Flashlights can be used in dark neighborhoods to get around areas that can appear spooky or be exciting! Remember, every door approached can be an opportunity for fun - or even scary at first!
Let us try to help you by shining a hint of light into this changing educational landscape and provide some guidance in navigating the world of Early Learning.
As long as there are pages to read and turn, there is a lot that can be learned!
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Mackenzie Adams, kindergarten teacher at Lake Stevens School District, uploaded a short video of herself teaching kindergarteners in front of her laptop.
The video, which she revealed during the interview, was meant to be for herself to see how she looks when teaching over Zoom. She quickly realized that the video she expected to have around 12 views actually have gained 11+ million views on TikTok! The video made it out to the world from TikTok to other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and ultimately it led her to be featured on Today Show. You can read more about it here.
Also, she added a few encouraging words to fellow teachers in Washington:
“To all my teachers out there...keep smiling, keep your enthusiasm, and keep up the amazing work! This is not a small or easy task but I have witnessed teachers coming together to collaborate now more than ever and lean on each other. I have seen all educators having to think outside of the box to ensure all students are engaged in learning and it really goes to show the passion behind this profession. Always remember we are in this together”.
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It is with heavy hearts that the Early Learning Team bids farewell to Ellen Mathews this month. Administrative Assistant for three years, Ellen has held the Early Learning Office together with her wit and ingenuity. She built many positive relationships within OSPI and across the state. We will treasure our time with her and enjoy imagining her tooling around the country in a camper trailer with her husband and dog. You will be missed Ellen!
With Ellen leaving us, it’s hard to feel lucky but we have been! Alondra Mendoza, who has been supporting WaKIDS 101 trainings this summer, has agreed to step into Ellen’s role. Already a valuable member of our WaKIDS Team, we are delighted that she has accepted the position with the Early Learning Office. It’s hard but important work and she is up to the task! Please join us in welcoming Alondra!
With many schools returning to in-person instruction, it will be important to keep in mind the unique needs of our youngest learners. Their first experiences with school form lasting impressions. Even though administrators and teachers may feel understandably nervous about safety protocols, care should be taken not to create fear in children. We want children to learn the rules and have fun while being safe but this will take time, patience and lots of positive reinforcement. Children will also still need to interact with one another, have extended opportunities for play, and get plenty of time to move their bodies.
The following are helpful recommendations and considerations come from the Reopening Washington Schools 2020: Early Learning Planning Guide.
In-person Instruction
- Adults providing in-person instruction to young students will need to facilitate play-based learning opportunities within Washington State Department of Health guidelines.
- Teach and practice following health and safety protocols, like washing hands and wearing face coverings. Make it fun, with songs and modeling. Young children will need frequent reminders and positive reinforcement.
- Establish routines that help build a sense of security, providing children and families with daily schedules and safety practices in advance.
- Establish assigned seating areas with a variety of flexible seating options for physical movement, including the floor. Consider removing shoes while in the classroom.
- Identify a special space in the classroom for children who need to have quiet time.
- Use outdoor areas for learning opportunities, assuring adequate supervision, when possible.
- Create specialized classroom jobs so young children can practice leadership and responsibility at school. Identify a peer leader who can help remind peers of the rules.
How was your first month of school? We are sure it was full of changes, challenges and, hopefully, fun. The Early Learning Team at OSPI wishes you to stay excited with your students as they bring all kinds of feelings and experiences. Hope your school is off to a great start!
WaKIDS Webcasts
OSPI Webinar, September 23, 2020 - Implementing WaKIDS Remotely
More than 300 teachers and administrators joined OSPI on September 23rd to hear about guidance and examples for conducting the Whole-child Assessment component of WaKIDS remotely.
A huge thank you to the educators who presented: Elisabeth Page from Wellpinit School District, Nina Ballew from Bellingham Public Schools, and Sarah Fell from Edmonds School District. Thanks also to the participants, many of whom shared ideas and encouraging words with one another during the webinar.
A recording of the webinar can be found here. It is also posted to our Whole-Child Assessment webpage.
