The GKIDS Readiness Check is a new component of the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS). It is designed to be administered during the first six weeks of the kindergarten year. The GKIDS Readiness Check is aligned to the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS ) and correlated to the state-mandated content standards for kindergarten. The goal of the assessment is to provide information about the skills of students entering kindergarten.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the GKIDS Readiness Check is to highlight knowledge and skills critical for student success in learning – solely to guide instruction.

The GKIDS Readiness Check is designed to be developmentally appropriate, reflecting research-based best practices for young learners, and will provide information that allows kindergarten teachers to individualize student instruction.

Domains of Learning

There are three areas or domains of learning assessed by the GKIDS Readiness Check:

• Foundations of School Success

This domain includes students’ approaches to learning, social and emotional development, and physical development and development of motor skills. These attributes and skills, while often viewed as non-academic, are leading indicators of students’ progression towards future academic success.

• English Language Arts

This domain includes children’s early language and literacy development. These skills are foundational for fluent and effective communication and literacy skills such as reading and writing.

• Mathematics

This domain includes an understanding of shapes and spatial relationships, problem-solving, identifying similarities and differences, and basic numeracy concepts.

Assessment Activities

Assessment activities for the GKIDS Readiness Check are designed to allow some flexibility for the teacher during administration. Common classroom materials may be used for most activities. For some skills, teachers may assess by observing student performance during the course of regular classroom instruction.

Testing Window

The testing window for the GKIDS Readiness Check is the first six weeks of the kindergarten year. This six-week window will vary across districts, depending on the start date of the school year. Teachers may administer assessment activities at any time during this window. There is no prescribed order of activities.

Parent Resources

A parent resource website is available to provide additional information on GKIDS Readiness Check, including resources to further guide and support students at home.

GKIDS 2.0 is a progression-based formative assessment, integrated into classroom work, that is aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). GKIDS 2.0 is organized around big ideas and learning progressions.

• A big idea describes the integration of concepts and skills from the kindergarten standards that are most important for success in first grade.
• A learning progression shows where the student is in the learning continuum of content and reasoning development regarding the big idea from the GSE.
  • Learning progressions provide the big picture of what is to be learned across the year, relate increased reasoning of standards within the grade and across grades, and support instructional planning.

GKIDS 2.0 provides teachers with one source of real-time information to adjust instruction, by identifying what a student already knows, what the student needs next, and by allowing the teacher to monitor growth.

A summary of the big ideas and learning progressions is provided below:

English Language Arts

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will understand the relationship between letters and sounds and recognize high-frequency words with speed and accuracy.

• Progression: Phonemic Awareness
• Progression: Phonics
• Progression: High Frequency Words 

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will independently read grade-level texts of different genres with accuracy and demonstrate comprehension by answering text-dependent questions.

• Progression: Comprehension

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will independently write more than one complete thought on a single topic, using phonetic spelling and key print conventions.

• Progression: Conventions of Writing
• Progression: Spelling
• Progression: Communication of Ideas

Mathematics

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will model real-world problems by composing 2- and 3-dimensional shapes.

• Progression: Shapes

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will count using multiple strategies.

• Progression: Counting - Number
• Progression: Counting - Objects

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will compare objects and numbers represented in different ways to solve real world problems.

• Progression - Compare 

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will apply multiple strategies to solve real world problems using addition and subtraction.

• Progression: Addition and Subtraction

Science (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic physical science concepts.

• Progression: Physical Attributes
• Progression: Motion

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic life science concepts.

• Progression: Organisms & Non-living Objects

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic earth and space science concepts.

• Progression: Time Patterns
• Progression: Earth Materials

Social Studies (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic historical concepts.

• Progression: Historical Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts of geography.

• Progression: Geographic Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of good citizenship.

• Progression: Civic Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts.

• Progression: Economic Understandings

Approaches to Learning

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate behaviors used to acquire new knowledge and skills and engage in the learning process.

• Progression: Curiosity and Initiative
• Progression: Creativity and Problem-Solving
• Progression: Attention, Engagement, and Persistence

Personal and Social Development

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate skills and behaviors used for self-regulation and interactions with others.

• Progression: Personal Development and Self-Regulation
• Progression: Social Development/Classroom Interactions

Motor Skills (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate age-appropriate fine and gross motor skills.

• Progression: Fine Motor Skills
• Progression: Gross Motor Skills

Parent Resources

A parent resource website is available to provide additional information on GKIDS 2.0, including resources to further guide and support students at home.

• GKIDS 2.0 Parent Website 
• GKIDS 2.0 Parent Flyer

ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is used to determine the English language proficiency levels and progress of English Learners in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. 

• ACCESS for ELLs Information

What is the purpose of Georgia Milestones?

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is designed to provide information about how well students are mastering the state-adopted content standards in the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Importantly, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide students with critical information about their own achievement and their readiness for their next level of learning – be it the next grade, the next course, or the next endeavor (college or career).

Informing parents, educators, and the public about how well students are learning important content is an essential aspect of any educational assessment and accountability system.  Parents, the public, and policymakers, including local school districts and boards of education, can use the results as a barometer of the quality of educational opportunities provided throughout the state of Georgia.

What is assessed?

Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Georgia Milestones is a single assessment system that consists of end-of-grade measures in English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8, end-of-grade measures in science in grades 5 and 8, end-of-grade measure in social studies in grade 8, and end-of-course measures for specified high school courses.

The end-of-course measures are administered at the completion of the course, regardless of the grade level. Middle school students who are enrolled in one or more of these courses are required to take the associated end-of-course (EOC) measure. These measures serve as the final exam for the course and contribute a percentage of the student's final course grade per State Board Rule 160-4-2-.13 Statewide Passing Score.

Georgia Milestones EOG and EOC Study Guides

• Grade 3 Study/Resource Guide
• Grade 4 Study/Resource Guide
• Grade 5 Study/Resource Guide
• Grade 6 Study/Resource Guide
• Grade 7 Study/Resource Guide
• Grade 8 Study/Resource Guide
• High School Physical Science (Grade 8 Only) Study/Resource Guide
• American Literature and Composition Study/Resource Guide
• Algebra 1 Study/Resource Guide
• Biology Study/Resource Guide
• US History Study/Resource Guide

• PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test)
• ACT (Administered by American College Testing)
• SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test administered by College Board)
• SAT & ACT College Readiness