KPM User Guide-draft

• New to CLI Engage? Sign up for access to CLI Engage  
• Most CLI Engage users log in using their Google Account. If you do not have a Google account, you can create one using your existing email account or create a Gmail account by going to our Account Set-Up How-to-Guide  
• View our registration video  for information 

From the dashboard, you can navigate everything on CLI Engage! After logging in, you will see a dashboard that includes links to: 

• SCREENING, PROGRESS MONITORING, & OBSERVATION tools, including the Circle Progress Monitoring System and Assessment Practice Area
• ONLINE LEARNING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT for access to online courses
• ACTIVITIES & MATERIALS for teachers and families (Circle Activity Collections)
• QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & INNOVATION to access collaborative tools to support teacher goal-setting
• ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS to manage your student roster and classes

View the Quick Start Guide to learn where to find all the tools and resources on the platform.  

The Assessment Practice Area is located under the red banner, “Screening, Observation, and Assessment.”

In the assessment practice area, you can:

• Practice assessing children
• View assessment items in each measure
• Practice pulling class-level reports

Comprehensive training for KPM is available in the Online Courses section of CLI Engage. Users can earn certificates for the completion of each course.

• KPM Introduction (1 hour)
• KPM Administration Guidelines (2 hours)
• KPM Reporting Features (1 hour)
• KPM Overview for Administrators (1 hour)

When logged in, access the courses directly here: KPM Self-Instructional Courses

• How to Access Circle KPM Training

• Login to CLI Engage and locate the “Screening, Progress Monitoring, and Observation” red banner on the dashboard
• Click the “Circle Kindergarten Progress Monitoring” button
• On the “Class View” page, click on the name of the class that includes the students you wish to assess
• View your roster and begin assessing students on the “Student View” page

This page allows you to:

• Select which wave you are assessing (BOY – Wave 1, MOY – Wave 2, EOY – Wave 3)
• Choose to administer a measure in English/Spanish
• See the benchmark scores for students in a class
• Launch a measure, or multiple measures

There are several options for uploading data into CLI Engage to create accounts for teachers and other staff, as well as adding children into the system for progress monitoring. Your rosters may be uploaded on your behalf.

Find instructions and more information: Uploading Teacher and Student Data

The following table shows the KPM measures available in English in each wave, the type of response collected in the measure, and the administration time per student.

The following table shows the KPM measures available in Spanish in each wave, the type of response collected in the measure, and the administration time per student.

Learn about how the KPM measures are aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):

• KPM-TEKS Alignment for Kindergarten

KPM is a user-friendly and psychometrically sound screening and progress monitoring tool developed by the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). KPM is a standardized, criterion-referenced measure that relates well to established standardized tests and is sensitive to growth in student skills over time.

KPM tracks student progress throughout the kindergarten year, ensuring comprehensive monitoring across all timepoints. This provides a thorough overview of students’ academic and developmental growth, helping educators tailor their approaches to support each student’s learning needs. Additionally, the integration of screeners in the same assessment allows educators to identify and address specific areas where students may require additional support.

For detailed information about its reliability and validity, please refer to the KPM Technical Manual, available upon request.

After a measure is administered to a student, the score will be highlighted by a color (green, yellow, or red) to signal to the teacher how the student’s skills are progressing as they plan instruction.

• If the student scores at or above these cut points, they are considered “On Track.”
• “Monitor” indicates the student would benefit from more scaffolded supports.
• “Support” shows an underdeveloped understanding and a need for more intensive intervention.

KPM Benchmark Legend on CLI Engage

The  state-mandated KPM Literacy Screener is comprised of the Vocabulary, Letter Names, and Spelling measures, administered at Wave 1 (BOY). After teachers administer all three measures, two composite scores are produced.

KEA Literacy Screening Score

Students will score within the “on track” (green), “monitor” (yellow) or “support” (red) benchmarks ranges for each measure. These scores assist districts in informing student instruction. The composite score produced can be used to identify students who meet the “support” benchmark because they are in the bottom 25th percentile.

Statewide Kindergarten Readiness Score: Reported to TEA

The Statewide Kindergarten Readiness score is also comprised of Vocabulary, Letter Names, and Spelling measures, administered at Wave 1 (BOY). Students must meet the “on track” (green) benchmark for all three measures to meet the kindergarten readiness criteria determined by TEA. Districts can use the additional measures to make individual determinations regarding students who may require additional support.

CLI Engage offers two tools to support dyslexia screening for kindergarten students in English and Spanish, administered at Wave 3 (EOY). These tools can be used together to identify students who may be at risk for dyslexia.

The Dyslexia Screener is a direct assessment that align with the student skill criteria for dyslexia screening in accordance with Texas Education Code §28.006 and §38.003(a). The kindergarten Dyslexia Screener on CLI Engage uses the following measures to assess skills identified in TEA’s Dyslexia Handbook.

