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Planning is underway for the 2020-2021 K Screen implementation. Please read carefully as this update is full of important information.
Fall Administration
Incoming kindergartners will arrive with a broad range of skills, knowledge and social-emotional development. By evaluating students’ academic readiness and early development markers, teachers can learn valuable information about students that can help successfully transition them to kindergarten. The Brigance Kindergarten Screen is Kentucky’s common screener and can serve as the first step in that evaluation.
If schools are able to have in-person sessions in the fall of 2020, school and district leaders should plan for the administration of the Brigance Kindergarten Screen. However, the administration time frame may be expanded.
At its August meeting, the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) will discuss a waiver on the time frame for administration and reporting window requirements set forth in 704 KAR 5:070, Common Kindergarten Entry Screener, for the 2020-2021 school year.
The required Kindergarten Screener is currently available for district and schools to administer; however, this waiver would give districts and schools additional time and more flexibility when administering this exam to students and report the results to KBE.
Staff should follow current safety expectations and best practice guidelines when screening students. Virtual administration of the screener is neither recommended nor supported.
The KBE will likely offer guidance regarding the time frame of administration for the screener following discussion during its August board meeting. All updates will be published through the DAC Monday Email and K Screen Update communications. More information and the KBE decision on the waiver will be forthcoming.
Next Steps for K Screen Coordinators
Prior to District Screening Window:
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Identify district screening window (see paragraphs above)
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Become familiar with the 2020-2021 Implementation Guide
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Determine who will screen students and who will enter data
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Train new and experienced teachers and/or screen administrators (see "Training Topics" below)
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Set up classes in Infinite Campus (IC) {see "IC Preparations" below}
When District Screening Window Opens:
- Administer the Brigance K Screen III during the district’s screening window (following safety expectations and best practice guidelines). Virtual administration of the screener is neither recommended nor supported.
- Core assessments administered by trained staff
- Self-Help and Social-Emotional (SHSE) Scales completed by parents and returned to school. The parent survey for the Self-help and Social-Emotional Scales in English and Spanish is posted on the K Screen website. This form must be copied, as it is not furnished in the materials from Curriculum Associates. However, the parent survey is part of the screen and must be completed only during your district’s screening window.
Note: New for 2020-2021, students who have been retained in kindergarten should be screened.
When Brigance OMS Opens for 2020 Administration (August):
- Verify student rosters and user accounts
- Enter screening data (Core Assessment and SHSE Scales)
- Perform frequent data checks
- Request nonparticipations in the Student Data Review and Rosters (SDRR) for students with medical or extraordinary circumstances (The SDRR opening date will align with the opening of the OMS. K Screen coordinators should hold documentation until requests can be submitted. The SDRR opening date and detailed directions for requesting nonparticipations will be shared in future K Screen Updates.
Detailed guidance will be provided for OMS tasks as the opening of the OMS approaches.
Training Topics
Staff Training
Staff involved with implementing and administering the Brigance K Screen must complete training every year. Each type of training is listed below, along with the required audience.
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Audience
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Required Training
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NEW district trainers
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6-hour face-to-face* Training of Trainers given in March or July
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EXPERIENCED district trainers
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1-2-hour refresher webcast in March
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NEW teachers giving the screen
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3 hour face-to-face* by district trainer
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EXPERIENCED teachers giving the screen
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1-1.5-hour refresher by district trainer; training mode is at the district's discretion
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Data entry staff, new or experienced
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Brigance OMS training videos and Prior Setting video
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*For 2020, virtual training may substitute for the face-to-face requirement.
Training for new and experienced teachers and/or screen administrators must be delivered by a district employee who attended a 6-hour, face-to-face* Training of Trainers (TOT) session.
The training materials are available on the Curriculum Associates training site for Kentucky.
To ensure that only Kentucky staff are utilizing the training materials for new teachers, Curriculum Associates has made the materials available on a password-protected site. The password is BRIGANCEtrainers2020
Important training topics for new and experienced staff include, but are not limited to:
- Reviewing the 2020-2021 Implementation Guide
- Conveying information about your district’s screening window
- Collecting prior setting data
- Collecting Self-help and Social-Emotional forms
- Sharing consistent screening practices and following safety expectations
- Outlining your district’s data entry expectations and timelines
- Sharing data with families
- Using data for instructional purposes
- Viewing Online Management System (OMS) videos on the Brigance training site for Kentucky (The OMS will open in August.)
