1. Nuts and Bolts of Transitional Kindergarten - Senate Bill No. 1381: Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 Mark Ford, Ph.D., Superintendent Mrs. Shirley Esau, Principal Mrs. Ying Lee, Teacher Kingsburg, CA

2. Transitional Kindergarten Rationale Challenge: Each year there are some parents that are not sure their child is ready for kindergarten, some have had preschool and are still not ready. Many of these students have fall birth dates. Solution: Kindergarten Readiness Act 2010 changes the entry date for kindergarten and allows for Transitional Kindergarten – a two-year kindergarten program..

3. Transitional Kindergarten: A Two Prong Law Prong 1 - SB 1381: Changes in age requirement for admission Mandates age 5 for Kindergarten November 1 for the 2012-13 school year. October 1 for the 2013-14 school year. September 1 for the 2014-15 school year. (The Governor’s Proposal keeps the dates)

4. Transitional Kindergarten: A Two Prong Law Prong 2 - SB 1381: Mandates a child whose admission to a traditional kindergarten is delayed by SB 1381 age requirements to be placed into a transitional kindergarten program TK becomes the solution to the age changes for entrance to kindergarten AND… “What do I do if my child is not ready for kindergarten ?” ( The Governor’s proposal challenges this)

5. What is Transitional Kindergarten according to law? SB 1381 Ch. 705 § 3 ( Section 4800 of the Education Code is amended to read ) (d) “ For purposes of this section, "transitional kindergarten” means the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate.” (e) “ A transitional kindergarten shall not be construed as a new program or higher level of service.”

6. What Transitional Kindergarten is not Hybrid pre-school Watered-down kindergarten Retention Special education solution Program for students with behavior challenges Based on assessment for entry SB 1381 also dictates age 6 as a prerequisite for entry into 1 st grade

7. Senate Bill No. 1381 Ch.705 § 5 - Regarding ADA “ The Legislature finds and declares that pupils participating in transitional kindergarten are to be included in computing the average daily attendance of a school district for purposes of calculating school district apportionments and the funding requirements of Section 8 Article XVI of the California Constitution.” ( This is being challenged with the Governor's proposal)

8. A Blueprint for Great Schools “ The implementation of a recent reform of kindergarten education policy gives California a significant opportunity to expand access to kindergarten readiness. The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 creates transitional kindergarten, the first year of a two year experience for students born between September and December.” - Superintendent Torlakson

9. Washington School Implementation Early Childhood Education Enrollment 334 Early InterventionState Preschool Transitional Kindergarten

10. Preschool/Kindergarten Articulation Plan Quality Preschool Pre-K Assessment Parent Permission Form

11. Instructional Model Preschool Foundation Strategies California Common Core Standards for Kindergarten Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol

12. Classroom Environment Developmentally appropriate environment Hands-on activities Shorter periods of sitting time Less paper pencil activities

13. Classroom Environment - Kingsburg

14. Classroom environment - LAUSD

15. Curriculum Bridging Preschool Foundations and California Common Core Standards Preschool FoundationsCalifornia Common Core Standards Kindergarten curriculum that is developmentally appropriate Differentiated instruction

16. One size does not fit all… While published curriculum is an important resource…… the real value is in how we approach it!

17. Instructional Focus for English Language Arts and English Language Development Early Literacy and Pre-reading Skills Phonemic awareness Oral language development

18. Instructional Focus for Mathematics Number sense

19. Mrs. Lee Pioneer teacher for Fresno County piloting Transitional Kindergarten

20. Developmentally Appropriate Practice The age group Child development and learning Their social/cultural background These children as individuals Zone of proximal development

21. Social-Emotional Development Leads to higher achievement in the latter years of schooling Flexibility of TK allows for more time devoted to this social-emotional development. Heavy focus explicitly taught integrated into content areas

22. Daily Schedule 8:10 – 8:25Opening 8:25 – 9:50Language Arts 9:50 – 10:10Recess 10:10 – 10:55Math 10:55 – 11:20Lunch 11:20 – 11:45Math Centers 11:45 – 12:00Phonemic Awareness 12:00 – 12:30Recess 12:30 – 1:00Writing/Social Studies/Science 1:00 – 1:30ELD/Free Play 1:30 – 1:40Pack up

23. Instructional Strategies Kinesthetic Activities whole body movements Music concept songs and chants Steve and Greg Dr. Jean Puppets/Dramatic Play Readers’ theatre Math theatre Oral language usage

24. Instructional Strategies Hands on promote critical thinking and problem solving math handwriting phonemic awareness concepts of print Manipulatives/Realia math oral language

