Development of DRDP-SR (Desired Results Developmental Profile—School Readiness)

• In Event: Desired Results Developmental Profile Assessment System: Supporting Early Education Programs in California

Abstract

Objectives of the presentation:
Describe the process of developing and field testing the DRDP-SR© assessment in California. The introduction of transitional kindergarten (TK) provided an added opportunity to test the use of the DRDP-SR© assessment in TK classrooms.

Theoretical framework:
Broadly speaking, school readiness refers to a variety of skills and competencies that children develop during early childhood that contribute to later success in school. While it can be challenging to identify the specific skills necessary for school success, the work of National Education Goals Panel has provided a sound framework from which to expand upon. In 1995, The National Education Goals Panel identified the following domains of development as the basis for assessing children’s school readiness:

 Physical Well-Being & Motor Development
 Social & Emotional Development
 Communication and Language Usage
 Cognition and General Knowledge
 Approaches Toward Learning

The empirical literature largely supports the inclusion of domains identified by the National Education Goals Panel as precursors to later school success, with some receiving greater empirical support than others.

Methods:
The DRDP-SR© assessment is aligned with the California Preschool Learning Foundations and the CA-Kindergarten Content Standards. The goal of the DRDP-SR© project was to develop and test a child assessment for teachers to observe, document, and reflect on the learning, development, and progress of children’s readiness for kindergarten.

The five domains included in the DRDP-SR© assessment are those that been identified both in the empirical literature and by the National Education Goals Panel as those most foundational to later school success:
o English Language Development (ELD)
o Self and Social Development (SSD)
o Self-Regulation (REG)
o Language and Literacy Development (LLD)
o Mathematical Development (MATH)


Data sources:
The DRDP-SR© assessment was field-tested in Fall 2010 in with 53 kindergarten or transitional kindergarten teachers from 8 school districts in 3 geographic areas throughout California. Teachers completed the DRDP-SR© assessment for each child with parental consent. Teachers observed children within the first 60 days of school to collect documentation for completing the assessment.

Results:
Data were collected for over 700 children – approximately half in transitional kindergarten and half in traditional kindergarten. A valid and reliable calibrated scale of measurement was developed for each domain, based on Rasch model item-response multidimensional scaling. Domain scale reliabilities were as follows: ELD (r=.85), SSD (.92), REG (.90), LLD (.93), and MATH (.90).


Significance:
This project created a new assessment designed for use with kindergarten teachers to assess the extent to which an individual child is ready to effectively learn what is expected across specified developmental domains in kindergarten. Data collected through field testing demonstrated that this process can successfully be implemented in traditional and transitional kindergarten classrooms. The DRDP-SR© assessment provides formative information to support ongoing curriculum planning for individual children and groups of children and to modify curriculum across successive cohorts of children. The DRDP-SR© assessment supports schools in achieving the National Education Goals Panel’s vision of schools preparing to meet the diverse needs of incoming students and families.

Authors

• Kerry Kriener-Althen, WestEd

• Elita Amini Virmani, WestEd

• Ann-Marie Wiese, WestEd