Education advisory council approves revisions to Bulletins to standardize kindergarten literacy and numeracy screeners

The Education Advisory Council voted to receive revisions to Bulletin 118 (Statewide Standards and Practices) and Bulletin 741 (Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators Regarding Kindergarten Screeners), a package that would make the statewide literacy and a future numeracy screener the required kindergarten entry screeners and reduce the number of separate assessments teachers must administer.

Ashley Townsend, Deputy Chief of Policy for the Louisiana Department of Education, said the proposed revisions aim to “reduce the number of kindergarten assessments” so teachers and students spend less time testing and have more time for instruction and early interventions. Townsend described the screeners as short, administered at the beginning, middle and end of the year, and said parents are notified within 15 days when a child’s beginning‑of‑year screen indicates that targeted support is needed.

The revision package was the subject of public comment at the meeting. Farishae Perkins, a parent, expressed concern about narrowing the information parents receive: “A child who knows all of their nonsense words on DIBELS, that’s wonderful. That’s great information. But if that same kid isn’t socially‑emotionally ready for kindergarten, they’re just gonna struggle.”

Early‑childhood providers and advocates raised related concerns. Dr. Lee Jefferson, executive director of LaForce, said the change risks losing attention to the whole child after extensive local investments to adopt broader observation tools: “When they go to kindergarten, we’re only gonna check for literacy. It just seems to be…we should consider the work that the teachers have done and the networks have done to get the teachers buy‑in to really look at the whole child.” Chenoa Warren, executive director of early childhood for the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, cautioned that some widely used instruments (for example, DRDP and GOLD) are environmental, teacher‑observational measures, while timed screeners are a different type of assessment; she urged piloting or phased implementation to study how the change would work in practice.

Department staff presented state data used to justify the revisions. Townsend said about 70 percent of kindergartners were assessed as not ready for “lesson 1 on day 1” in the most recent beginning‑of‑year screens, and that classes saw about a 20 percentage‑point increase in literacy proficiency from the beginning to the middle of the year; roughly half of students were still not at the target level by the end of the year. The department framed the policy as aligning the required, universal kindergarten screener with the state’s literacy and numeracy priorities so schools can identify needs and deploy targeted interventions more quickly.

After public comment and questions from council members, Jonathan Pierce moved to receive the bulletin revisions and allow staff to make minor technical changes prior to consideration by BESE in March; the motion was seconded by Jim Garvey. Chair Paula Polito called for opposition; hearing none, the motion passed.

Townsend and other staff said the change would not prohibit local programs or early‑childhood providers from using additional assessment tools (for example for dyslexia screening or developmental screening). The department also signaled it will provide guidance to help kindergarten teachers and early‑childhood providers manage the handoff from pre‑K to K and to describe how results should lead to interventions and progress monitoring.

The council did not record roll‑call vote tallies in the meeting transcript; the motion was announced as passed without recorded opposition. The department indicated the final bulletin language is slated for BESE consideration at its March meeting, and staff will continue outreach and training to address provider and parent concerns.

Next steps: staff said they will finalize technical edits and prepare guidance materials and professional development to accompany any change in the required kindergarten screening practice.