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At the beginning of each school year Kindergarten teachers observe and assess their students; the data collected are used to inform their instruction for the year as well as to drive their conversations with parents and guardians. There are three places you can retrieve the WaKIDS Whole-child Assessment data so please find the best way to access this data according to your role and access.
Washington Assessment Management System (WAMS)
District administrators who have access to WAMS can go to File Downloads and click on the year of administration to find the data. This is the only place where historical WaKIDS data with student identifiers can be found as all student-level data is archived in the MyTeachingStrategies® platform and will become unavailable after July each year. Administrators can download and use them for a variety of purposes including resource allocation, professional development planning, policy development, curriculum review and much more.
State Report Card and Data Portal
The WaKIDS data is usually released between January and February each year in the State Report Card. On this site, you can view district-specific or state-wide summaries in visuals. At the same time, the raw and suppressed data without student identifiers is available for download from the Data Portal. This raw data is frequently used by many organizations and districts to perform their own analyses.
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MyTeachingStrategies®
This is the platform where teachers input their data and generate reports that can be shared with families. Teachers and administrators have access to the tool from August to June to allow and encourage for year-round formative assessments. Families are welcome to reach out to their child’s teacher for reports which can be displayed in a few different ways. In July, all student-level data will be archived.
Transitional Kindergarten (TK)
January 31, 2023 was the last day to begin a TK classroom for this school year. All students beginning in a program within the first 10 weeks from the program start date must be assessed in the Whole-child Assessment by their certified teacher using the same objectives as required in full-day kindergarten classrooms. TK teachers must assess and finalize their data by the 10th week from the program start date, so classroom assessment due dates could vary. Please make sure school or district administrators have submitted a response to the TK survey which will inform OSPI with critical information about the TK program.
WaKIDS 101 Trainings
All teachers new to kindergarten, including TK, must complete the required WaKIDS 101 training in order to meet the requirements and assess children. All WaKIDS 101 trainings for the 2023-24 school year have ended and we will welcome new teachers to the training in the summer.
Checkpoint Dates
April 11, 2023 is the winter checkpoint and June 23, 2023 is the spring checkpoint. These are the dates that OSPI set to roll over to the new assessment period. Each district may have their own checkpoint or due dates to align with their professional development or conference dates. Please confirm with administrators if there is a new date for the classroom.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends that early childhood education providers use ongoing assessment[1] which in turn may increase the school readiness for young children, especially those at risk[2]. It is recommended that assessments be administered at multiple times throughout the year to provide data that can inform teaching and feedback for student learning.[3] There is a special emphasis on ‘ongoing’ or ‘multiple times throughout the year’ that makes an assessment ‘formative’. Formative assessments are not one-time assessments that do not provide continuous data for teachers that can be incorporated into their teaching practices[4] nor interim assessments even if they are administered at more than one time[5]. Formative assessment is a process, not a single event, and it supports instruction while learning is actively happening. Since young children’s development is uneven and unpredictable, formative assessment is the recommended assessment practices of young children to inform multiple facets of teaching and learning, both for educators and students.
[1] National Association for the Education of Young Children. “NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards. ”Washington, DC: NAEYC, 2005. Available at http://www. naeyc.org/files/naeyc/Position%20Statement%20EC%20 Standards.pdf. Accessed January 26, 2023.
[2] Snow, C. E., & Van Hemel, S. B. (Eds.). (2008). Early childhood assessment: Why, what, and how. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED555247.
[3] Hamilton, L., Halverson, R., Jackson, S. S., Mandinach, E., Supovitz, J. A., & Wayman, J. C. (2009). Using student achievement data to support instructional decision making. (NCEE 2009-4067). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED506645
[4] Perie, M., Marion, S.F., Gong, B. (2007). Moving Towards a Comprehensive Assessment System: A Framework for
Considering Interim Assessments. Dover, NH: The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. Available at: www.nciea.org.
[5] Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment and next-generation assessment systems: Are we losing an opportunity? (Paper prepared for the Council of Chief State School Officers). Los Angeles, CA: University of California, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED543063.pdf.
Samantha Bowen, Executive Director of Early Learning
OSPI: 360-725-6161 | Email: samantha.bowen@k12.wa.us
Alondra Mendoza, Administrative Assistant for Early Learning
OSPI: 360-725-6161 | Email: alondra.mendoza@k12.wa.us or WaKIDS@k12.wa.us
Yoona Park, WaKIDS Assessment Specialist
OSPI: 360-725-6180 | Email: yoona.park@k12.wa.us
Latisha Conley, Early Learning Program Supervisor
OSPI: 564-669-4669 | Email: latisha.conley@k12.wa.us
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ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.
Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.
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