A Guide for Teachers
PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education Support Services Revised July 2004
REPORTING IN THE KINDERGARTEN YEARS
CONTENTS
Introduction page
Communicating with parents
Assessment and Evaluation in Kindergarten
ESL Students
Special Needs Students
The Kindergarten Years Assessment Practices Handbook
‘The Kindergarten Years – Summary of Progress’
Writing ‘The Kindergarten Years - Summary of Progress’
Writing clear and understandable comments
Students Who Move Schools
Printing ‘The Kindergarten Years – Summary of Progress’
Appendices:
The Kindergarten Years – Summary of Progress
2 Introduction
The Peel District School Board Kindergarten Reporting Process was developed to support The Kindergarten Program, issued in 1998 by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This process is a means of reporting formally to parents/guardians of kindergarten children during the two-year kindergarten program. The Kindergarten Reporting Process consists of a Summary of Progress, that is completed by the teacher and shared with the parents twice in both Year 1 and Year 2. This Summary, which is cumulative in nature, gives a profile of the child’s development and learning and details progress made toward meeting the expectations outlined in The Kindergarten Program 1998.
The Context for Reporting ‘The reports must reflect assessment of achievement in all five areas of learning, and should include anecdotal comments on the child’s progress and suggestions of ways in which the parents could support their child’s learning. Reporting should be ongoing and should include a variety of formal and informal means, ranging form formal written reports and discussions with parents and the child to informal notes to parents and conversations with them.’ The Kindergarten Program, Ontario Ministry of Education, 1998, p. 11
The Process For Communicating With Parents/Guardians
The following process for communicating with parents/guardians of kindergarten children will: Ensure informal and formal contact between teachers and parent/guardians throughout the kindergarten years. Provide a variety of options for parent/teacher contact with the contacts recorded on the Parent/Teacher Conference Summary in the Early Identification Procedures File. ( EIP File ) Provide to parents/guardians a written summary of the child’s learning during both kindergarten year 1and year 2.
3 Kindergarten Year 1 and Year 2
Between September 1st and January 31st the following shall occur:
Start an Early Identification Procedures File (EIP) for each Year 1 student and each Year 2 student who is new to the program. Update the EIP File as necessary. Provide a verbal explanation of the kindergarten assessment and reporting process to every parent who has not previously received an explanation. Complete the Summary of Progress for each student. Provide a verbal explanation of each child’s progress during term1 to the parent/guardian. Provide each parent/guardian with a copy of the Summary of Progress for their child.
Between February 1st and the end of the school year the following shall occur:
Update the EIP File as necessary. Provide a verbal explanation of each child’s progress during term 2 to the parent/guardian. Complete the Summary of Progress for each student. Provide each parent/guardian with a copy of the Summary of Progress for their child. Place a copy of the Summary of Progress in the EIP File.
When communicating with parents/guardians, it is important to include information about the child as a learner. (e.g. problem solving, creativity, cooperation and responsibility) Indications of a child’s independent abilities, or need for assistance (either limited or consistent), help to describe the uniqueness of the child.
Assessment and Evaluation in Kindergarten Assessment and evaluation are important components in the kindergarten program. They ensure that programming is designed to help children be successful in their learning and in the achievement of the learning expectations. Communicating the child’s progress to parents/guardians is an essential part of the assessment and evaluation process.
Assessment Assessment in kindergarten is a regular and ongoing process, that takes place in the context of authentic, everyday activities so that children are not placed in artificial situations or diverted from their day to day learning. Assessment addresses what children can do independently and what they can demonstrate with assistance.
4 Areas of Learning Aspects of Development
* Personal and Social Development * Social * Language * Physical * Mathematics * Emotional * Science and Technology * Linguistic * The Arts * Cognitive
Teachers need to assess children’s progress in the five Areas of Learning and consider all Aspects of Development. Both individual and age-appropriate activities should be provided. The Ontario Ministry of Education’s learning expectations are to be achieved by the end of kindergarten year 2.
Evaluation Evaluation is the process of reflecting on the child’s progress and learning based on the collected evidence, and leads to decisions and actions. These decisions and actions may necessitate program modifications to ensure both success and challenge for the child.
