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Board moves draft first-grade entry policy to January; members seek local assessment options, simpler instruments
Summary
Boardors discussed a draft policy requiring local boards to adopt procedures to assess incoming first-grade students who did not attend kindergarten. Members asked ALSDE to produce a simple sample instrument and to publish a model policy; some principals reported practical concerns about administration time and feedback.
The board reviewed proposed language on first-grade entry assessments for children who did not attend kindergarten. Under the draft policy, each local board would adopt a written policy defining what constitutes readiness for first grade for children who have not attended kindergarten and select an assessment instrument to implement that policy.
Presenters and board members emphasized that the goal is to allow districts to choose an appropriate instrument rather than to mandate a single vendor test. The department agreed to provide sample assessment instruments and a simple model form that districts can use. Several board members described principals''and teachers''concerns that some commercially available instruments require lengthy, one-on-one administration times and do not provide timely feedback to teachers. The board asked staff to work with practitioners and literacy specialists to produce a brief assessment option that evaluates key skills (language, early numeracy, working memory and oral language) and to make recommendations about when districts may seek waivers.
The board accepted staff''s plan to place the policy on the January agenda for consideration after a final staff review and to publish model documents for local boards to use while drafting their own policies.