English

• Letter Sound Knowledge or Letter Naming Fluency: KPM Letter Sounds (receptive and expressive)
• Phonological Awareness: KPM Blending (receptive and expressive)

Spanish

• Letter Sound Knowledge or Letter Naming Fluency: KPM Sonidos de las letras (receptivo)
• Phonological Awareness: Combinación de sonidos (receptivo y expresivo) and Decodificación

The Dyslexia Referral Checklist (DRC) is a supplemental questionnaire that builds a link between direct assessment of early reading skills and classroom observations.

Teachers can use the DRC as a supplement to support screening. The DRC has a point scale once tallied that will indicate whether the student may be at risk. A score of 24 or greater indicates possible further evaluation.

Vocabulary is a foundational language skill that supports learning in all content domains. Knowing a student’s vocabulary abilities helps teachers adjust their own vocabulary usage during instruction to levels that are most beneficial for individual students. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Vocabulary Features

• Untimed
• Teacher-recorded responses
• Picture naming task

Vocabulary Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1.  Headphones are not worn by the student.
2. Silently review the general administration directions on the screen in black font.
3. A picture will appear for the student.
4. The prompt you will say to the student is shown on the screen in colored font. Read the entire prompt.
5. After the student provides a verbal response, select the purple button for a correct response and blue button for an incorrect response.
6. Use the Vocabulary Scoring Guidelines for list of correct responses.
7. CLI Engage will score the response.

Allowable Prompts for Vocabulary

There may be occasions when a student provides a response that requires the teacher to follow up with a query, or prompt, rather than immediately scoring the response. There are four follow-up queries that can be used. Each of these four prompts can only be used once per test item. If the same prompt would be needed a second time on a given item, then the prompt should not be repeated and the item should simply be scored as incorrect. More than one type of prompt can be used on the same test item if absolutely necessary, but this would be very rare. If the student’s response to a prompt does not require an additional prompt (as will usually be the case), then score the student’s response as correct or incorrect using the Vocabulary Scoresheet. Prompts should not be used to give students a second chance to get the answer right. Most initial responses can be immediately scored.

Prompts should only be used under the following circumstances:

• If student responds in the wrong language: “What’s the English word?”
• If student labels the wrong part of a picture: “What is this (point)?”
• If student’s response reflects a higher level of categorization (e.g., student responds “animal” for dog): “What kind?”
• If student’s response reflects a lower level of categorization (e.g., student responds “golden retriever” for dog): “Tell me another word.”

Listening comprehension is a foundational language skill that supports learning in all content areas. KPM assesses the student’s ability to understand verbal information and follow directions. Knowing your student’s receptive language abilities will allow you to adjust the complexity of your own language during instruction. This will help your students understand your instruction, and it will help you scaffold their language development. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Listening Comprehension Features

• Untimed
• Single-select items and multiple-select items

Listening Comprehension Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. Silently review the administration directions on the screen.
3. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
4. Grayed pictures will appear on the screen while the computer provides auditory instructions.
5. Once the computer is finished providing auditory instructions, the pictures will change to color, which allows the student to select the picture(s) that best illustrates the sentence they just heard. Items are a combination of single-select (one answer) and multiple-select (more than one answer).

Note: Even though this is a self-guided test, teachers should watch students as they proceed to make sure they are waiting for pictures to change from gray scale to color before making selections.

Allowable Prompts for Listening Comprehension

• If the student does not respond by pointing to a picture(s) within 5 seconds: “Go ahead. Point to the picture(s).”
• If the student points to a picture before it changes from gray scale to color: “Wait until the computer is done talking.” or “Wait until all the pictures turn to color.”

Failure of the student to respond after an extended period of time will result in the item being scored as incorrect, and CLI Engage will advance to the next test item.

Letter Names assess students’ knowledge of the names associated with various letters of the alphabet. Letter names is one component of letter knowledge which is an excellent predictor of reading achievement. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Letter Names Features

• Untimed
• Teacher-recorded responses for English administration
• Student-selected responses for Spanish administration

Letter Names Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

English:

1. Headphones are not worn by the student.
2. A letter will appear on the screen for the student.
3. The prompt you will say to the student is shown on the screen in colored font. Read the entire prompt.
4. The student responds verbally.
5. Score the student’s verbal response by selecting the appropriate button on the screen. (Correct = purple button / Incorrect = blue button)

Spanish:

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. Four letters appear on the screen while the computer provides auditory instructions.
3. The student selects the best response.
4. CLI Engage will score the response.

Decoding measures the ability to read non-high frequency words by sounding them out (decoding) rather than knowing the whole word from memory (rote visual memory).