ESL/ELD Students ‘ Young children exhibit a variety of responses and behaviours as they learn a new language and adjust to a new social environment.’ The Kindergarten Program 1998 Reporting for the ESL/ELD student will need to reflect the child’s progress in light of their language acquisition. The stages of proficiency are not used with kindergarten children. Second language learners in kindergarten are still in the process of acquiring their first language therefore reporting for the kindergarten ESL/ELD child should reflect and celebrate the fact that the child is becoming bilingual. Special Needs Students The preparation of year-end documentation for a special needs student should be a collaborative effort between the classroom teacher and the Itinerant Special Needs teacher or Special Education support staff. An appropriate process for completing the Individual Education Plan (IEP) and the Summary of Progress should be determined. This process should be developed to reflect the individual needs of the student and address his or her progress. The classroom teacher should check the IEP box on the Summary of Progress if an IEP has been developed. Modifications Teachers should modify programming to meet the needs of all children (ESL/Special Needs), and should communicate to parents/guardians how these modifications may affect the assessment and evaluation of a child’s achievement.
Tools of Assessment In kindergarten, the major assessment tool is observation.
‘As a tool of assessment, observation involves careful watching and listening in order to collect information about what the child is learning. Observation notes can take the form of checklists, anecdotal notes and jottings, rating scales, frequency charts, tracking
5 sheets and continuums. Observation notes should be brief, dated, easily accessible and used to analyze growth.’ The Kindergarten Years Assessment Practices Handbook, 2002
Other tools of assessment such as portfolio pieces and performance tasks are discussed in The Kindergarten Years Assessment Practices Handbook.
The Kindergarten Years Assessment Practices Handbook This handbook complements the Instructional Practices Handbook. The Kindergarten Years Assessment Practices Handbook acts as a resource for teachers when assessing the expectations and will assist with the completion of the Summary of Progress. It is intended to provide teachers with a wealth of strategies to use when approaching assessment. It is also helpful in illustrating the ‘backward design’ process that is needed in order to assess student achievement.
The Kindergarten Years – Summary of Progress The Summary of Progress is to be completed twice each year for every child in kindergarten. (Once during September to January 31st and again before the end of the school year.) The expectations on the Summary of Progress are a synthesis of the overall and specific expectations found in The Kindergarten Program 1998.
Teachers should collect all the assessment data they have gathered on a given child and ascertain on the Summary of Progress how the child has progressed in relation to the expectations. This will be accomplished by examining all the data they have gathered and then deciding if the child has achieved as expected on all of them, some of them or few of them. Putting this information together will allow teachers to put the appropriate code in the box next to each expectation.
The majority of children in their first year of kindergarten will not have been presented with material from all the expectations nor will they have mastered the expectations. The code T is provided to note that the child needs more time and experience. By the end of the second year in kindergarten, the majority of students should have achieved the expectations; special needs and ESL students may need longer.
Writing the Summary of Progress Throughout the school year, teachers provide learning experiences that facilitate the collection of information about each child’s performance. Through observing, recording comments in anecdotal notes, collecting samples of children’s work, using tracking documents, checklists, developmental profiles and continua, and the child’s portfolio, teachers assess and evaluate a child’s performance and make ongoing adaptations to the program. This collection provides teachers with the information they need to complete the Summary of Progress.
6 Material and Information needed The Kindergarten Program, Ministry of Education, 1998 A Lotus Notes account Access to SIS for the purpose of completing the Summary of Progress Ontario Student Record, Early Identification Procedures File (EIP) Anecdotal notes based on teacher observation The child’s portfolio A variety of relevant assessment data
Student’s Interests This section is intended to include information given by the parents during conferences as well as information gathered by the teacher as the year progresses. Comments should be positive and highlight the interests and strengths as observed by the teacher or parent. Although two sample comments are provided for this area, teachers are encouraged to write their own. Selecting Expectations To Assess Teachers will determine how many expectations will be assessed during each half of the school year; this may vary for Year 1 and Year 2 students and for some ESL and Special Needs students. However, in each half of the year, expectations must be selected from each of the five areas of learning and all expectations must have been selected and assessed prior to the end of Year 2. Comments/Next Steps This section allows for information to be provided that has not been covered by the code in the chart. These comments will generally be brief in nature and highlight unique aspects of the child’s development and needs. A significant selection of comments is provided on the pull down menu for this area and demonstrates the type of statements that could be made. All pull down comments can be modified.
