Sharing VKRP Data and Resources with Families
Here at VKRP, we know that connections are at the heart of high-quality early childhood education experiences. Connections between teachers, children, and families are what matter most to help children grow and thrive in school and life.
VKRP data and resources can help foster those connections by helping families better understand what school readiness means and how families can partner with their teachers and school to align supports between the classroom and home.
In this blog, we highlight the family information report and resources – what they are and where they are located, and discuss some tips for sharing VKRP data with families.
What is the VKRP Family Information Report?
Once you’ve completed VKRP data collection for a student in your classroom, you can access the Family Information Report. The Family Information Report provides an overview of VKRP and shows a student’s scores in the 4 areas assessed. For mathematics, self-regulation, and social skills, information is provided for families about what the scores mean. For literacy, families are encouraged to ask teachers for more information from the PALS reports. For this blog, we show examples from kindergarten reports. Pre-kindergarten family reports are also available and look very similar to the kindergarten reports.
Looking at this Family Information Report example for “Daisy Banks,” a kindergarten student, we can see that she received a raw score of 26 on the Early Mathematics Assessment System (EMAS), which is above the kindergarten spring benchmark, meaning that Daisy is developing early mathematics skills as developmentally expected at this time. Daisy received a score of 2.80 for self-regulation skills on the Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) and she may benefit from additional support to continue to develop strong self-regulation skills.
The VKRP Family Information Report Looks Great… Where Can I Find It?
To access the Family Information Report for one of your students, you must first complete at least one of the assessments. After an assessment is completed, you will see the scores reflected on the Classroom Overview page. Then, click on the student’s name, to see their Student Overview page.
Once you are on the Student Overview page, on the left-hand navigation bar, you will see the Family Information Report. Clicking that will take you to the Family Information Report.
Family Resources
At the bottom of each Family Information Report, there is a link to the Family Resource Packet that families can use to help their child continue to work on their mathematics, self-regulation, and social skills at home over the summer and into next year. For pre-kindergarten and kindergarten families, these packets are available for fall and spring and include information about:
- What children were learning and what they will be learning in the following grade level – a list of skills that help families understand the developmental trajectories of children’s mathematics, self-regulation, and social skills from prekindergarten through first grade
- Ideas for how families can continue to build their children’s skills over the summer – a list of fun activities, along with descriptions, that families can try with their child
These family resources can also be located on the VKRP website under the “For Families” tab.
Sharing VKRP Data and Resources with Families
In the fall of 2021, 47% of teachers who completed the VKRP survey (pre-kindergarten and kindergarten) reported sharing VKRP data with families! This is a great way to help build families’ understanding of school readiness skills and their children’s development!
It is important to highlight that it is up to the discretion of programs, schools and divisions to best decide how to share VKRP data and resources with families. Some programs send home the Family Information Report and associated resources. Others share it, in combination with other data, during parent-teacher conferences. Other divisions choose not to share VKRP data with families. We recommend you contact your program or school leadership team for a decision on how VKRP data and resources should be shared with families.
If you share the VKRP family reports, we encourage you to provide this data in combination with other data that your division collects about children’s development to give families a holistic picture of their child’s strengths and areas for growth. The VKRP family resources provide suggestions for activities that parents can do at home, or even at the grocery store or playground, to support children’s developing skills.
Have you already checked with your program or leadership team about sharing VKRP data with families to best align supports between the classroom and home? Take some time now to make a plan for spring distribution so that you can foster those important connections after data collection is complete.
More questions? 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 ext. 1
