Planning for an Early Learning Inventory Pilot Study
This coaching project is part of a larger effort to support the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) in using an early learning inventory (ELI) to assess children’s knowledge and skills at kindergarten entry and to provide data to improve state-funded early learning programs. Through a series of coaching sessions, REL Southwest and OSDE staff adapted an existing ELI for use in a pilot study, developed resources and training materials to support teachers in implementing the ELI for the pilot study, recruited local education agencies to participate in the pilot study, and developed data collection measures to learn about implementation challenges and teacher outcomes from the ELI pilot study. The goals of the coaching project were to help OSDE create a pilot study of ELI implementation that would provide data to inform the training resources and guidance necessary to promote a successful state roll-out of the voluntary ELI.
Related research partnership: Southwest Early Childhood Education Research Partnership
Resources
Session 1: Adapting an Existing Measure for the ELI Pilot
- Participant agenda (314 KB)
- Slide presentation (2.3 MB)
- Content alignment memo (729 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Identify learning objectives to adapt items for the Oklahoma Early Learning Inventory (446 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Modify an existing item from the New Mexico Kindergarten Observation Tool (463 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Preliminary questions for project management planning (366 KB)
Session 2: Planning and Development of Resources and Training for the ELI Pilot
- Participant agenda (287 KB)
- Slide presentation (1.1 MB)
- Activity worksheet: Outlining the training agenda (227 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Inventory of existing resources for the ELI pilot (400 KB)
- References (363 KB)
Session 3: Pilot Study Planning
- Participant agenda (283 KB)
- Slide presentation (726 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Developing pilot study research questions (379 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Template to develop language for recruitment materials (385 KB)
Session 4: Development of Teacher Survey for the ELI Pilot
- Participant agenda (320 KB)
- Slide presentation (2.7 MB)
- Handout: Survey development process: Progress update (284 KB)
- Activity worksheet: Draft items for Early Learning Inventory pilot study teacher survey (567 KB)
Session 5: Development of Teacher Focus Groups for the ELI Pilot
- Participant agenda (313 KB)
- Slide presentation (1.9 MB)
- Activity Worksheet: Draft Items for Early Learning Inventory pilot focus group (470 KB)