Pull down comments are clustered as follows: Year 1 Student’s Interests beginning at 101 Personal and Social Development beginning at 201 Language beginning at 301 Mathematics beginning at 401 Science and Technology beginning at 501
7 The Arts beginning at 601 Next Steps beginning at 701
Year 2 Personal and Social Development beginning at 1001 Language beginning at 1101 Mathematics beginning at 1501 Science and Technology beginning at 2001 The Arts beginning at 2101 Next Steps beginning at 2201
Writing clear and understandable comments To write clear, understandable comments on the Summary of Progress: Use prose or point form. Use and modify comments from the ‘pull down menus’ or write your own comments. Describe what the child can do and how well it has been done in relation to the expectations. Use comments that reflect the learning as demonstrated throughout the program, at learning centres, in varied group activities and during out- of-class experiences. Include specific examples to individualize some comments that relate to the child’s performance during the reporting period. Indicate modifications that have been made to a child’s program. Communicate effectively by using jargon-free language.
Verbs to consider when describing a child’s strengths Shows Is able to Continues to Compares Understands Produces Demonstrates Develops Expresses Creates Explains Performs Experiments Has learned Participates Builds Applies Knows Illustrates Evaluates Constructs Organizes Completes Interprets Describes Solves Extends Recognizes
8 Phrases to consider when describing areas for growth Continues to need practice to Attempts/Tries Requires adult support and encouragement to Is being encouraged Needs more opportunities to Is benefiting from Is working at Is learning to Would benefit from Needs adult prompts to With adult demonstration and rewording can Needs teacher direction to
Suggested Alternatives for Jargon-Free Language Use… Rather than… Uses personal experience to make sense of a story Uses prior knowledge Classmates, other children Peers Rereads Revisits Books, charts, magazines Texts Different types of reading materials Genres Uses knowledge of letters and sounds to write new words Uses spelling approximations/phonemic awareness/phonics
Uses pictures and familiar words to figure out unfamiliar Uses context words Uses familiar words in writing Uses high frequency words Reacts to books, videos through writing, art and drama Responses Participates Engages Materials, e.g., unifix cubes, wooden blocks Manipulatives
Students Who Move Schools During The Two Year Program If a student in year 1 or 2 moves after being in attendance at the school for more than six weeks: - the sending teacher must update, on The Kindergarten Years - Summary of Progress, information regarding those expectations that have been tracked. - a hard copy must be given to parents and a copy placed in the EIP File if the student is leaving Peel.
9 If a student in year 1 or 2 moves schools between the March Break and the end of June: - the sending teacher must update The Kindergarten Years - Summary of Progress for term 2. - a hard copy must be given to parents and a copy placed in the EIP File if the student is leaving Peel.
If a student in year 1 or 2 moves after being in attendance for fewer than six weeks: - a letter, on school letterhead, should be included by the sending teacher, sharing progress for the period that the student attended the school.
If a student moves to a new school, teachers have 15 days to update information on the Kindergarten Years – A Summary of Progress before it is transferred to the new school.
Printing The Kindergarten Years – Summary of Progress A printed copy of the Summary of Progress must be placed in the Early Identification Procedures File, in the OSR, at the end of kindergarten year 1 and at the end of kindergarten year 2. Although a copy of the Summary of Progress is printed for parents mid-year, it is not necessary to put a copy in the EIP File at this time. In rare circumstances it may be necessary to revise a Summary of Progress that has already been printed and given to parents. In this situation the parent must receive a copy of the signed and revised Summary; the parents should be asked to destroy the original copy that they received. The revised copy should also be placed in the EIP File and the original removed. It should be noted that changes can only be made within 15 days of the end of the reporting term ie. February 15th and July 15th. Student attendance shown on the Summary of Progress is as of the printing date; teachers should therefore print the Summary of Progress as close to the end of the year as is possible. If a student leaves the Peel school system at any time during the kindergarten years, the Summary of Progress must be updated and a copy given to the parents as well as a copy placed in the EIP File.
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