Decoding Features

• Untimed
• Teacher-recorded responses

Decoding Directions

The teacher and student should sit side-by-side. The student should read the words, and the teacher will score the response as correct or incorrect.

Say: “I am going to show you some words and I would like you to try to read them to me. What word is this?”
The student responds: “hot.”

After the first item, the instructions can be shortened to: “What word is this?”

If the student sounds out words, letter by letter, e.g., /h/ /o/ /t/, prompt by saying: “Now say the word smoothly.” This prompt can be used each time the student attempts to read the word by sounding out each letter.

Only give credit if the student is able to read the word smoothly and accurately. If the student does not respond in 5-10 seconds, feel free to encourage the student to guess. If after 10 seconds the student does not respond, record incorrect and proceed with the rest of the measure.

There are two letter sounds measures that assess students’ knowledge of letter sounds: Letter Sounds-Receptive and Letter Sounds-Expressive. For an understanding of a student’s early literacy development that is most complete and useful for instructional planning, we encourage educators to assess both letter names and letter sounds. Letter knowledge at kindergarten entry is a strong predictor of literacy achievement. These measures are available in English and Spanish.

Letter Sounds-Receptive Features

In the Letter Sounds-Receptive measure, a letter’s sound is given and the student determines the corresponding printed letter.

• Letter Sounds-Receptive includes student-selected items
• Untimed

Letter Sounds-Receptive Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. Four letters appear on the screen for the student to view.
3. The computer provides auditory instructions about which letter to point to.
4. The student selects one of the letters.
5. CLI Engage scores the student’s response.

Allowable Prompts for Letter Sounds-Receptive

If the student does not respond within 10 seconds:

• Prompt student to point to a letter. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after the appropriate follow-up statement is provided, then the item is scored as incorrect. Only use this prompt once during the measure.

If the student says “I don’t know” or shrugs shoulders, and does not initiate touching the screen:

• While sweeping pointed finger in a circular motion just above the screen, teacher says, “That’s OK. Just go ahead and point to one. Point to the letter that makes (sound).”

If the student responds by touching multiple letters:

• Teacher says, “Just point to one letter.” Teacher then scores the item as incorrect by selecting an incorrect letter on the screen. The computer will automatically advance to the next item.

There are two letter sounds measures that assess students’ knowledge of letter sounds: Letter Sounds-Receptive and Letter Sounds-Expressive. For an understanding of a student’s early literacy development that is most complete and useful for instructional planning, we encourage educators to assess both letter names and letter sounds. Letter knowledge at kindergarten entry is a strong predictor of literacy achievement. These measures are available in English and Spanish.

Letter Sounds-Expressive Features

In the Letter Sounds-Expressive measure, a letter is shown on the screen and the student gives the corresponding sound.

• Letter Sounds-Expressive includes teacher-recorded items
• Untimed

Letter Sounds-Expressive Directions

This section measures the student’s knowledge of letter sounds. The teacher and student should sit side-by-side.

Say: “We are going to look at some letters and see if you know the sound they make. It is OK to guess if you do not know the sounds. Some letters make only one sound and some make more than one sound. Try to tell me at least one sound the letters make. Ready?”

If the students says the name of the letters, you can say: “Tell me the sound.”

There are two Blending measures that assess students’ phonological awareness, or sensitivity to the sound structure of oral language: Blending-Receptive and Blending-Expressive. Phonological awareness is necessary for learning to read and write and is predictive of literacy achievement. These measures are available in English and Spanish.

Blending-Receptive Features

• Blending-Receptive includes student-selected items
• Untimed

Blending-Receptive Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. Three or four grayed images will appear on the screen, one at a time. The pictures are labeled by the computer as they appear.
3. The computer will provide a series of sounds, and ask student to point to the image of the blended word.
4. The grayed pictures will change to color, allowing the student to select the picture that illustrates the word formed by blending the sounds together.
5. The computer will score the response.

Allowable Prompts for Blending-Receptive

If the student does not respond within 10 seconds:

• Prompt student to point to a picture. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds, then the item is scored as incorrect. Only use this prompt once during the measure.

If the student responds by pointing to multiple images:

• Teacher says, “Just point to one picture.” Teacher then scores the item as incorrect by selecting an incorrect image on the screen. The computer will automatically advance to the next item.

If the student says the word but fails to point:

• Teacher says, “Go ahead and put your finger on ______.”

There are two Blending measures that assess students’ phonological awareness, or sensitivity to the sound structure of oral language: Blending-Receptive and Blending-Expressive. Phonological awareness is necessary for learning to read and write and is predictive of literacy achievement. These measures are available in English and Spanish.

