State Kindergarten Proposal Brings Unknowns

Babylon school district officials are advocates of better data and research on ways to educate students but say the proposed state Board of Regents plan to evaluate kindergarten students brings two big unknowns. One is cost and the other is possible additional resource requirements.

“It is always helpful to have data on students related to their skills and abilities. This is as true for kindergarten as it is for any other grade,” Superintendent Peter Daly told Patch, noting that the district first learned of the plan when it was written about in national media on Tuesday.

“We weren’t even aware they were working on this,” Daly said.

The state education’s proposal, which would go into effect in the 2014-2015 school year, would require an evaluation and testing effort that’s broader than current assessments used. While the formal plan, approved by the New York State Regents Board Monday, has not been publicly released a draft summary offers up specifics on what would be required.

A published report states that the new assessments would impact about 31,000 students on Long Island. The Babylon district currently has 96 kindergartens enrolled.

The plan is contingent on New York receiving federal grant money tied to the $500 million state-level Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant program and is endorsed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York is eligible for a $100 million grant and the kindergarten assessment tool would be proposed under the grant’s “measuring outcomes and progress" specification.

“The Tool for the Determination of Kindergarten Readiness will allow policymakers to use data collected from the tool as one of multiple measures to make informed policy decisions and provide targeted support to early learning and development programs,” states the program summary, which is posted on the state education website.

The tool would be4 administered to children during the first few months of their admission into kindergarten and cover everything form language and literacy to physical well-being and motor development. It would not play a factor in deciding special education needs or evaluating teacher effectiveness, the draft states.

Currently the state requires a screening of all new kindergartners to determine gifted skills, disability and language proficiency. Students also must have health, vision, hearing and scoliosis exams. As of last year 25 states had implemented  “Kindergarten Entry Assessments” and four states were in the process of developing a system. Of the 25 states with implemented systems, 21 required that all kindergarten students be assessed, according to draft.

In the Babylon district students undergo the current required screening process, said Daly, and then early in the school year they are assessed using a benchmark process.

“Shortly after beginning school students are benchmarked to help inform their literacy instruction. Benchmarks also help to determine if any children require intervention services,” he explained.

Additional assessment work may or may not require additional staffing but nothing is specified in the draft plan. Daly says the district can’t say what additional costs may be involved at this point.

“There is no way to determine costs without the details of the new plan,” he said.