GKIDS , 2011-2012
TEACHER PACKET for GKIDS
2011-2012
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------INTRODUCTION
The Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) is an ongoing,
performance based assessment. Students will be assessed throughout the school year on
the academic areas of English/Language Arts and Mathematics for kindergarten, along
with the nonacademic domains of Personal/Social Development and Approaches to Learning.
PURPOSE
The primary purpose of GKIDS is to provide ongoing diagnostic information about
kindergarten students’ developing skills. There are four academic areas; English Language
Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies, and three non-academic domains; Personal/Social
Development, Approaches to Learning, and Motor Skills. GKIDS should serve as one
indicator of first grade readiness.
TEST SCHEDULE
September 6
October 28
March 23
May 11
System deadline for teachers to enter student demographic information online
First system required data entry deadline
Second system required data entry deadline
State required data entry deadline - all standards and elements for required
content areas and domains must be assessed and reported by this date
There is only one year-end state reporting deadline for GKIDS. All required standards and
elements must be assessed before May 11, 2012. However, to assist schools and teachers
with staying on track with assessing items throughout the school year, the district has
established additional data entry and reporting deadlines.
The first system-required activity is the entry of all students into the GKIDS data entry
and reporting website (https://gkids.tsars.uga.edu/start) by September 6, 2011. Students
must be entered into the GKIDS website before teachers will be able to enter their
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
assessments of students and print reports for students or the class. To assist in gathering
and organizing information on students, we have provided an optional Student Roster (page
7) that teachers can use to collect and record the student demographic information that
is required to add a student to the GKIDS database.
The second and third system-required reporting windows will follow the kindergarten
standard-based report card, enabling teachers to evaluate students for both the report
card and GKIDS simultaneously. Teachers should also update any demographic information
(e.g. RTI) that has changed since the beginning of the year.
The last reporting window is the state-required reporting deadline of May 11, 2012. All
required standards must be assessed and all data entered on all students by May 11th.
Please don’t wait until the last week before the May 11th deadline to enter large
amounts of data, as the system typically becomes very slow then, and you may have
difficulty even logging in.
STUDENTS TO BE TESTED
All kindergarten students must be assessed on GKIDS academic standards and
elements in ELA and Math, and the non-academic domains of Personal/Social
Development and Approaches to Learning. Assessment of Social Studies, Science, and
Motor Skills is optional.
EXAMINER’S RESPONSIBILITIES
P To ensure that all students are assessed on all required standards, elements, and
nonacademic domains. All kindergarten students must be assessed with the GKIDS
unless the student is being assessed with the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA).
P To ensure that all students are added to GKIDS data entry and reporting
website.
P To ensure that students are assessed continuously throughout the school year
P To ensure that students are assessed for GKIDS along with assessing students
for the kindergarten report card
P To ensure that all required standards, elements and domains are assessed and
entered by the state reporting deadline of May 11, 2012
P To account for all students that should be tested
MATERIALS
There are no kits with GKIDS. Test Coordinators have access via Blackboard to the
GKIDS Administration Manual for 2011-2012 and the GKIDS Assessment and Instructional
Guide. These materials are also available on the GaDOE website.
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
The 2011-2012 GKIDS Administration Manual includes new wording for the “meets
the standard” performance level for ELAKR3 (element a/c) to match the wording in
the Georgia Performance Standards (see page 29).
All data entry and reporting for GKIDS will be done online, so there will be no paper report
forms to complete.
PROCEDURES
GKIDS Data Entry
School test coordinators will create user accounts for new kindergarten teachers in the
GKIDS data entry and reporting website and provide you with your login and password
information. Returning kindergarten teachers are still in the GKIDS system with the same
login and password as for the 20010-2011 school year. Kindergarten teachers will be
responsible for adding their students to the website. To add your students:
a
Go to https://gkids.tsars.uga.edu/start
a
Enter your login and password, and click “submit”
a
Go to “Manage” at the top of the page, then click on “Students”
a
Click on “Add New Student” and fill in the following information:
a
Student 10-digit GTID Number
a
First Name
a
Last Name
a
Date of Birth
a
Ethnicity - complete for all students (select either Hispanic or Non
Hispanic from drop-down menu)
a
Race -complete for all students, including those marked as Hispanic
for Ethnicity (click on all that apply)
a
Gender (select from drop-down menu)
a
EIP status (yes or no)
a
Indicate if the student has been retained
a
Pre-K status
a
RTI Tier (1, 2, or 3), Special Education, Gifted
a
Any SRC codes that apply (special education primary disability codes,
Section 504, ELL, ELL-M, Title I, Certified Migrant)
a
Click “Update”
After you have added all of your students to the database, click on “Home” on the menu
bar at the top of the page, and your home page should now show all the students in your
class in alphabetical order.
