Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program

VLP March Madness 2023

Winning basketball shot

It may be March Madness at this time of year, but these 3 tips from your VLP coaches will help you stay on top of your game!

1. Before: Go for the Set Play!

Get the details set.

  1. Create a plan for when (date, time, location) you will give the Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener or PALS-K. The Spring 2023 Assessment Period begins April 24th and ends May 19th. All scores must be entered by June 2nd. Check with your VLP Division Representative for specific requirements for your division.

  2. Review training materials.
    • Professional Learning tab > Tutorials
    • Professional Learning tab > Assessment Videos

       

  1. Kindergarten only: determine what you need to give the assessment in-person or remotely.

  2. Locate your Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener or PALS-K Form B (Blue) binder.

  3. Prior to entering scores, confirm a student’s administration type (i.e., Standard, Non-Standard, or Exempt) using Edit Info (Pre-K) or Modify Student Information (Kindergarten).

  4. PALS-K only: print needed consumables. Download PDFs from within your VLP account (Resources tab > K-3 Fall & Spring Consumables page) or Remote Materials (Resources tab > Remote Materials page)

2. During: Go for the 3-pointer!

Maintain the lead.

As you enter data into the website, double check (don’t double dribble!) that you have entered all data correctly and for the correct student. Note these specific plays:

  • Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener updates
    • Many of the middle practice items have been removed. Follow the computer prompts. You will skip these practice items in the Child Materials
    • Nonsense Sentences has been removed (Pre-K3 and Pre-K4)
    • RAN: Colors will not be given this Spring (Pre-K4)
    • Phoneme Blending (Pre-K4) is new for the Spring

  • PALS-K: optionally, give Blending and Sound-to-Letter
    • These tasks give you important information about students’ phonemic awareness skills

3. After: Go for the Buzzer Beater!

Convert data into targeted instruction.

Think about how to use your new data. There is valuable instructional time still left in the year. You can use the fresh data to plan targeted instruction, so your students start out next year as strongly as possible. Consider some of the questions below as you are planning your instruction for the last few months of the school year.

Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener

  • General:
    • How much progress have children made across the year?
    • Which Skill Development Bands are children in: Strong? Growing? Beginning?
    • What subtest(s) are children strongest in?
    • What subtest(s) are children in need of additional instruction?
    • What can children learn in the remaining time in your class?
    • What VLP resources would be helpful?
  • Letter Names:
    • Can children name all upper-case letters?
    • Can children name all lower-case letters?
  • Letter Sounds: Can children produce all letter sounds?
  • Phonological Awareness:
    • Syllable Segmenting:
      • How are children doing with segmenting syllables?
        • Can they segment 2 syllables? 3 syllables?
      • Beginning Sounds Matching (Pre-K3):
        • How are children doing matching pictures with the same beginning sounds?
      • Beginning Sounds Expressive (Pre-K4)
        • How are children doing verbalizing beginning sounds?
      • Language Comprehension:
        • Did students grow in their ability to retell a story, answer questions verbally, and answer receptive questions?
        • When you read aloud, how do you involve children in the story and have them answer questions?
 

PALS-K

  • General:
    • Are students near the maximum score in each task?
    • What task(s) are students strongest in?
    • What task(s) are students in need of additional instruction?
    • What can students learn in the remaining time in your class?
    • What VLP resources would be helpful?
  • Phonological Awareness:
    • Can students identify beginning sounds?
    • Can they segment words at the phoneme level?
    • Can they blend words together?
    • Can they identify phonemes by sound or letter and in which position in a CVC word?
  • Alphabet Recognition: Can students name all letters?
  • Letter Sounds: Can students produce all letter sounds?
  • Spelling: Are students able to segment individual sounds (phonemes) and spell CVC words correctly?

VLP Resources

Making a game plan now about when you will assess, how you will use the data to plan targeted instruction, and what resources you can use in the classroom and with families will help your students make an alley-oop!

If you have questions, give VLP a shout: by phone (888-882-7257), email (literacy@virginia.edu), or chat. We are cheering for you!

More Questions for the VKRP Team? VKRP provides support via the online chat feature when you are in the system, via email vkrp@virginia.edu, and via toll free 866-301-8278