Ms. Jane Walters and Ms. Sidney Theesfield are the kindergarten teachers at Bentley Elementary School in Arizona. During this week in April, the teachers are busy conducting readiness testing for the incoming kindergarten class. The testing helps the teachers determine the strengths and weaknesses of each child so they can adapt instruction and social experiences to meet the needs of their students when the school year begins in August. Ms. Walters and Ms. Theesfield have scheduled 30-minute appointments with the parents of potential kindergarten students. The teachers alternate roles, one conducting a one-on-one readiness assessment with the child while the other meets with the parent or guardian to hand out brochures about kindergarten readiness and to answer questions. Amy Shelby, a student teacher under Ms. Walters’s supervision during the spring semester, will be observing some of the test administrations and parent meetings. Ms. Walters and Ms. Theesfield are doing some final preparations before the appointments begin and are preparing Amy for what to expect.

Ms. Walters begins, “Now, Amy, you aren’t yet qualified to give the BRIGANCE K & 1 Screen-II that we use for testing, but you will be observing. I asked you to practice giving the test so you can ask good questions when we have finished the screening. You know we need to follow the instructions exactly as written on the testing materials, right?”

“Yes, I have been practicing at home, reading the instructions to my roommate,” replies Amy.

Ms. Theesfield interjects, “Well, giving the test is actually the easy part. The harder part is answering parent questions. Ms. Walters, do you remember Ms. Jackson from last November at parent–teacher conferences who wanted her daughter to skip the rest of kindergarten?”

Ms. Theesfield turns to Amy and continues, “She assumed that because her daughter had a grade equivalent score of 1.2 on our district literacy assessment that she should be in first grade.”

Ms. Walters replies, “Yes, it took 30 minutes to convince her that grade equivalent scores were not that meaningful and shouldn’t be used to move students up or down grade levels. I am glad we decided to stop providing those scores to parents. It just causes confusion.”

Amy replies, “Test scores can be hard to explain to anyone. Last night, I was trying to explain the scores to my roommate. She couldn’t understand why a child wouldn’t be considered above average if she scored two points above the mean for the test. I tried to explain that average typically refers to a range of scores, not the exact mean.”

“Well, we typically don’t need to explain test scores to parents at this meeting,” Ms. Walters replies.

Just then, she hears a family entering the classroom. “Good morning, I am Ms. Walters. You must be Maria Sanchez. I’ll bet you’re excited to be a kindergartener!” Ms. Walters says with a smile and a wink.

Maria doesn’t say a word. She sheepishly looks toward the two ladies who have accompanied her to the screening.

The older woman turns to the younger one and speaks to her in Spanish. The younger woman replies in Spanish and then turns to Ms. Walters. “My name is Ana. I am Maria’s sister. I am the only one in our family who speaks English. I came along today to translate for my mother and sister. Is that OK?”

Ms. Walters replies, “Well, I am very glad you’re here. We do have the Spanish version of the screening we use and an individual who is trained to give the screening to Spanish-speaking children. So we won’t need you to help with the screening, but you are welcome to help interpret for your mother during the parent meeting.”

Ana turns to her mother, and they converse in Spanish for a minute or two. Ana asks, “Do you mean that I can’t go in with Maria during her testing? My mother is concerned that she will be considered behind the other kids because of her English.”

Ms. Walters assures Ana, “Please tell your mother that the entire test is given in Spanish, so the test score will be based on Maria’s abilities, not her English skills. OK?”

Again, Ana translates for her mother. The mother nods at Ms. Walters but doesn’t look convinced.

In the next room, Ms. Theesfield is administering the BRIGANCE K & 1 Screen-II to another child, Kaden, who has attended preschool the last 2 years. Kaden seems surprised that he is asked to do such simple tasks as naming body parts and standing on one foot. He is even a bit annoyed when he is asked to identify the color of some objects and draw a circle on the page. These are such easy tasks for him that he wonders if kindergarten will be boring. When asked to count as high as he can, Kaden seems pleased because he knows he can count all the way to 100. He is also excited to name the various letters shown to him (A, U, K, d, l, j ). Kaden states timidly, “I can read some words, too.”

Ms. Theesfield responds, “That’s wonderful. You will learn how to read lots of words next year in kindergarten.”

Please answer questions on the worksheet that will be attach.

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