If a student’s name or GTID number was entered incorrectly, do not create the student a
second time with the correct GTID, or remove the student from your class list.
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
To edit a student’s information:
a
Login to the GKIDS system
a
Click on “Home”
a
Click on “Edit Profile” next to the student’s name
a
Make any changes needed to the student’s profile page
a
If you are changing the GTID number, re-enter the correct GTID number in
the GTIF confirmation box
a
If you are not changing the GTID number, leave the GTID confirmation box
blank
Students who transfer to your school from another public school in Georgia will need to be
acquired through the GKIDS system, rather than added. This transfers any information
already entered by their previous school. Students must be released by their previous
school before they can be acquired. To acquire a student:
.
Login to the GKIDS system
.
Go to “Manage” at the top of the page, then click on “Students”
.
Click on “Student Search”
.
Enter the student’s 10-digit GTID
.
Click “search”
.
If the student is located in the GKIDS system, his name will show up
at the bottom of the screen.
.
If the student has been released, the screen should indicate this and
have the word “acquire” next to his name. Click on “acquire”, and
verify that you want this student. This should transfer the student
to your class and school.
.
If the student has not been released from their former classroom’s
roster, the word “acquire” will not show up. Only the student’s former
school will be displayed. The former teacher’s name can be viewed by
moving the cursor over the school name. In this case, the previous
school will need to be contacted with a request that the former
teacher remove the student from their roster. Once that is
completed, the new teacher can “acquire” the new student in her
roster.
When students withdraw from your school, you will need to release them from your class
on the GKIDS website. To release a student:
a
Login to the GKIDS system
a
Go to “Manage” at the top of the page, then click on “Students”
a
Click on “Remove From Roster” next to the student’s name
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
a
Confirm that you do want to release the student
Assessing Students
It is a state and system requirement to assess students on the ELA and Math content
areas, and the Personal/Social Development and Approaches to Learning non-academic
domains.
The GKIDS Assessment Manual is organized by standard and then element for the four
academic areas (English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) and the three
nonacademic domains (Approaches to Learning, Personal/Social Development, and Motor
Skills). The Manual contains suggested assessment activities for all elements, but teachers
are free to assess their students however they feel is best. Teachers may assess students
by observation during regular classroom activities or by providing a specific assessment
activity. Students can be assessed in a large group, a small group, or individually. Students
can be assessed on any standard or domain at any time; however, the district plan is to
align GKIDS with the kindergarten report card, allowing teachers to assess students for
both the report card and GKIDS simultaneously. Two district required reporting deadlines
have been established, October 15 and March 18, to coincide with the kindergarten report
cards for the first nine weeks and third nine weeks. The district will follow-up with test
coordinators if there are teachers who have not begun the reporting process or entered
any data for students by the district deadlines.
The GKIDS Administration Manual provides a scoring rubric for each element. Each
element will have from two to five possible Performance Levels; Not Yet Demonstrated,
Emerging, Progressing, Meets, or Exceeds. Teachers should use these rubrics to determine
the Performance Level consistently demonstrated by the student. If students move from
one Performance Level to another during the year (for example, from Progressing to
Meets) teachers should update the information online to reflect the student’s current
Performance Level. For non-academic domains, the Performance Levels are Area of
Concern, Developing, and Consistently Demonstrating. The Manual provides a scoring rubric
for each domain.
STUDENT REPORTS
Teachers will be able to view and print reports from the GKIDS website at any time during
the year, based on the data entered so far on their students:
Q Student Report by Element - shows the student’s performance level for every
GPS element that has been assessed
Q Student Report by Standard - shows a summary of student performance for
each GPS standard
Q Student Report by Strand - shows a summary of student performance for each
strand within a domain (i.e., Reading, Writing, and Speaking/Listening/Viewing
strands within the domain of ELA)
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
Q Class Report - shows the percentage of students at each Performance Level for
every GPS element
Reports are available as either downloadable .pdf reports or web page reports. The .pdf
reports can be either saved to your computer or printed. The web page reports can be
printed only, but they are quicker to produce than the .pdf reports.
State, system, and school summary reports will be provided by the state after the final
May11th reporting date. Teachers will be responsible for printing individual student reports
at the end of the school year. The report to be provided to parents is the .pdf version of
the element level report. To print this report:
m Login to the GKIDS system
m Click on “Reports”, then “Student Reports”
m Select “PDF Reports”
m Select “Element Level Reports”. This will pull up the element level report for
all students in your class.
m Reports should be printed in time to be included with the final report card
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
STUDENT ROSTER
Student Name
GTID
Birthdate
Ethnicity
Race
Gender
Retained
(Y/N)
EIP
(Y/N)
RTI
Tier
Preschool
Experience
SRC
Codes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
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GKIDS , 2011-2012
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