Blending-Expressive Features

• Blending-Expressive includes teacher-recorded items
• Untimed

Allowable Prompts for Blending-Expressive

• Ensure the student says the word fluently.
• If needed, prompt the student: “Now, say it fast.”

Spelling assesses students’ early spelling abilities, which is the ability to use sound-symbol relationships to write words. KPM assesses spelling because it is highly related to later literacy achievement. Attempting to spell words requires students to apply multiple literacy skills simultaneously, such as alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness. Different items are included on each wave of the measure. All materials can be downloaded from the KPM Scoring Guidelines page.

Spelling Features

• Approximately 7-10 minutes in length
• Untimed
• Student-written responses
• Can be administered individually or in small groups (approximately 5 students)

Spelling Required Materials (download at KPM Scoring Guidelines):

• Teacher Demonstration Video of a teacher modeling the spelling of a sample word – available on the direction page after launching Spelling for any student
  • Note: Alternatively, Spelling Model Cards to allow the teacher to demonstrate the task if technology is unavailable. Use of the video is strongly recommended.
• Student Form – print one for each student
• Teacher script with picture cards –print two-sided
• Scoring Guidelines
• Letter Approximations

Spelling Directions

Use the teacher script for administration instructions. The teacher script can be downloaded from the KPM Scoring Guidelines on CLI Engage.

Allowable Prompts for Spelling (English Administration)

• If the student does not put their pencil down, but they seem to be done spelling the word or have paused for 10-15 seconds, then prompt: “Are you done with that word?” Allow student to respond. If they say no, then allow up to 10-15 seconds before you stop them: “Let’s go on to the next word.”
• If a student does not understand or says “I don’t know,” say: “That’s okay. Just write what you can and put the pencil down when you’re done.”
• If a student is scribbling but staying within the line, then allow them to “scribble/write” for 10-15 seconds then stop them: “Okay that’s all the time we have for that word so put your pencil down.”
• If a student seems to understand to write on the line, you do not need to remind them to write on the line after item 1, but if they are writing outside of the line repeat: “Remember to write on the line.”

There are two Mathematics measures: Math, Part 1 and Math, Part 2. Teachers must complete both Math, Part 1 and Math, Part 2 to calculate the student’s total score for Mathematics.

Students who have a strong foundation in mathematics in early childhood have a better trajectory for math achievement in their elementary school years. Informal and formal mathematics learning helps develop students’ ability to problem solve and use math in academic and everyday settings. Thus, Mathematics focuses on math skills related to numbers and counting, operations, patterning, and math in the real world.

Math Features

• Math Part 1 includes teacher-recorded items
• Math Part 2 includes student-recorded items
• Untimed

Math Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. Silently review the administration directions on the screen.
3. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
4. For Math, Part 1 (teacher-recorded items), score the student’s verbal response by selecting an option on the screen. Select which prompt(s) you used. See Allowable Prompts for more information.
5. For Math, Part 2 (student-selected items), the student selects the best response and the computer scores the response.

Allowable Prompts for Math

There may be rare occasions when a student provides a response that requires the teacher to follow up.

Allow 10 seconds for the student to respond before providing a prompt. The student can be prompted one time. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after the appropriate follow-up statement is provided once, then the item is scored as incorrect.

• If the student does not begin counting for the counting aloud item, prompt the student by saying, “1, 2, 3.”
• If the student counts the items without stating the cardinal value say, “How many are there?”

Special Scoring Instructions for Math

The student’s final answer to the cardinal value is always the response that you will score. The student’s counting of the objects is not taken into consideration for scoring.

Correct Responses:

The student correctly counts the items and correctly says the cardinal value.

• Example: The student is shown 5 objects and counts aloud, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” The teacher will check for cardinality by asking the student, “How many are there?” If the student says “5”, it is recorded as a correct response.

The student incorrectly counts the items and correctly says the cardinal value.

• Example: The student is shown 5 objects and counts aloud, “1, 2, 5, 6, 3.” The teacher will check for cardinality by asking, “How many are there?” If the student says “5”, it is recorded as a correct response since the student provided the correct cardinal value.

Incorrect Responses:

The student provides no response or says, “I don’t know.”

The student states any number, except the correct cardinal value.

The student correctly counts the items and states an incorrect cardinal value.

• Example: The student is shown 5 objects and counts aloud, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” The teacher will check for cardinality by asking, “How many are there?” If the student says “6” or any other number than “5”, record this as an incorrect response.

The Science measure includes science and engineering concepts, and assesses knowledge of physical, life, earth, and space sciences, as well as engineering applications of science. Teaching science and engineering capitalizes on students’ natural curiosities about the world and supports predictive thinking, casual reasoning, and reflection on systems and models. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Science Features

• Untimed
• Student-selected responses

Science Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
3. Pictures will appear on the screen as the computer provides the verbal prompt.
4. The student will select the picture that best answers the question.
5. The computer will score the student’s response.