Reminder: A Brigance Training of Trainers (TOT) VIRTUAL session is being held 9 a.m. 4 p.m. ET July 22. District staff who need to attend should register on this Eventbrite wepage.
BRIGANCE OMS Training
It is required that each person taking part in the implementation of the Kindergarten Screen (administrators, teachers, data entry staff, etc.) view the following training videos. Teachers and data entry staff must view videos 1–9. Administrators must view videos 1–10. Access the videos on the Brigance training site for Kentucky.
- Part 1: Introduction and Overview (9:52 minutes)
- Part 2: Accessing the OMS (6:28 minutes)
- Part 3: Entering Required Screen Data: Core Assessments and Self-help & Social-Emotional Scales (12:17 minutes)
- Part 4: Viewing the Screening Summary Report and online Data Sheet (5:25 minutes)
- Part 5: Group Reports (9:01 minutes)
- Part 6: Recommended (not required) Screen Data: Supplemental Assessments and Reading Readiness Scale (4:52 minutes)
- Part 7: Parent Report (2:34 minutes)
- Part 8: Resources Tab (6:19 minutes)
- Part 9: Avoiding Common Pitfalls When Entering Data (8:43 minutes)
- Part 10: Administrator Features (6:42 minutes)
Training Documentation
Once all district and school trainings have occurred, training records, sign-in sheets and signed Implementation Agreements (Appendix A in the Implementation Guide) should be collected and stored by the Kindergarten Screen district contact or school principal for one year.
Infinite Campus Preparations
A data exchange process is in place to pull class and student information from Infinite Campus (IC) and import the information into the Brigance Online Management System (OMS).
There is no way for KDE or district staff to manually add students into the Brigance OMS. As students enroll and are assigned in IC to a homeroom with one of the required codes, the student data will automatically populate into the Brigance OMS during the weekly sync between the OMS and IC.
Once the OMS opens, if students or teachers are not showing up, check that everything is entered correctly in IC. Almost every time, the issue is related to something being incorrectly entered or not entered in IC at the school or district level.
Review the "Infinite Campus K Screen Reference Guide" (Appendix M) beginning on page 39 of the Implementation Guide for more information on how to enroll students and set up classes in IC to avoid sync problems with the OMS.
Brigance OMS Pre-Opening
Thank you for submitting staff files to assist in setting up Kentucky’s OMS account for the 2020-2021 school year. The files listed everyone in the district who will need access to the Brigance OMS when it opens. Each year, Curriculum Associates (CA) creates new user accounts and new passwords are required.
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and CA are working to test the files and data in hopes of a successful initial set up. Please consider the following when planning:
- 2019 OMS screen data/reports should be downloaded and saved.
When the OMS opens for 2020, all data from the 2019 administration will be removed. It is highly recommended that all 2019 data be downloaded and saved prior to the switch from 2019 to 2020. Use 2019 username and password to access 2019 data until July 21.
- The OMS is scheduled to “go live” for new accounts in early August.
Users for 2020-2021 will not be able to log in before July 21. Communication will be sent to K Screen district contacts when the accounts are ready.
The OMS account is often incomplete during the initial set-up phase. If screening with iPads is planned, it is advised to wait until you’re able to check the status of your account. Screening with iPads may not be possible until mid-August.
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Users will not receive login credentials automatically.
To log in when the OMS opens, use the “Forgot Password” feature on the Brigance OMS Login Screen. The user will be prompted to enter his or her username and email address; enter the district email address in both boxes. The system will send an email to the user with temporary login credentials. If the message is not found quickly, check junk and clutter folders.
Part 2 of the OMS video series walks through this process. DACs and Kindergarten Screen district contacts are able to create accounts for newly hired staff or others who were not included in the district staff file. Directions are in the "Administrator’s Guide" within the OMS
Remember, screening data cannot be entered until the students populate in the Brigance OMS in August.
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