Welcome back to a new school year! This message contains information about several changes to the Early Learning Assessment (ELA) for school year 2023-2024.
NEW FOR 2023-2024
For the 2023-24 school year, any program using the Early Learning Assessment (ELA) as part of the requirements for Early Childhood Education Grant (ECE) and/or Preschool Special Education (PSE)funded children, must enter all student ratings in the Ready for Kindergarten Online (KReady) system. Programs will NOT report ELA results in EMIS or EAS as they have in previous years.
For the 2023-2024 school year, there are two options to meet the requirement for ECE and PSE programs:
Option 1 Assess children funded by funded by ECE or PSE in the set of Ten Required Learning Progressions (including 24 skills, or SKBs) in the fall and spring and report ratings in the Ready for Kindergarten Online (KReady) system. This is the same set of SKBs that ECE and PSE programs have been using for many years.
Option 2 Participate in an optional Early Learning Assessment Pilot. Assess children funded by ECE or PSE with a set of 25 SKBs in the fall and spring and enter ratings in the Ready for Kindergarten Online (KReady) system. This is a different set of SKBs derived from the comprehensive ELA and includes a new Oral Motor progression.
See this 2023 ELA Pilot Overview document for a list of SKBs included in the pilot.
OPT IN TO THE 2023-2024 ELA PILOT
Programs that would like to opt in to the 2023-24 ELA Pilot should notify the department no later than September 15, 2023 of their intent to participate. Here are some additional details about the pilot:
- A separate, simpler data collection in the KReady system with about half of the SKBs (only 34).
- The full set of 34 SKBs in the pilot data collection meet the SUTQ comprehensive assessment.
- The priority filter will show the pilot alternative to the Ten Required Learning Progressions for children participating in ECE and PSE. The pilot priority set includes 25 SKBs.
- There is separate data collection in the KReady system.
- There is a new Oral Motor progression.
Fill out this form by September 15, 2023 to let us know if your program is choosing to participate in the Pilot. We will be sending separate communications to Pilot participants throughout the school year. You will be asked to identify a primary point of contact and your data manager when completing the form. Please discuss this opportunity with the classroom teachers and building administrators in your program before deciding to opt in to the pilot. We strongly recommend that programs opt in at the organization level (e.g., an entire district) rather than at the classroom or building level.
Join us for an ELA Pilot Open Office Hour on Thursday, August 10 from 11 a.m. – noon to ask questions about this opportunity. Join at this link.
Reach out to ELAHelp@education.ohio.gov to inquire about the ELA Pilot.
KRA and ELA Data Manager Training
Tuesday, August 1 // 9 – 10:30 a.m. // Zoom Link
This live online training for new and returning data managers will prepare you to upload teacher, student, and enrollment data in the Ready for Kindergarten Online (KReady) system so teachers can participate in professional development and administer the KRA and/or ELA.
In this live virtual training session, you will learn and review:
- Information about the KRA and ELA, including the technology system used to support it
- What KRA and ELA implementation looks like for this upcoming school year, including any new updates
- How to upload teacher, student, and enrollment data through multiple methods
- How to handle student transfers within the KReady system
- Ways to access KRA and ELA district level reports
- Resources and supports available to you in this role
ELA Data Manager Training: Data Prep and Loading
Wednesday, August 16 // 10 – 11 a.m. // Registration Link
This session is for all ELA data managers and will provide important program information about new updates to the Ready for Kindergarten Online (KReady) system, system functions such as adding, updating, and managing student/user data, initiating, and responding to transfer request, generating, and exporting reports and other details for the Fall 2023 Early Learning Assessment (ELA) administration window. This session will also feature a live demo of the system and a question and answer segment.
Teacher Training
For details about ELA training opportunities, including how to register, visit the ELA for Teachers webpage.
For policy and implementation questions:
For more information about the ELA, please go to the Early Learning Assessment website or send an email to ELAHelp@education.ohio.gov.
For technical questions, please contact the Help Desk:
844-K12-OHIO (844-512-6446) http://www.ohio-k12.help/