Washington Educational Research Association (WERA) Remote Learning Panel, August 12, 2020 – Virtually Administering WaKIDS Assessment
For additional discussion about WaKIDS administration for fall 2020, check out the presentation and panel discussion hosted by WERA this summer. The chat answers many great questions raised by participants that teachers and administers may find helpful during the assessment period.
Panelists were Alyssa Hayes, from Tahoma School District, Jessica Wallace from Bellingham Public Schools, Laurie Sjolund from Sumner-Bonney Lake School District, Lindsay Callahan from Clover Park School District and Whitney White from Puget Sound ESD.
Click here to view webinar.
Click here to view chat.
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WaKIDS Assessment Timeline
By Oct. 31:
- Kindergarten teachers confirm their classes within the online assessment platform MyTeachingStrategies®, archiving any students no longer in their classes. There will be no more transfers allowed after this date.
- Kindergarten teachers relay any questions to District Assessment Coordinators (DAC) about how to finalize data and have a plan in place for meeting the November 13 deadline.
The week of Oct. 31:
- DACs and principals run an Assessment Status Report within MyTeachingStrategies® to review the status of teacher progress. Please note that there can be a short lag between when teachers enter data and when it is updated in the Report. The Assessment Status Report can be found in the Reports section of MyTeachingStrategies®.
- DACs and principals communicate with teachers about the approaching assessment deadline and support assessment implementation.
No later than Nov. 13, 9 p.m.:
- Teachers must finalize data for all students in the online platform, MyTeachingStrategies® by 9 p.m., November 13.
- Teachers run an Assessment Status Report within MyTeachingStrategies® to confirm 100% completion in the areas of Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Math. Areas for Spanish Language Acquisition are optional and may remain at 0% if not required by the district. The Assessment Status Report can be found in the Reports section of MyTeachingStrategies®.
- OSPI monitors WaKIDS assessment completion for each district, noting which districts have incomplete data. If we notice any unusual patterns, we will alert the district prior to November 13.
By Nov. 18:
- DACs assure the WaKIDS assessment is complete for their district, using the Assessment Status Report to confirm 100% completion in the areas of Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Math. Areas for Spanish Language Acquisition are optional and may remain at 0% if not required by the district. The Assessment Status Report can be found in the Reports section of MyTeachingStrategies®.
- DACs resolve issues with incomplete data.
Nov. 19:
OSPI reviews WaKIDS assessment completion for each district, contacting any and all districts with incomplete data to understand what prevented the district from meeting this state requirement.
General WaKIDS Reminders
User Accounts in MyTeachingStrategies®
We have noticed a number of administrators have created MyTeachingStrategies® for teachers, for a variety of reasons. Teachers get their MyTeachingStrategies® user accounts through the WaKIDS 101 training. District and school administrators are not authorized to create new user accounts for teachers whether they are trained or not. Teachers’ user accounts must come from the OSPI Early Learning Office to ensure teachers are properly trained and for other tracking purposes. User accounts not confirmed by the Early Learning Office will be disabled. Please help us to maintain a clean, up-to-date database of user accounts to provide all the help you, and other users, need.
Confirm Class Lists in MyTeachingStrategies® Are Accurate
- If there is a student who isn't showing up in a MyTeachingStrategies®class, teachers should notify their principal to contact the district assessment coordinator and ask then to move students into the classroom. All student moves must be complete by 4 pm, October 31.
- Teachers will not be able to finalize assessments if there are students in their MyTeachingStrategies® class with no data. Teachers must contact their principal to archive any students no longer in their classes. Click here for instructions on archiving students.
- Teachers may see Spanish Language objectives showing for some of their children. This happens when the Spanish Language flag is marked during the student import. If teachers are not assessing Spanish Language objectives they should disable this option in the child’s account by clicking on the child’s name in the class list and checking “No” for the “Assess this child using the Spanish language and literacy objectives?” option. Click here for more information.
Support Student Transfers
- All student transfers must be complete by 4 pm, October 31.
- Whatever prior assessments teachers have made will transfer with students in the MyTeachingStrategies®. Follow the steps listed here to transfer a student. All previously entered data and checkpoint ratings, including both finalized and not finalized, will be transferred to the new teacher.