Allowable Prompts for Science

Allow 10 seconds for the student to respond before providing the prompt. The student can be prompted one time for each item. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after prompting once, then the item is scored as incorrect.

• If student does not respond after 10 seconds, say, “It’s okay to guess.”

Social Emotional Competence focuses on students’ social and emotional skills within a classroom setting. The measure evaluates students’ pro-social skills, approaches to learning, and emotion understanding.

Social Emotional Competence Features

• Untimed
• Checklist

Social Emotional Competence Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Observe student interacting with other students and teachers.
2. Select a rating for each item based on student’s average observed behavior.
3. The computer will calculate the student’s score.

Scoring Social Emotional Competence

Use the Social Emotional Scoring Guidelines, available on CLI Engage, to assist with scoring. Input scores into the KPM on CLI Engage online.

Students are assessed using a checklist, which is completed by observing students interacting with others. Teachers will record whether the student’s behavior occurs rarely, sometimes, or consistently.

We recommend that you complete the checklist after students have adjusted to kindergarten and you have sufficiently observed students interacting with other students and teachers to best determine the student’s social and emotional competence.

• “Rarely” means that the teacher may have observed the student displaying the behavior only a few times.
• “Sometimes” means the teacher has observed the student’s behavior occurring from time to time since the beginning of the school year (more than a few times, but not regularly).
• “Consistently” means that the teacher has observed the student frequently displaying the behavior.

Emotion Management focuses on students’ ability to manage their emotions and respond appropriately to an emotional experience. They are evaluated on whether they can adapt to the demands of a classroom and school environment. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Emotion Management Features

• Untimed
• Checklist

Emotion Management Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Observe student interacting with other students and teachers.
2. Select a rating for each item based on student’s average observed behavior.
3. The computer will calculate the student’s score.

Scoring Emotion Management

Students are assessed using a checklist, which is completed by observing students interacting with others. Teachers will record whether the student’s behavior occurs rarely, sometimes, or consistently.

We recommend that you complete the checklist after students have adjusted to kindergarten and you have sufficiently observed students interacting with other students and teachers to best determine the student’s emotion management.

• “Rarely” means that the teacher may have observed the student displaying the behavior a few times.
• “Sometimes” means the teacher has observed the student’s behavior occurring sometimes since the beginning of the school year.
• “Consistently” means that the teacher has observed the student frequently displaying the behavior.

Students are assessed on their ability to hold in memory 1–3 pieces of information in an increasingly complex setting. Students recall where cars are parked in a garage. The number of cars and the number of parking spaces increases as the student progresses. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Working Memory Features

• Untimed
• Student-selected responses

Working Memory Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
3. Pictures will appear on the screen as the computer provides the verbal prompt.
4. Students will recall and select the spot where a car was previously parked.
5. The computer will score the student’s response.

Allowable Prompts for Working Memory

Allow 10 seconds for the student to respond before providing a prompt. The student can be prompted one time. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after the appropriate follow-up statement is provided once, then the item is scored as incorrect.

• If student does not respond after 10 seconds, you can prompt student by saying, “It’s okay to guess.”

Students are asked to respond accurately to a specific stimulus (e.g., butterfly), and withhold, or inhibit, a response to a different stimulus (e.g., bee). This task involves students catching butterflies in a butterfly net but NOT catching bees for a certain time limit. They are warned that the butterflies are fast and that the students must be fast too. Scores reflect the student’s ability to respond accurately while inhibiting a response. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Inhibition Features

• Timed
• Student-selected responses

Inhibition Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
3. Pictures will appear on the screen as the computer provides the verbal prompt.
4. The student will attempt to only “catch” butterflies by touching the screen or clicking the mouse over the image when a butterfly appears on screen.
5. The computer will score the student’s response.

Allowable Prompts for Inhibition

Allow 10 seconds for the student to respond before providing a prompt. The student can be prompted one time. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after the appropriate follow-up statement is provided once, then the item is scored as incorrect.

• If student does not respond after 10 seconds, you can prompt student by saying, “It’s okay to guess.”

Students are assessed on their ability to focus their attention, stay on task, as well as quickly and accurately focus on relevant features of the task. They are provided 2 minutes to make as many correct matches as possible between the target object, a flower, and 5 answer choices, other flowers. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Attention Features

• Timed
• Student-selected responses

Attention Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Headphones are worn by the student.
2. The student is told what to do through the headphones.
3. Pictures will appear on the screen as the computer provides the verbal prompt.
4. The student will attempt to match the flower in the top row to a flower in the bottom row from five response choices by touching the screen or clicking the mouse over a flower in the bottom row.
5. The computer will score the student’s response.

