Kentucky's Early Childhood Continuous Assessment and Accountability System: Local Decisions and State Supports

Kentucky has developed an assessment and accountability system that provides outcome data for a set of state early childhood standards for children birth to 5 years of age that are aligned with early childhood outcomes designated by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Within this flexible and comprehensive state assessment system, early intervention and care providers, district preschool personnel, and childcare program staff select a criterion-referenced, curriculum-based assessment (CBA) tool to monitor children's progress. The system is designed so that data from these CBA tools can be used for three purposes: (a) to demonstrate child progress and inform instruction at the individualized intervention or classroom level; (b) to promote program improvement and plan program, district, and state supports through the aggregation of assessment data at the program, district, and state level; and (c) to report on child progress to evaluate the success of federal, state, or district programs and initiatives.