practice. Look at what is here.” Demonstrate by pointing to the box and then sweeping your finger from the first to last number below. “How many? Point to or choose the answer.”
“Would you like me to read the directions again?” 2 3
Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student
Follow directions for gesturing
If the student does not indicate understanding, repeat the directions and gestures
Circle the student’s selected answer on the assessor copy
For each item, the three possible answers fall under columns A, B, C
The assessor can also circle NA if the student did not choose an answer
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

30. Sample Item #2 English Spanish/English
The above slide displays Sample Item #2 in both the English Student booklet and the Spanish/English student booklet. You can see that there is some minimal text in some of the items. This is what is in front of the student.
In this item, the directions for the assessor on the assessor form are:
Point to the box. Read the text: “What number is missing? Point to or choose the answer.” Record the number the child points to.
“Would you like me to read the directions again?” Turn student copy to Item 1.
After these two sample items, the assessment will begin. The student booklet will be turned to item #1 and the assessor will record the students choices.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

31. Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student 2
Point to the box. Read the text: “What number is missing? Point to or choose the answer.” Record the number the child points to.
“Would you like me to read the directions again?” Turn student copy to Item 1. 5 4 NA
Read the directions on the assessor copy verbatim to the student
Follow directions for gesturing
If the student does not indicate understanding, repeat the directions and gestures
Circle the student’s selected answer on the assessor copy
For each item, the three possible answers fall under columns A, B, C
The assessor can also circle NA if the student did not choose an answer
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

32. Additional Considerations for Early Math: Numbers and Operations
The assessment items are not in order of difficulty
It is important to persist through the assessment to get a true picture of what the student knows
If the student does not provide an answer, remind the student that it is okay to guess
If a student verbalizes an answer, test administrators may remind students to point to or choose the answer
If the student does not offer an answer after the prompt, circle “NA” for “no answer” and move on to the next item
Some additional considerations for the early math portion:
The assessment items are not in order of difficulty
It is important to persist through the assessment to get a true picture of what the student knows
If the student does not provide an answer, remind the student that it is okay to guess
A verbalized answer cannot be accepted. If a student verbalizes an answer, test administrators may remind students to point to or choose the answer.
If the student does not offer an answer after the prompt, circle “NA” for “no answer” and move on to the next item
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

33. Providing Encouragement
Avoid providing visual or auditory clues about the correctness of response during the assessment
It is allowable to say these encouraging words:
“Good effort”
“Keep trying”
“Next”
“It is OK to guess”
“Thank you”
The assessor instructions provide encouraging words to use with the student. 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 ENCOURAGING WORDS)
“Buen esfuerzo”
“Sigue intentando”
“La siguiente”
“Está bien si tratas de adivinar”
“Gracias”
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013

34. Next Steps
Review the required sections of the Oregon Test Administration Manual (TAM):
Parts 1 – 5 ( I – V )
Appendix A – Testing Schedule
Appendix O – Glossary
Appendix L – Kindergarten Assessment
Sign the Test Administrator Assurance of Test Security
Send a copy to Theda Pansevicius
This presentation has given you an overview of the Kindergarten Assessment, directions for administering the Approaches to Learning segment, and the basics of test security as they relate to this specific segment of this particular test. In order to complete the Oregon State requirements and begin testing you’ll also need to review the Oregon Test Administration Manual sections 1 through 5, the Testing Schedule, The Glossary of Terms and Appendix L - the Kindergarten Assessment. After you’ve reviewed the manual, please sign the Test Administrator Assurance of Test Security form that was provided and send a copy either by courier or scan to Theda Pansevicius at the district office.

35. Questions? Brian Bain District Test Coordinator x4120
Laurie Dilbeck
District Literacy Coordinator
x4119
Theda Pansevicius
Assessment Assistant
x4052
If you have any additional questions about the Oregon Kindergarten Assessment you can contact Brian Bain or Theda Pansevicius. Thank you and remember, surveys must be completed by October 11th.
Oregon Kindergarten Assessment Fall 2013