[kids-lib] [MARKETING] Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide Kindergarten Assessment Results

Tue Feb 4 19:59:19 PST 2014

Hi Katie,

Inquire at the elementary schools, Head Starts, churches, middle and high
school Latino cultural clubs, and the like.  Cultivate possible
Spanish-speaking volunteers to be involved in the library’s services to
Latino families. This takes persistence, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Buena suerte,

Hope Crandall

From: Kids-lib [mailto:kids-lib-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf
Of Katie Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 3:56 PM
To: Martín Blasco; (kids-lib at listsmart.osl.state.or.us)
Subject: Re: [kids-lib] [MARKETING] Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide
Kindergarten Assessment Results

Martín,

That’s a great point. Yes, we should also consider reaching out more to
Spanish families with young children because there is a huge gap between
their results compared with other populations—this is not to say others
don’t need services too, it’s just to say Spanish speaking families may need
a little extra support to catch up. 

Does anyone have ideas for small libraries (1-3 staff members, none
bilingual) for improving services to the Spanish speaking community?

Thanks,

Katie

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services

* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *

Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301

katie.anderson at state.or.us, 503-378-2528

From: Martín Blasco [mailto:MartinB at wccls.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 3:05 PM
To: Katie Anderson; (kids-lib at listsmart.osl.state.or.us)
Subject: RE: [MARKETING] [kids-lib] Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide
Kindergarten Assessment Results

Hi Katie:

Thank you so much for this info.  No doubt there’s a deficit among Latino
children. Libraries should put more emphasis in storytimes in Spanish,
especially considering that is the largest growing minority in the country.

Again, thank you so much,

Martín Blasco

Outreach Librarian for Latino and Multicultural Services

Washington County Cooperative Library Services

503-648-9785 x 3#

martinb at wccls.org

www.facebook.org/bibliotecaswccls

“Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería algún tipo de biblioteca”.

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

Jorge Luis Borges

From: Kids-lib [mailto:kids-lib-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf
Of Katie Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2014 12:26 PM
To: (kids-lib at listsmart.osl.state.or.us)
Subject: [MARKETING] [kids-lib] Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide
Kindergarten Assessment Results

On Friday, the Governor released the first statewide Kindergarten Readiness
Assessment results. Below is the official press release or you can go to
http://www.oregon.gov/gov/media_room/Pages/press_releases/press_013114.aspx
to read it online.

Here are a few things I thought you might be most interested in if you don’t
have time to read the full press release. These are cut and paste directly
from the press release:

over 95% of all entering kindergarteners [participated] in the assessment

Some results give a startling look at the state of early childhood
development in Oregon. For instance, 33% of entering kindergarteners could
name five or fewer letters of the alphabet and 14% couldn’t name a single
letter.

Students were shown a chart with 100 letters – both lower case and upper
case – and were asked to identify as many letter names as they could within
60 seconds.  They were also shown a chart with 110 letters and letter
combinations and were asked to produce as many letter sounds as they could
within 60 seconds. The numbers below represent the average number of letter
names and letter sounds students named correctly in the 60 second fluency
assessments. For the early math assessment, students were posed 16 simple
math questions that addressed addition, subtraction, patterns, and number
recognition and were asked to point at the correct answer.  The numbers
below show the average number of questions a student got correct.  This
assessment was not timed but generally took 5 to 9 minutes.

Teachers observed students during regular classroom activities and assessed
students on 15 factors related to self-regulation and interpersonal skills
using a research validated assessment tool. Students were rated on a 1 to 5
scale on these measures with 1 being never demonstrated the skill, 3 being
sometimes, and 5 being always demonstrated the skill. State averages are
provided below.

What might this mean to libraries? The most important thing to remember is
to keep storytimes fun! Young children learn best through interation and
play, not flash cards and worksheets. We should not “teach to the test”, we
should continue to talk about all six early literacy skills and do all five
early literacy practices. However when we are planning to talk about letter
knowledge and phonological awarness, we may try to be more intentional about
how we do it and we may include a few more books and activities about
numbers and simple math with preschoolers.

·         For example, Crook County Library is using Ready to Read Grant
funds to purchas metalic paint to create a letter magnet wall in their
children’s room. This will provide children opportunities to play with
letters and adults to name them and talk about their shapes. What fun ways
do you explore letter knowledge?

·         I don’t know about any real examples about including letters in
phonological awareness activities, but perhaps when singing a nonsense rhyme
like the name game song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s1safp44V4) we
could put up flannel letters of the kids names before we start. Does anyone
else have fun ideas for showing preschoolers letters while working on
phonological awareness?

·         The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins springs to my mind right away
when I think about adding simple math to preschool storytimes! One could
read the book and retell the story with actual cookiesJ Any other ideas?

·         Include songs and activities in stortyimes that help kids develop
self-regulation. For example, Washington County Cooperative Library System
had a training on this presented by Jim Gill (http://www.jimgill.com/).
While you may not be able to get trained, you can use Jim Gill’s CDs in
storytimes to get started. Does anyone else have fun activities to help
children develop self-regulation skills?

·         Include activities in which children have the opportunity to
interact with each other, with you, and with their adults. For example, many
Oregon libraries now have imaginative toys such as puppets and puppet stages
in their children’s section that children can use any time. This provides
children an opportunity to talk to each other about what story they are
going to act out with the puppets and how they are going to share or take
turns through imaginative play. What are you doing to encourage the
development of interpersonal skills?

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services

* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *

Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301

katie.anderson at state.or.us, 503-378-2528

From: DALTON Nicole [mailto:nicole.dalton at state.or.us] 
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 12:54 PM
To: Katie Anderson
Subject: FW: [Super] PRESS RELEASE: Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide
Kindergarten Assessment Results

Katie, 

I’m pretty sure you will have seen this, but just in case you haven’t—pretty
interesting results!