Allowable Prompts for Attention

Allow 10 seconds for the student to respond before providing a prompt. The student can be prompted one time. If the student does not reply with the correct answer within 10 seconds after the appropriate follow-up statement is provided once, then the item is scored as incorrect.

• If student does not respond after 10 seconds, you can prompt student by saying, “It’s okay to guess.”

Academic Motor Skills include items that evaluate many of the motor skills required for successful completion of school activities. It is important to understand the motor skills of students because they form the basis for the way young students learn. In fact, motor skills underlie aspects of cognitive development and social development. This measure is available in English and Spanish.

Academic Motor Skills Features

• Untimed
• Checklist

Academic Motor Skills Directions: Directions will be provided on the screen.

1. Observe the student’s motor behaviors in the classroom and on the playground.
2. Select a rating for each item based on student’s average observed behavior.
3. The computer will calculate the student’s score.

Scoring Academic Motor Skills

Use the Academic Motor Skills Scoring Guidelines on CLI Engage to assist with scoring. Input scores into KPM on CLI Engage online.

Students are assessed using a checklist, which is completed by observing motor behaviors. Teachers will record whether the student’s behavior is typical for their age, delayed, or if the teacher has not observed the behavior. While it is recognized that questionnaire data introduces some ambiguity (i.e., ensuring that teacher ratings are consistent across students, schools, and school districts), these types of scales can be an efficient means to collect data on large groups of students.

We recommend that you complete the checklist after students have adjusted to kindergarten and you have sufficiently observed students’ motor behaviors.

• “Not Observed” means that the teacher has not yet observed the student displaying the behavior. Given that KPM was designed to be used by kindergarten teachers approximately 1 month after school entry, we do not anticipate the need for teachers to use the “Not Observed” anchor routinely. For instance, by the time KPM is administered, we anticipate that teachers would be able to spend time with all students in their classroom participating in small group activities to observe multiple items (e.g., use of a 3-fingered pencil grip, name writing, ability to draw recognizable shapes). At the minimum, a student’s ability to appropriately use writing implements can be observed as the students complete Spelling. In addition, teachers can easily ask students to complete many of these activities (e.g., ability to use scissors, sorting activities, ability to trace letters, etc.) if these skills have not observed within a natural setting.
• “Delayed” means the student’s motor skill is behind the development of their peers. The “Delayed” anchor should be used when the student’s skills are clearly outside of the norm. The “Delayed” rating should be utilized in cases where the student is clearly outside of the norm for kindergarten (e.g., bottom 10 percent of students in kindergarten). In terms of using a 3-fingered pencil grip, a student who receives a “Delayed” score would be one who is unable to maintain the tripod grip even after being provided with assistance. In terms of drawing recognizable shapes, a student who receives a “Delayed” score would have difficulty drawing any recognizable shapes.
• “Typical for Age” means that the student’s motor skill is developmentally appropriate. The “Typical for Age” rating anchor should be used for students who are able to complete activities suggested in the Academic Motor Skills category in a manner that is similar to most kindergarten.

The decision to assess Spanish-speaking students in Spanish, or in both English and Spanish, should follow the recommendations of the campus Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC). Decisions on the language of assessment for native English speakers who are participating in Spanish-English dual-language immersion programs is left to the discretion of program personnel.

• Measuring Language Proficiency: KPM has not been validated for use as a measure of language proficiency in either language.
• Using the Spanish or English KPM to Guide Instruction: When using KPM results to guide instruction, you should assess students in the language of instruction to determine current levels and goals. You may also choose to assess in the alternate language if you can make use of the student’s skills in that language.

KPM allows you the flexibility to assess students in one or both languages. Students can be assessed in both English and Spanish for individual measures.

To help guide instructional planning, a teacher may wish to learn more about a student’s performance in Spanish even if the student is receiving all English instruction. For example:

• It may be useful to know if a student has well-developed phonological awareness skills in Spanish relative to their age. This information may indicate that the student has skills in place for developing phonological awareness in English.
• Alternatively, it may be useful to know if a student has limited phonological awareness skills in Spanish as this may indicate the need for further instruction in English and/or Spanish to support optimal phonological awareness growth. By assessing the student in both languages, the teacher can better plan instruction to extend strengths and support weaknesses.

There may be instances when you find it helpful to administer specific sub-measures in a student’s most proficient language.

• Example 1: Student A is a native Spanish speaker. Their performance on the language sub-measures in English is very low. The teacher may find it helpful to administer the same sub-measures in Spanish to gather some additional information about their strengths and needs.
• Example 2: Student B is also a native Spanish speaker. Their performance on the self-regulation sub-measure administered in English is very low. The teacher may choose to assess self-regulation in Spanish to be sure low English proficiency is not being confused with poor self-regulation.

