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Jessamine ELV to pilot new kindergarten screening test

June 13, 2012|By Jonathan Kleppinger | jkleppinger@jessaminejournal.com

The Jessamine Early Learning Village will be a pilot school next year for a new kindergarten screening test that will be implemented statewide in 2013.

The Brigance Kindergarten Screen will be used to assess abilities of students entering kindergarten near the beginning of the school year, JELV principal Kelly Sampson said.

“What it will do, more than anything else, is ensure that for all of the children and their individual needs, we’ll know exactly where they are,” Sampson said. “... I¿think all of that’s going to help us prepare for the kiddos to know exactly where they are and start individualizing instruction even sooner.”

JELV has used the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL) for years at kindergarten registration and used that data to create heterogeneous classrooms. Sampson said the school would likely continue to use the DIAL and the “valuable information” that comes from it.

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The Brigance will be used in all Kentucky public kindergartens. JELV sought to get ahead of the curve by volunteering as a pilot site, Sampson said. She said having the same screener statewide would help in setting comprehensive goals.

“Right now, every district is using something different in order to screen their children prior to placing them in kindergarten classrooms and prior to starting the school year,” she said. “It is going to allow us all to speak the same language.”

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