1. An Introduction to the Early Years Evaluation for Speech and Language Pathologists March 11 th, 2013

2. Plans to Support Improved Student Achievement  The Early Years and Student Achievement & Supports Branches are collaborating with school divisions (SDs) to provide:  Guidance for SD student assessment, policies and procedures;  Strengthening of teaching, learning, and achievement; and,  Enhanced communication with families regarding their children’s development and learning.

3. Overview: Early Years Assessments Prekindergarten Early Years Evaluation – Direct Assessment 4-year-old cohort only Fall Assessment Only “Help me tell my story” Assessment of Oral Language Kindergarten Early Years Evaluation – Teacher Assessment “Help me tell my story” – Assessment of Oral Language Early Development Instrument (EDI)

4. What is the EYE – Direct Assessment? The EYE-DA assesses four domains closely associated with readiness to learn at school: Awareness of Self and Environment - a child's understanding of the world and his or her ability to make connections with home and community experiences. Cognitive Skills - a child's basic math and pre- reading skills and his or her ability to solve problems. Language and Communication - a child's understanding of spoken language and his or her ability to express thoughts and feelings. Physical Development: Fine motor - a child's ability to perform small movements that require hand-eye coordination. Gross motor - a child's ability to perform large movements that involve arms, legs, and body.

5. What is the EYE – Direct Assessment? Administration Time: 45 minutes per child Scoring: Online data entry site allows for immediate data entry, scoring, and feedback. Reports are generated at the parent, school, district, and provincial levels. The EYE-DA results are depicted using three color codes: green, denoting appropriate development; yellow, experiencing some difficulty; and, red, experiencing significant difficulty. The scoring takes into account a child’s age at the time of the assessment. Ages/Grades: The EYE-DA is ideally suited for children ages 3 to 5 years as they prepare for and make the transition to school.

6. EYE:TeacherChecklistEYE-TA is anobservationalassessment. Guide for navigating the Teacher Checklist: 1. Domain name 2. Item number 3. Preface for each question 4. Item being evaluated 5. Student names will be inserted upon confirmation of the class list 6. Teacher rating scale 7. Choose the appropriate rating (scale of 1 to 4) for each child on each item 8. * (asterisk) denotes the availability of an assessment plate        

7. Scoring Student performance is rated on a 4 point scale ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 4. Response categories by domain are outlined below: DomainsResponse Categories A:Awareness of Self and Environment C:Cognitive Skills D:Language and Communication E:Physical Development 1.Unable to do it 2.Can do it partially or sometimes 3.Can usually do it 4.Can do it consistently B:Social Skills and Approaches to Learning 1.Strongly disagree 2.Somewhat disagree 3.Somewhat agree 4.Strongly agree

8. Assessment of Language & Communication on the EYE-TA Sample Items: Follow 2-step commands Listen to and comprehend classroom stories read by the teacher Understand the teacher’s instructions and questions Understand the meaning of action words (hop, spin, march, clap, etc.) Communicate orally in 5-7 word sentences others can understand Use picture cues to tell a story in proper sequence with minimal prompting Verbalize how they are feeling Predict what will happen next in a story

9. Overview of Provincial Implementation Plans for the EYE-DA and EYE-TA

10. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten EYE Phased Implementation Plan – Winter/Spring 2013 School division confirmation of commitment to spring implementation Early Years Branch resources for family engagement and school division implementation in February Training for division and school level users provided in February/March/April by KSI Research International March/April/early May administration of EYE for self-selected school divisions EYE-Direct Assessment (EYE-DA) for 4-year-old Prekindergarten cohort EYE-Teacher Assessment (EYE-TA) in Kindergarten Data and reporting workshop in May

11. Which SD Personnel Will Require EYE Administration Training?  Prekindergarten and Kindergarten teachers  School based administrators  School based student support services teachers  Division Early Years Coordinators/Consultants  All division student support personnel who work with early years teachers and children in PreK and K; This includes: ◆ Speech Language Pathologists ◆ Occupational Therapists ◆ English as an Additional Language (EAL) consultants ◆ Psychologists 11

12. Aiming for Successful Implementation What are the indicators of a successful implementation? Growth in teacher understanding of assessment as it relates to children’s development and learning Development of best practices in assessment procedures Implementation of strategies that support student development by teachers & professional support providers (PSPs) Strong positive teacher-family relationships to support children’s learning at home and at school And……

13. And….  Improved allocation of division and school resources  Growth in children’s development and learning

14. Key considerations to optimize effectiveness of the EYE assessments.

15. Understanding of the child as a learner EYE –DA EYE - TA Help me tell my story Dev’l Checklists Anecdotal Records Child’s represent- ations of Learning, Knowing, Understand- ing Video Clips Learning Stories Sound Bytes Group Learning Exploration & Document- ation Digital Document -ation EYE data provides one piece of the image of the child as a learner. 15

16. EYE data provides one piece of the image of the child as a learner. 16

17. It is important to remember that: The EYE is designed to assess: Awareness of Self and Environment Cognitive Skills Language and Communication Physical Development Social Skills and Approaches to Learning (EYE-TA only) The EYE is NOT designed to: Label Children Diagnose specific learning problems Identify children who are intellectually gifted

18. The EYE is: Not about…. “what we have taught the child” But….. “where is the child today” And….. “where will we take the child”

19. EYE Reports  Individual Reports  Classroom Reports

20. EYE-Teachers Assessment

21. Opportunities for Interprofessional Collaboration Working as a collaborative team, it is highly recommended that analysis, interpretation, reports and plans are in response to whole classes of children, then small groups of children and as needed, individual children.

22. Learning from Other Jurisdictions Videos from Edmonton Catholic Schools Using books to pre-teach and highlight Choices and Contrasts Using objects as visual supports Slide in Beside Using peer models Collaborative Team Meeting – Action Planning Forms – Example from the Calgary Board of Education

23. Available Resources Information on the EYE: http://earlyyearsevaluation.com/EN/ Information on assessment in the Early Years: http://www.education.gov.sk.ca/ELCC/Prekindergarten Early Learning Universal Designs for Learning – Videos on classroom-based interventions http://www.inclusiveeducationpdresources.ca/early-learning/broadbased.php

24. Discussion, questions & sharing of experiences  For those of you that have had the opportunity to use the EYE, how has it informed your practice?

25. Discussion, questions & sharing of experiences  What is the role of families in the achievement initiative? EYE implementation?  How can family engagement be facilitated and supported?  How can the ministry support school division implementation of the EYE?

26. Thank you! NOTE: To change images on this slide, select a picture and delete it. Then click the Insert Picture icon in the placeholder to insert your own image.

27. Contact Information: Laurie Hudyma Policy/Program Consultant Early Years Branch Ministry of Education laurie.hudyma@gov.sk.ca Phone: 787-9518 Ron Nowlan Educational Consultant Student Achievement & Supports Branch Ministry of Education ron.nowlan@gov.sk.ca Phone: 798-1885