Assessment Choices and School Readiness Plans

As a part of an aligned system of public education, the school readiness assessment was recognized by the General Assembly as a critical element of aligned assessments continuing from preschool to elementary (§22-7-1002).  The State Board of Education has approved four assessment tools determined to be valid, reliable and research-based instruments for assessing kindergarten school readiness and informing individual readiness plans (§22-7-1014). Each tool assesses physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, language and comprehension development, cognition and general knowledge, including literacy and mathematics (§22-7-1004). Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year, the kindergarten school readiness collection format changed to reflect the State Board of Education's decision to include named domains to the reporting requirements.

Learn more on the history of school readiness assessments

This section provides general kindergarten school readiness assessment guidance and an overview of support for each State Board approved kindergarten school readiness assessment by tool.

General Assessment Guidance

Through conversations with each of the authors, researchers, and with other states, several clear, overarching themes have emerged to guide assessment. These are outlined in the general assessment guidance.

Desired Results Developmental Profile for Kindergarten

Webinars and TA

• For a list of upcoming webinars and online modules provided by West Ed, visit the DRDP website

District Example

• St. Vrain Valley example planning protocol for focus groups

High Scope COR for Kindergarten

Webinars and TA

• For upcoming webinars and training, visit COR for Kindergarten.

North Carolina Kindergarten Entry Assessment

Webinars and TA

• See interactive tutorial on google site

Teaching Strategies GOLD®

Webinars and TA

• For upcoming webinars and training, visit Teaching Strategies. 

District Example

• Greeley 6 GOLD® Planning

• Visit the Desired Results Developmental Profile for Kindergarten website for more information about the research and implementation of this tool.
• CDE - DRDP-K Information Sheet [PDF]

• Visit the HighScope COR for Kindergarten website for more information about the research and implementation of this tool.
• CDE - COR for K Information Sheet [PDF]

• North Carolina Construct Progressions and Situations Book
• Visit the North Carolina KEA website for more information about the research and implementation of this tool.

• Visit the Teaching Strategies GOLD® website for more information about the research and implementation of this tool.
• CDE - GOLD Information Sheet

The school readiness assessment is administered to each student enrolled in a publicly funded kindergarten within the first sixty days of the school year and assesses each child’s physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, language and comprehension development, and cognition and general knowledge, including literacy and mathematics (§22-7-1014). Districts determine the initial 60-day assessment window in accordance with their individual student start dates. School readiness assessments are not to be used to deny a student admission or progression to Kindergarten or first grade (§22-7-1004 2(a).

Flexibility in Implementation

The following flexibilities are provided (§22-7-1004 2(a)):

• If a reading assessment pursuant to §22-7-1205 (1)(a.5)) is administered within the first sixty days of the school year, the district is not required to administer the literacy component of the school readiness assessment.
• Districts may choose to assess additional areas and/or items of learning and development.
• Districts may choose to continue to monitor a student's progress toward demonstrating school readiness by administering an approved school readiness assessment multiple times over the course of the school year.

Data Privacy and Security

In December 2015, the Colorado State Board of Education approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Teaching Strategies regarding the use of the GOLD® assessment for kindergarten school readiness. As part of the MOU, additional privacy safeguards when implementing the assessment tool are in place to ensure even greater levels of student data privacy.

As the new school year approaches, districts are reminded to obtain explicit, individual written parental/guardian consent if planning to use photos and videos in Teaching Strategies GOLD® in kindergarten. Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, opt-in to the documentation functionality will expand to allow for child-level opt-in to be made in one of the following ways: By district, by school, by teacher, by classroom, or by an individual student.

The default setting for pictures and videos will be set to off and only administrators will be allowed to change the opt-in status to on. A student’s opt-in status is tracked by individual student, even if the opt-in is made using one of the bulk methods described above. Each district may use locally determined systems to house and track parental or guardian permission when using one of the bulk methods described above.

CDE Data Privacy and Security Policies webpage is a resource for early childhood assessment.

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Individual school readiness plans are required for every publicly funded kindergartner (§22-7-1014).

These plans are:

• Based on standards
• Used to monitor progress toward school readiness
• Informed by a State Board of Education approved school readiness assessment tool

Additionally, if a student is identified as having a significant reading deficiency, the student's READ plan is to be created as a component of the student's individualized readiness plan (§22-7-1014(1)(a)). For more information, please view the recorded 2020 Kindergarten School Readiness and READ Plans Webinar and PowerPoint Slides.

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