Teaching Strategies Announces Expansion of Teaching Strategies GOLD®

BETHESDA, Md., July 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  Teaching Strategies, LLC is pleased to announce the expansion of its comprehensive, authentic assessment system, Teaching Strategies GOLD®. Currently used to assess the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of children from birth through kindergarten, the system will soon extend through third grade and incorporate the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-3.   In its current form, Teaching Strategies GOLD® is used by more than 20 state departments of education for preschool, prekindergarten, and/or kindergarten entry assessment.  "Teaching Strategies GOLD® is helping states and programs gain a comprehensive understanding of children's development and learning from birth through kindergarten, and it informs efforts to close the school readiness gap," said Andrea Valentine, Chief Operating Officer of Teaching Strategies. "This expansion through third grade will now offer educators and administrators a highly effective formative assessment tool that provides actionable data on children's knowledge, skills, and behaviors in the early elementary grades."

Teaching Strategies GOLD®: Birth Through Third Grade is being developed in consultation with subject area experts and with Dr. Kristie Kauerz, Ed.D. from the University of Washington, who is a nationally-renowned expert on P-3 systems. Dr. Kauerz and others are participating on a National Advisory Committee that is guiding the development of the tool and also advising Teaching Strategies on the overall effort to establish an integrated and aligned approach to P-3 assessment.

As part of the expansion through third grade, the Common Core State Standards will be embedded in Teaching Strategies GOLD® for grades K-3. Teachers using the tool for kindergarten through third grade will be able to assess directly on the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics, in addition to the other Teaching Strategies GOLD® domains.  "This assessment tool is unique because it focuses on the whole child. It addresses many areas of development and learning—such as social-emotional, physical, language, and cognitive—that other systems neglect after kindergarten," said Kai-lee Berke, Vice President of Curriculum and Assessment for Teaching Strategies. "And with progressions of development and learning that extend as far back as birth, Teaching Strategies GOLD® will help K-3 teachers identify where children actually are in their development and learning and how to support their continued growth, in addition to determining where they are in meeting end-of-year expectations specified by the Common Core State Standards."

In August 2013, Teaching Strategies will begin extensive field testing of Teaching Strategies GOLD®: Birth Through Third Grade. Sixty teachers and approximately 2,000 students in Hawaii, New Jersey, Connecticut, Nevada, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia will participate in the field test, which will run through June 2014. Teaching Strategies will collect teacher feedback and conduct ongoing quantitative and qualitative data analyses that will inform development. 

Teaching Strategies GOLD® is currently the most widely used early childhood assessment system in the country. It is being used to assess the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of nearly 1.1 million children annually in programs from birth through kindergarten. Teaching Strategies GOLD® helps teachers document and evaluate children's development and learning at particular points in time and over time, use that information to inform instruction, and communicate findings with families and other stakeholders.  Extensive research conducted by the Center for Educational Measurement and Evaluation at UNC Charlotte shows that Teaching Strategies GOLD® is highly valid and reliable for children from diverse cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.  The tool can be used with all children, including English- and dual-language learners, children who are developing typically, children with disabilities, and children who demonstrate competencies beyond typical developmental expectations.

To learn more about the expansion of Teaching Strategies GOLD® through third grade, please contact Jonah Stuart, Director of Public Policy & Government Relations, at [email protected] /301-832-6697.  

About Teaching Strategies, LLC
Teaching Strategies provides the most innovative and effective assessment, curriculum, professional development, and family connection resources to programs serving children from birth through third grade. With ground-breaking solutions and a strong belief that a child's first 8 years form a critical foundation for success, Teaching Strategies has been an advocate in the early education community since it was founded by Diane Trister Dodge more than 25 years ago. Teaching Strategies consistently expands its products, offering award-winning resources like The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool and the widely adopted assessment system Teaching Strategies GOLD®.  To learn why thousands of early childhood programs and many states choose to partner with Teaching Strategies to help ensure children's success in school and in life, visit www.teachingstrategies.com.

CONTACT
Jonah Stuart
Director, Public Policy and Gov't Relations
301-832-6697
[email protected]

SOURCE Teaching Strategies, LLC