- Students who are transferred prior to October 31, 2020 must be assessed by the receiving teacher.
- If a student transfers to a new teacher who was hired late and did not take WaKIDS 101 training, student data should still be shared with the teacher, by following the steps listed here. Save the Individual Child Report as a PDF and send them to the new teacher securely
Monitor Progress Toward Completion
Teachers, principals and District Assessment Coordinators should run an Assessment Status Report, found in the Reports section of the MyTeachingStrategies®, to confirm 100% completion in the areas of Social-Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive, Literacy and Math. Areas for Spanish Language Acquisition are optional and may remain at 0% if not required by the district. Click here for support with the Assessment Status Report.
Assure Assessment Completion:
- Once teachers have selected the appropriate level of development for all objectives within an area, they must confirm by clicking the “finalize” button. A green icon with a white checkmark indicates that the selected level is the final level chosen for a given objective. All areas must be finalized for all students by 9 pm November 13. For information about how to finalize click here.
- District Assessment Coordinators have until 9 pm November 18 to resolve issues with incomplete assessments.
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Using “Not Yet” and “Not Observed”
The first level of every progression is labeled as “Not Yet.” “Not Yet” may be used if a student does not demonstrate the earliest milestone – or indicator. However, a designation of “Not Yet” should signal the need for further investigation. What is the reason that the student was unable to demonstrate the very first milestone of development and learning? Did the teacher provide a reasonable opportunity for the student to demonstrate what he/she knows and can do? Is language and understanding a barrier? Or might it be an indication of a disability or developmental delay? What steps should be taken to find out more and to support the student?
“Not Observed” means a teacher did not have had an opportunity to observe a child’s development and learning related to a particular objective within the assessment period. Even during remote learning, teachers should use “Not Observed” sparingly and take advantage of the year-long availability of MyTeachingStrategies® to document children’s growth beyond the fall assessment window. If observations of an objective are not available because of family circumstances, please select “Not Observed”/“Other” and write in “NA”.
WaKIDS provides important, immediate information about students that should be used to inform instruction and close opportunity gaps. Teachers and administrators need to pay careful attention to students who enter kindergarten below typical development, especially designations of “Not Yet” and “Not Observed”. For more information about interpreting and applying WaKIDS data, visit the WaKIDS website or contact the Early Learning Office.
End of WaKIDS Training Season
This year, to reflect changes and needs, the WaKIDS team extended the WaKIDS training season. The last training of the season is happening now, October 1-15 and there will be no more WaKIDS 101 trainings this fall. This is to ensure teachers have enough time to conduct the assessment. Teachers hired after this final training are exempt from conducting WaKIDS this fall. They will need to be trained next summer.
OSPI will be offering a mid-year WaKIDS training in January for districts planning to offer Transitional Kindergarten programs later this year. Late-hire teachers from schools that opt to use GOLD® more than once a year but who missed the fall training may also choose to attend the mid-year training. The mid-year training will be open for registration by November 2. Please check pdEnroller or the WaKIDS Events and Trainings page for information at that time.
We appreciate the WaKIDS 101 instructors: Whitney White, PSESD; Maggie Mendoza, ESD 105; and Kristin Monson, ESD 101, for their exceptional support throughout the training season this summer and fall. And a big thanks to Alondra Mendoza for her support to training participants. Moving to a fully online training was not easy. Without them, we couldn’t have done it! Also for those teachers new to WaKIDS - we appreciate your participation and hope you felt the training equipped you with what you needed to successfully deliver WaKIDS!
WaKIDS Reimbursement
As in years past, districts may receive funds to apply toward the cost of providing a substitute and/or to reimburse teachers new to WaKIDS for attending a WaKIDS 101 training between July 15 and October 15, 2020. Additionally, districts may claim funding to reimburse teachers new to WaKIDS who completed Interrater Reliability (IRR) certification during their training. Please note that Transitional Kindergarten (TK) teachers are not eligible for reimbursement, as TK is not a mandatory program, but TK teachers are eligible for IRR funding.