Linguistic accommodations are those that reduce the English proficiency demands of the test without altering the construct the test is intended to measure.

• Time accommodations are built into KPM since the language, literacy, and cognitive sub-measures of KPM are not timed.
• An oral translation of the English KPM test instructions can be provided to students. The person providing the translation should be a fluent speaker of the student’s language.
• Translation of test items and use of dictionaries are not appropriate linguistic accommodations for KPM.

CLI Engage allows you to set your own assessment schedules; this is a local leadership decision. We normally suggest that beginning-of-year (Wave 1 on CLI Engage) assessments be conducted starting in mid-September and ending by mid-October. Middle-of-year (Wave 2) may be around mid-January to mid-February. Administration at the end-of-year (Wave 3) can be around mid-April to mid-May. You can also determine which of the available measures, beyond the required measures, may be more useful to meet your instructional objectives.

Assessment Windows Lock Feature

The optional “lock” feature allows LEAs to limit access to specific administration windows for teachers. Administrators can set testing dates for assessments and waves. This feature ensures that teachers conduct assessments during the correct waves and within designated testing windows. Learn more about this tool here: Assessment Lock Feature How-to Guide

Utilize CLI’s resources for alternative administration functionality and protocols for KPM. Visit our detailed webpage to access teacher’s guides, webinars, and visual schedules to support teachers as they administer assessments remotely: Remote Assessment Administration

The offline assessment feature can be used to assess students when an internet connection is not available at the time of administration. The offline feature for KPM can be accessed from the assessment practice area (for practicing the offline feature) or directly from the class view in KPM (when conducting the assessments): KPM Offline Assessment

The Exclude button is used to “exclude” a student OR the entire class from a specific measure. The completion report takes this exclusion into account when tabulating completion rates. For example, in a class of 10 students, if 2 are excluded and the remaining 8 are measured, the completion report will indicate 100%. If the students are not formally excluded using this feature, the report would indicate an 80% completion rate. Anyone with access to a class can exclude measures.

If all students are excluded from a measure (i.e., the measure is not being administered to any student), it is more efficient to use the Exclude All button that appears just below the measure name, rather than excluding each individual child. This feature excludes the entire class from a measure with one click. In this case, the “Launch” icon is replaced by a gray square preventing the measure from being administered to the student. This can also be done by an administrator, but would have to be set for every class (i.e., it cannot be performed school-wide). In this case, the teacher would not see the measures that the administrator had excluded.

If a teacher excludes all students from a measure, it is helpful to also remove it from view using the Hide/Display Measures feature. This makes it easier to locate measures you are actually assessing without having to scroll through the full list of available measures. It is important to note that the “Hide/Display Measures” button hides a measure from view for navigational purposes only. Hiding a measure does not affect data or reporting. Hiding is set by each user, and the system remembers the user’s preference; therefore, no user can hide measures for another user.

The teacher will indicate a child’s correct or incorrect response for each item by clicking the buttons on screen or using the keyboard arrow keys:

• Click the blue button or your keyboard’s left arrow if the student gave the incorrect response.
• Click the purple button or your keyboard’s right arrow if the student gave the correct response.

If a scoring error is made, the assessment must be invalidated. To invalidate an assessment, click the “Invalidate this Assessment” button on the results screen.

Once an assessment has been completed and you have clicked “done” you will not be able to invalidate. On CLI Engage, only administrators have the ability to invalidate student assessment scores. Invalidating a student score will delete the record of a student’s assessment and enable the teacher to reassess the child. Scores must be invalidated per child, per measure. Invalidated scores cannot be retrieved, so score invalidation should be done with utmost caution. For assistance, please submit a help ticket.

Score invalidation examples:

• Teacher accidentally assessed the wrong child
• Teacher accidentally assessed a child in the wrong language
• Teacher accidentally assessed the wrong measure
• Teacher accidentally assessed a child outside the guidance from their IEP

For some direct assessments, the child may see a celebratory completion page after completing all items.

When finished, you may dismiss the child and click “Next” to see the results.

The teacher’s results screen includes:

• Child’s name, class, and DOB
• Assessment items, child’s answers, and the child’s score for each item
• Option to click “Done” to submit the score or “Invalidate” the results
• Comment feature to record important notes.

The CLI Engage Family Engagement Toolkit make the most of procedures you likely already have in place, such as progress monitoring, homework, parent-teacher conferences, and open houses. CLI advocates a new focus for these efforts: supporting families in better understanding children’s development and engaging in fun, developmentally appropriate activities that not only build skills but strengthen the bonds between family members.

Family Engagement Toolkit

Teachers using KPM can share student reports with families by printing them or providing a PIN for online access. Teachers can also send families activities that are designed to support skill development at home.

