ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Kindergarten is the gateway to education and a point of great variability in children’s knowledge and skills. As a result, there is keen interest in kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) to understand and address gaps in early skills. This study rigorously investigated the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Kindergarten Entry Inventory (PA KEI). Multilevel factor analyses provided evidence for three factors–Emerging Academic Competencies, Learning Engagement Competencies, and Communication Competencies. Measurement invariance analyses indicated that these factors were invariant across gender, race/ethnicity, dual language learners, and special needs status. Support for concurrent convergent and divergent relations was found only for scores on the Emerging Academic and Learning Engagement Competencies factors. Analyses of classroom-level variance in PA KEI scores indicated that teacher education and experience predicted between-classroom differences suggesting that teacher characteristics may influence ratings of children’s skills. Practice or Policy: This study provides evidence to support the use of scores on two factors of the PA KEI with all children to identify skill gaps and guide instruction to close them. Findings from this study can also be used to inform professional development on the PA KEI. Finally, this study provides a model for other investigations and efforts to improve teacher-report KEAs.

摘要

研究结果：幼儿园是教育的门户，是孩子们知识和技能变化很大的地方。因此，人们对幼儿园入学评估 (KEA) 产生了浓厚的兴趣，以了解和解决早期技能方面的差距。本研究严格调查了宾夕法尼亚联邦的幼儿园入学清单 (PA KEI)。多层次因素分析为三个因素提供了证据——新兴学术能力、学习参与能力和沟通能力。测量不变性分析表明，这些因素在性别、种族/族裔、双语学习者和特殊需求状态之间是不变的。只有在新兴的学术和学习参与能力因素。对 PA KEI 分数的课堂水平差异分析表明，教师教育和经验预测了课堂间的差异，这表明教师特征可能会影响儿童技能的评级。实践或政策：本研究提供证据支持对所有儿童使用 PA KEI 的两个因素的分数，以确定技能差距并指导教学以弥补这些差距。这项研究的结果也可用于为 PA KEI 的专业发展提供信息。最后，本研究为其他调查和改进教师报告 KEA 的努力提供了一个模型。