Beginning in late October, OSPI will contact eligible school districts through the iGrants system (Form Package 844) to notify them of the funds that are available to them. OSPI will reimburse districts at a set rate to compensate teachers for participation in WaKIDS 101 training and completion of Interrater Reliability Certification. The rate of compensation districts pay teachers may vary in accordance with districts’ own policies and bargaining agreements.
Funding is limited to those teachers conducting the assessment who are new to WaKIDS in the 2020-21 school year.
WaKIDS Resources
Be sure to check out our Resources for Remote WaKIDS Assessment on the Whole-Child Assessment webpage. And...Don’t forget to check out the Open Educational Resource (OER) Commons! Many of the resources from the webpage can be found in OER and adapted by teachers for their own needs.
OER Commons is a free digital library of educational resources for families and educators. Anyone may access, download, and share the resources on the site. (In order to evaluate or create resources, users need to register with an email address and password.) Within OER Commons, OSPI has created a Washington OER Hub. This hub is Washington's platform for sharing K–12 open educational resources developed by OSPI, expert Washington educators, and our collaborators, promoting equitable access to standards-aligned, quality instructional materials.
On the site, visit our “Supporting Youngest Learners” collection for additional suggested materials for educators and families. Some of these resources have been developed by OSPI, Washington educators, or collaborators and others link to external organizations providing both open and “free to use online” educational materials.
OER requires setting up a user name and password at this link: https://www.oercommons.org/login. Once you have logged in, scroll down to find the Early Learning group in the Washington Hub https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/washington
As teachers complete their fall checkpoint this month, they will be using all of the great information about children’s knowledge, skills, and abilities that they’ve collected and family observations to inform their checkpoint ratings. Here is Teaching Strategies’ fall checkpoint support primer, designed to help you successfully complete the checkpoint.
They also have scheduled live support webinars for teachers throughout October which focus on the features and functionalities of MyTeachingStrategies® that will best prepare teachers for the fall checkpoint.
For technical issues related to the MyTeachingStrategies® online platform call: 844-853-4653. If your issue is not time sensitive, you may also email: wakids@teachingstrategies.com. There is typically a 48 hour turn around on emails, but telephone support provides immediate assistance.
Teaching Strategies also has a self-help portal with over 900, easily searchable articles to assist you. To access the portal, please click here.
Contact the WaKIDS Team for support at 360-725-6161 or wakids@k12.wa.us.
Colleagues from the state department of education in Iowa have shared this list of resources they curated for educators and families, with many ideas for supporting play at home.
Educators:
Families:
The K–12 Internet Access Program connects students in need to internet access at home with no cost to the student or their family. Through the program, students whose families are low-income and are not currently connected to the internet can get connected through the end of the 2020–21 school year for free.
https://www.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/press-releases/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-resources/k–12-internet-access-program
PBS TV Learning Opportunities
PBS member stations throughout Washington are working to support families and educators support their children’s learning from home.
Teaching Strategies Contact Information
Teaching Strategies assistance with the GOLD® assessment and/or its online assessment platform MyTeachingStrategies™, provides a dedicated help line and email access for WaKIDS assistance. To contact them directly, please use the following information: Phone: 844-853-4653 email: wakids@teachingstategies.com
Early Learning Office Contact Information
Ellen Mathews, Administrative Assistant for Early Learning and WaKIDS
OSPI: 360-725-6161 | Email: ellen.mathews@k12.wa.us
Alondra Mendoza, Administrative Assistant III and WaKIDS Training Support
OSPI: 360-725-4959 | Email: alondra.mendoza@k12.wa.us or WaKIDS@k12.wa.us
Yoona Park, WaKIDS Assessment Specialist
OSPI: 360-725-6180 | Email: yoona.park@k12.wa.us
Gretchen Stahr Breunig, Kindergarten Transition Specialist
OSPI: 360-764-0445 | Email: gretchen.stahrbreunig@k12.wa.us
Karma Hugo, Director of Early Learning
OSPI: 360-725-6153 | Email: karma.hugo@k12.wa.us
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