25. Carpet Time Whole class Calendar Read Alouds Dialogical Reading Phonemic Awareness Phonics

26. ELA Groups Free-flow stations teacher table art table seatwork literacy centers – more teacher directed Children are allowed to work at their own pace and are given the opportunity to make choices With high expectations and clearly defined boundaries in place, the children are able to take responsibility for their learning

27. Math Whole class shared experience investigation of a concept Centers – open ended activities cubes, counting bears, pattern blocks, sorting, etc. Small group more practice with the concept taught at the carpet Math Talk

28. Purposeful Play Benefits development of motor skills expression of emotions development of social skills development of self-regulation Unstructured and open-ended Requires cooperation Teacher is engaged in conversations with children

29. Differentiated Instruction Constantly scaffolding and modifying the level of support to meet the needs of the children Create or add a challenge to allow children to continue growing once they’ve mastered a concept

30. What evidence is there to support TK?

31. Results after two years Retention K onlyTK (2 yrs) Percent of students3% 0%0%

32. CELDT growth with one year of TK 0 level1 level2 levels Number of students 232 Percentage 28.5%42.8%28.5% These students are now in Kindergarten and will be assessed in first grade on CELDT. The indications are they will have growth more on CELDT than students without TK experience. The 2 students with 0 level growth also have special needs.

33. CELDT growth of students with one year Kindergarten – no TK 0 levels1 level2 levels # of students42213 Percentage8.6%47.8%28.2%

34. Transitional Kindergarten Pre-K Assessment for the first class Fall: 2010-11Fall: 2011-12 Upper Case Letters 16%42% Sounds 0%38% Numbers 1-10 55%75% Shapes 55%66% Colors 61%75%

35. Comparison of End of year 2010-11 to Jan. 2012 of students in TK 2010-11 and K 2011-12 DIBELS Next Letter Naming Benchmark 2 Jan. 2011. Core: 8+ Strategic 2-7 Intensive 0-1 Letter Naming Benchmark 2 Jan. 2012 Core 27+ Strategic 15-26 Intensive 0- 14 First Sound Fluency Benchmark 2 Jan. 2011 Core 8+ Strategic 4-7 Intensive 0-3 First Sound Fluency Benchmark 2 Jan. 2012 Core 25+ Strategic 10- 24 Intensive 0-9 Phonemic Segmentation Benchmark 3 May 2011 Core 18+ Strategic 7-17 Intensive Phonemic Segmentation Benchmark 2 Jan 2012 Core 40-81 Strategic 25-39 Intensive 0-24 CORE73%100%64%100%53%90.47% Strategic18%23%33%9.52% Intensive9%14%

36. Comparison of DIBELS results as of 1- 25-2013 DIBLES Next Composite Score ResultsK onlyWith TK(2yr) Core (on grade level)67.70%83.30% Strategic ( below grade level)20.60%4.10% Intensive (far below grade level) (K has 2 special needs, TK has 3 special needs students)11.60%12.50%

37. Writing Sample from second year 37

38. On track for success… 38

39. 39 Successes most likely if… Selected qualified teachers that are willing to be pioneers with high expectations, but mindful of child development pedagogy Parent support, involvement, approval, and advocacy Inclusion and articulation with local private preschools & non-district public preschools

40. Successes Students achieving socially, physically, cognitively and excited about attending school. Seeing children benefit from this gift of time. The undeniable academic progress experienced by students!

41. Most important lessons learned this year Work with the preschools and child care providers that feed into the school. Help them understand Transitional Kindergarten Talk about them using pre-assessments used by the district Communicate, communicate, communicate with everyone. Then communicate some more! And make sure you let people know what’s going on! Be willing to take a risk to do what is right for children. Be an advocate for our children Success at the beginning reduces failure at the end!

42. Coming Events for Transitional Kindergarten Leap into TK Summit FCOE Feb. 28 th Fresno County Office of Education www.fcoe.org

43. Advocacy and Information for Transitional Kindergarten Preschool California: www.preschoolcalifornia.org Save Kindergarten www.tkcalifornia.org Sponsored by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation California Kindergarten Association: www.californiakindergartenassociation.org State Senator Joe Simitian: www.senatorsimitian.com

44. Resources Washington School (599) 897-2955 www.kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us Dr. Mark Ford mford@kingsburg- elem.k12.ca.usmford@kingsburg- elem.k12.ca.us Mrs. Shirley Esau sesau@kingsburg- elem.k12.ca.us sesau@kingsburg- elem.k12.ca.us Mrs. Ying Lee ylee@kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us