Nicole

Nicole Dalton

Education Specialist

Office of Learning | Instruction, Standards, Assessment, & Accountability
Unit | Oregon Department of Education

É 503.947.5603 | Fax: 503.378.5156 | *nicole.dalton at state.or.us

From: Super [mailto:super-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of
ODE Communications
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 10:11 AM
To: super at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [Super] PRESS RELEASE: Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide
Kindergarten Assessment Results

Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide Kindergarten Assessment Results,
Reinforces Need for Early Childhood Investment and Community Participation

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Image removed by sender. John A. Kitzhaber, M.D.

NEWS RELEASE

JANUARY 31, 2014

Media Contact:
Rachel Wray, 503-559-1277

Governor Kitzhaber Releases Statewide Kindergarten Assessment Results

Reinforces Need for Early Childhood Investment and Community Participation

(Salem, OR) — Today, Governor Kitzhaber and the Oregon Department of
Education released the results of Oregon’s statewide Kindergarten
Assessment. The assessment was called for by Governor Kitzhaber and passed
by the Legislature in 2012, and is a key aspect of the Governor’s early
childhood reform efforts. With over 95% of all entering kindergarteners
participating in the assessment, the results provide an unprecedented and
sobering look at the readiness of Oregon’s youngest learners.

“Today’s results validate our focus on reforming Oregon’s historically
scattershot approach to early learning,” said Governor Kitzhaber. “This
assessment will help drive our current early learning reforms and
accountability for results, and should serve as a challenge to all our
communities to focus on kindergarten readiness with a true sense of
urgency.”

The assessment was designed to focus on the areas that are most strongly
linked to 3rd grade reading, which is one of the strongest predictors of
future academic success. These results will be used by schools, districts,
early learning hubs, and providers of early learning services to focus
resources and proven programs on the areas of greatest need. Some results
give a startling look at the state of early childhood development in Oregon.
For instance, 33% of entering kindergarteners could name five or fewer
letters of the alphabet and 14% couldn’t name a single letter.

“The Kindergarten Assessment information will provide us critical baseline
data so that educators can ensure students are poised to read at grade level
by 3rd grade,” said Chief Education Officer Nancy Golden.  “We know that
early education plays a profound role in a student's trajectory, and the
ability to provide concrete feedback to early education providers creates
tremendous system alignment and focus towards the third grade reading
benchmark.”

By highlighting gaps in student knowledge and skill – and gaps between
student subgroups and underserved communities – these results provide
direction and urgency for early action. In addition, results provide a
baseline for tracking trends over time, measuring progress and increasing
accountability.

The Results
The test was comprised of three main elements: two 60 second literacy
measures, an early math measure, and a teacher observation component which
assessed the student’s approaches to learning including interpersonal skills
and self-regulation. 

Early Literacy and Math
These measures were designed to assess some of the skills entering
kindergarteners had in early literacy and math. Students build on these
early skills as they start learning to read, write, and do simple math
problems, and this early assessment provides teachers and parents with
information about students’ strengths and areas that could use additional
focus and development.

The early literacy measures were designed to assess fluency in the
identification of letter names and letter sounds. Early letter fluency is a
key contributor to later reading development and academic success. Students
were shown a chart with 100 letters – both lower case and upper case – and
were asked to identify as many letter names as they could within 60 seconds.
They were also shown a chart with 110 letters and letter combinations and
were asked to produce as many letter sounds as they could within 60 seconds.
The numbers below represent the average number of letter names and letter
sounds students named correctly in the 60 second fluency assessments.

For the early math assessment, students were posed 16 simple math questions
that addressed addition, subtraction, patterns, and number recognition and
were asked to point at the correct answer.  The numbers below show the
average number of questions a student got correct.  This assessment was not
timed but generally took 5 to 9 minutes.

Student Group

Early Literacy:
Letter Names 

Early Literacy:
Letter Sounds

Early Math:
Numbers & Operations

All Students

18.5

6.7

8.0

Asian

29.9

12.3

9.4

African American

19.1

6.2

7.2

Hispanic

9.8

2.9

6.8

Native American

14.5

4.7

7.2

Multi-Ethnic

21.3

7.9

8.4

Pacific Islander

14.7

4.2

7.0

White

20.9

7.8

8.4

Female

19.2

7.1

8.0

Male

17.8

6.4

8.0

Approaches to Learning
How a student approaches learning and his or her ability to focus, persevere
at a task, and work with others are also critical skills which must be
developed and practiced.  Teachers observed students during regular
classroom activities and assessed students on 15 factors related to
self-regulation and interpersonal skills using a research validated
assessment tool. Students were rated on a 1 to 5 scale on these measures
with 1 being never demonstrated the skill, 3 being sometimes, and 5 being
always demonstrated the skill. State averages are provided below.

Student Group

Self-Regulation 

Interpersonal
Skills

All Students

3.5

3.9

Asian

3.8

4.1

African American

3.3

3.7

Hispanic

3.4

3.9

Native American

3.3

3.8

Multi-Ethnic

3.6

3.9

Pacific Islander

3.4

3.8

White

3.6

3.9

Female

3.7

4.1

Male

3.3

3.7

To learn more about the kindergarten assessment, please visit:
<http://oregon.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=41b11f32beefba0380ee8ecb5&i
d=90b011e24c&e=51ad4eedcd>
http://oregonearlylearning.com/kindergarten-assessment/

For kindergarten assessment results by school and district, please visit:
<http://oregon.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=41b11f32beefba0380ee8ecb5&
id=2d6e794901&e=51ad4eedcd> http://www.ode.state.or.us/go/KA

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