Assessment and Intervention/Use of Data Strategies are:

In the Context of a Tiered Approach

• The Barrie Region prepared a compilation of a range of commercially-created and board-developed assessment tools. The tools support the four cornerstones of literacy: oral language, phonological awareness, concepts about print and letter identification. The compilation includes links to further information about the use of each tool. [Barrie Region Final Report]
• The London Region has developed a website which houses resource documents for sharing among the boards. It contains a wide variety of assessment and intervention tools and strategies from four projects; Autism Spectrum Disorders—Phase 2 Connections; A4—Assessing Achievement in Alternative Areas; Learning for All; and the CODE Junior Kindergarten-Grade One project. The website also includes school entry processes, board procedures, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and resource materials. The criteria for inclusion of resources on the website were clear links to intervention, alignment with the School Effectiveness Framework, and usefulness at the system level. [Evaluation Report, p. 16]
• The Kindergarten Assessment Framework used in Trillium Lakelands District School Board screens for oral language, phonological awareness, concepts about print, letter identification and other skills. [Barrie Region Final Report]
• Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board uses an assessment cycle: Oral Language Observation checklist, Teacher School Readiness Inventory (TSRI), Nipissing Developmental Screen, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), Hearing and Recording Sounds, and Yopp-Singer Speech and Language Phonological Screening Tool. [North Bay/Sudbury Region Final Report]
• There are many types of assessments being used in boards in the Toronto and Area Region for junior kindergarten and kindergarten students. These assessment tools and/or tool kits were developed "in-house" by individual boards to address local contexts—e.g., Teacher School Readiness Inventory (TSRI) for at-risk JK students; Language Assessment Resource (LAR) tool kit for JK and K students. These tools also reflect the unique needs of students and incorporate the components of play-based learning. Most of the assessment tools for junior kindergarten-grade one students are recorded in paper format, while a few small boards have electronic formats and track students' progress through a data management system (e.g., A+, Students Achieve). One large board initiated the expansion of data walls in schools to include the kindergarten grades though results from multiple data sources, including Marie Clay's observation study. Aside from the regular assessments conducted at each board, participants also identified the use of Early Development Instrument (EDI) results in their junior kindergarten-grade one planning activities. EDI results are used to "set the context" and better understand student, school, and community factors. [Toronto and Area Region Final Report]