Student Report Resources:

• Overview Video: Watch the Student Report for Parents
• Generating Student Reports for Parents how-to guide
• Printing Parent PIN Pages how-to guide

Implementation Guide (available in English and Spanish) includes the following topics:

• Understanding the Student Report for Parents
• Generating and Sharing Reports
• Conversations with Families about Data
• Supporting Resources

Helping Families Understand Their Child’s Assessment Results:

• Understanding Your Child’s Assessment Results
• Family-Friendly Description of Assessment Measures

Teachers can collect valuable information on their student’s development by sharing these forms with families and asking them to give feedback about their child. Each form is aligned to the KPM measures to support the integration of family information into instructional planning. Family Observation Forms are available in English and Spanish.

Many studies have shown that families and teachers working together to support children’s development can lead to better outcomes for children. This collection includes fun, easy activity ideas that families can do together to help support important school readiness skills for children ages 0-6. Learn more here: Circle Activity Collection: Family

Teachers can also share family activities directly with families via email throughout the school year. This feature is accessed through your class small group report for KPM. After uploading parent email addresses, teachers can select and share activities aligned to each child’s areas for skill development so children are supported at school and home.

Students with disabilities have a wide range of skills and many students with mild forms of disabilities, such as a language delay, can easily complete many of the KPM measures with no, or minimal, accommodations.

Understanding how a student with a disability scores in relation to typically developing peers can provide teachers with information that they can share with parents about the relative strengths and weaknesses of students with disabilities. For example, you may have a student with a language delay that scores within normal limits on the Math and Self-Regulation measures, but struggle on measures evaluating phonological awareness skills. This provides a wide range of information about this student’s strengths and where growth is needed.

TEA provides detailed information about the provision of accommodations when completing state assessments on their website. Even though KPM is not a mandated state assessment, guidelines provided by TEA should be used as a guide to determine the types of accommodations that can be made to KPM. Please see the Accommodations Resources section on the TEA website.

KPM provides two classes of recommendations within the TEA model: Low Risk and High Risk.

Low Risk Decision Rule: Accommodations that DO NOT alter or change the wording, scoring criteria, or time limits imposed on certain KPM measures are considered low risk and easily approved and implemented by ARD or 504 committee. Many TEA accommodations are appropriate for KPM measures with low risk to the integrity of the assessment. Examples of Low Risk accommodations are provided below.

• Example 1: Use of individualized structured reminders to help a student pay attention, or get ready for the next item. This would be seen as conforming to acceptable test practices for all students.
• Example 2: Use of amplification and projection devices with a range of students with visual or hearing deficits.
• Example 3: Manipulation of test materials is considered low risk. Student-selected response items can be answered by assistive technology products, such as alternative keyboards, electronic pointing devices, sip-and-puff systems, wands and sticks, joysticks, trackballs, and other tools.
• Other Low Risk Accommodations: Oral/signed presentation of test items would also be acceptable. Math manipulatives are included in some of the easier KPM counting and operation items and would be acceptable accommodations.

High Risk Decision Rule: Accommodations that DO alter or change the wording, scoring criteria, or time limits imposed on certain KPM measures are considered high risk. High Risk accommodations may impact the validity and integrity of the assessment making interpretation more challenging. High risk accommodations may be helpful when using KPM to evaluate a student’s relative strengths and weaknesses rather than using the scores to relate performance to the norm group. These would not be norm-based, but may provide meaningful information for teachers and professionals for students’ learning and educational planning.

• Example 1: Providing extra time or an extra day for timed tests. If violated, the test isn’t valid for its purpose.
• Example 2: Manipulating or substituting words for vocabulary and comprehension tests. Accommodations that substantively change test items in any way should be avoided.
• Example 3: Changing scoring criteria to accommodate student’s response style. For example, when counting on the Math screener, the item is scored based upon the cardinal value that is provided by the student. Changing the scoring criteria to give credit for students who are able to count objects correctly but do not understand the concept of cardinal value would be considered to be high risk and should be avoided.

While not technically an accommodation, it is hoped that good testing practices are utilized when teachers use KPM in a classroom. Establishment of rapport with young students is critical for KPM assessments.

Students should not be penalized for words that are poorly articulated. Kindergarteners often struggle articulating words clearly. A good rule of thumb is that if two adults could easily determine what word the student said then the verbal response should be scored.

Teachers and administrators should make reasonable efforts to provide appropriate accommodations that will allow students with disabilities the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. The best judges of the appropriateness of the accommodations are the professional staff who has the most contact with the student with a disability. Creative accommodation approaches that allow students with disabilities to successfully complete KPM measures but do not violate the content of the assessment would be welcomed by the authors of KPM. TEA Guidelines should be considered when attempting to determine appropriate accommodations.