VKRP and CASTL Teams support Early Childhood Initiatives Across the Commonwealth
Exciting initiatives in early childhood are taking place in the state of Virginia! The Virginia General Assembly has appropriated funds to expand supports for early childhood access and supports for teachers and programs (HB 30, Chapter 2, 129). The team at VKRP is grateful to be a part of these initiatives by providing support and resources to teachers and administrators who work with our youngest learners in the state.
We are using this week’s blog to highlight several programs and resources that have been developed collaboratively between the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). We start with a description of VKRP and the Virginia Literacy Partnerships (VLP) and then describe the other Early Childhood Initiatives in alphabetical order.
Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP)
VKRP is an initiative focused on building a more comprehensive understanding of students’ skills in the fall and spring of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. As an assessment system, VKRP adds measures of mathematics, self-regulation, and social skills to complement the Virginia Literacy Partnerships’ assessment of literacy skills using the Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener and PALS-K. Data from the assessments are beneficial for a wide range of stakeholders including state policymakers, division and school leaders, educators, and families who support young children’s learning during their early school years and beyond. Visit the public website at www.vkrponline.org.
Virginia Literacy Partnerships (VLP)
Virginia Literacy Partnerships (VLP) has a new name (formerly the PALS Office), email address (literacy@virginia.edu), and website (https://literacy.virginia.edu) containing a myriad of resources for both educators and families. The VLP team administers three literacy screeners: Pre-K Language & Literacy Screener, PALS-K, and PALS 1–3. Literacy screeners are designed to identify children at high risk for developing reading difficulties. Early screening and intervention can reduce the number of students who are at risk for reading difficulties. Additionally, accurate screening data help educators design instruction that can improve reading and literacy achievement. K-3 students who score below the Summed Score Benchmark are required by law to receive two and one-half hours of additional instruction (i.e., intervention) per week to help students catch up to their peers. Please reach out with any questions!
Advancing Effective Interactions & Instruction (AEII) Coaching
AEII provides individualized coaching to birth-to-five teachers in early childhood education programs across Virginia through virtual, video-based sessions intended to strengthen their social-emotional teaching practices and teacher-child interactions. The program plans to serve around 125 classrooms this year and will take referrals year-round (but prefer referrals this fall, or by March 2023 at the latest).
For information or to sign up for AEII coaching, check out the AEII website (www.aeiionline.org), and feel free to contact Dr. Tara Scott with additional questions (mat6ze@virginia.edu).
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC)
The ECMHC pilot provides services to programs that support early childhood social-emotional mental health and wellness throughout several localities within the Central and Valley regions of Virginia. The ECMHC pilot is a partnership between the Child Development Resources (CDR), CASTL, and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). CDR & CASTL have collaborated since 2021 to design, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve birth-to-five mental health consultation services. CDR provides ECMHC services to children and early childhood classrooms serving children ages birth to 3 years old, and CASTL serves children and classrooms serving children 3 to 5 years old. You can learn more about ECMHC services, make a referral, and contact us at our website (https://va-ecmhc.org/).
The team at ECMHC plans to serve up to 100 classrooms or individual children this year and will take referrals year-round (but prefers referrals this fall, or by March 2023 at the latest, just like AEII coaching).
LinkB5
The LinkB5 Project (LinkB5) is a statewide data system that collects information about quality and access in Virginia’s Early Childhood Education system. Data collected down to the classroom level informs a universal measure of the quality of teaching and learning, the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System, or VQB5. Additionally, data from LinkB5 serves our VECF partners in administering Virginia’s teacher recognition grant program, or RecognizeB5. Within UVA, LinkB5 also partners with the Study of Early Education in Partnerships to increase the understanding of the ECE workforce. Check out LinkB5 website and feel free to contact Moira Johnson at mjm5xx@virginia.edu with questions.
In 2022, LinkB5 will be available statewide, with all publicly funded programs required to participate by 2023. In 2022 fall registration, approximately 2,700 sites, 8,700 classrooms, 18,000 educators (i.e., 11,000 teachers plus 2700 site admin) registered in the LB5 system.
This past August, the first group of more than 2,000 classrooms started receiving free printed guides and activities, children’s books, and PD support from STREAMin3. We are currently accepting enrollment requests for the second group, which will begin training next summer (2023).
STREAMin3 facilitates skills and interactions that align with the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP). Using VKRP is highly recommended (but not required) for you to participate in STREAMin3.
Find out more at STREAMin3.org, or contact us at (855) STRMIN3 or streamin3@virginia.edu.
In summary, these are just some of the exciting initiatives happening across the Commonwealth within the early childhood sector this year. For more information on other key activities, partnerships and initiatives, please visit the VDOE Early Childhood webpage and follow VDOE’s Readiness Connections weekly updates by signing up here! Sign up here for VDOE Readiness Connections!
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
