TEACHING STRATEGIES GOLD ®

PROVIDER MANUAL

Page 1

What is GOLD?

pg 3Strong Minds

Network Requirements

pg 3

Selection for GOLD

pg 4

Onboarding Process

pg 4

GOLD Program Support

pg 4

Meeting Expectations

pg 5

Not Meeting Expectations

pg 7

Exiting Strong Minds

pg 7

Frequently Asked

Questions

pg 8

Contact Information

pg 9

Table of Contents

Page 2

Strong Minds Network Requirements How does Gold relate to my Strong Minds status?

Strong Minds Programs that achieve In -Network status

(Tier 1 or Tier 2) will agree to use the Teaching

Strategies GOLD assessment also known as

MyTeachingStrategies ™ or an approved alternative assessment. If a provider wishes to use

an assessment other than Teaching Strategies GOLD or one of the approved alternative

assessments, providers may submit an alternate assessment nomination form to be

reviewed by the ELCPBC Strong Minds GOLD team. Funding is not available for use of

an alternative assessment.

What is GOLD®

MyTeachingStrategies™

• • •

Teaching Strategies GOLD/

MyTeachingStrategies™ (TS

GOLD) is an authentic and

formative early childhood

assessment tool.

• • •

TS GOLD requires early

education practitioners

to observe, document,

and assess the

demonstrated abilities of

children from birth to

age five across several

areas of development.

• • •

It is designed to

support a cycle of

ongoing observation,

documentation,

assessment, planning,

and reporting.

Anytime learning is made visible through real

examples of children’s work, words, or actions,

there is an opportunity to gain knowledge

about the thinking and potential of the child.

Brenda Fyfe

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Selection Procedure for GOLD How do I get into the GOLD program?

If site elects to use TS GOLD/ MyTeachingStrategies™, providers are

required to apply for and participate in TS GOLD Child

Assessment Program through the Early Learning Coalition of

Palm Beach County (ELCPBC). The application to participate is

available on the ELC website at

http://www.elcpalmbeach.org/csc-strongminds-gold.

Providers will download, print, and complete the GOLD

Application – found on the ELC Palm Beach Website CSC Strong

Minds GOLD page and the provider portal.

Completed application may be submitted via email, mail, fax, or

personally delivered to the GOLD Assessment team at ELCPBC.

Specific contact information is located on the last page of this

manual.

Upon receiving the completed application, the GOLD Assessment

team will send an email message confirming and thanking sites

for their interest in the GOLD Program.

GOLD Program Support

The GOLD Assessment team offers a variety of program supports to ensure success

while using the GOLD online system. Providers will select one or a few administrators

to participate in the GOLD Orientation Training. This training is a requirement of the

onboarding process. Once onboarding is complete, ELC will offer at least two additional

trainings per year and four webinars per year of varied topics related to GOLD. These

topics will be based on provider’s expressed needs and interests. Please submit topics of

interest to sandra.schultz@elcpalmbeach.org

In addition to group trainings and webinars, ELC offers one face-to-face technical

assistance (TA) visit while the provider begins to use GOLD. Subsequently, TA is

available by phone as often as a provider requests. If additional face-to-face TA or

coaching is requested, the provider will be referred to the Strong Minds Navigator team.

The navigator can set up requested TA with the assigned Strong Minds Technical

Assistance Specialist. The content area for GOLD TA would be “assessment and

documentation”. Please see the Strong Minds Provider Manual for additional

information regarding technical assistance.

ELC also provides three years of IT support for Wi-Fi or Chromebooks issues. Contact

GOLD IT Specialist Ricky Connolly at 561-514-3333 for all your Chromebook/Wi-Fi

questions.

Onboarding

Process

ELC notifies provider by

phone.

ELC completes an

informal technology needs

assessment.

The program agreement is

executed and signed by

provider and ELC.

ELC IT Team schedules

and completes a walk-

through of the site to

confirm technology and

equipment needed at the

site.

ELC creates the provider

account in the GOLD

online system.

ELC IT Team installs the

necessary equipment and

technology at the site.

Provider completes GOLD

Orientation training

provided by ELC staff.

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Meeting Expectations in GOLD What is expected of me while in the GOLD program?

Enrolling all children

It is an expectation of the

GOLD program that all

children 0-5 years old,

enrolled in a Family Childcare

Home or Child Care Center be

entered into GOLD regardless

of funding source (VPK,

private pay, EHS, School

Readiness)

Checkpoint

All children who have an

active GOLD Portfolio should

be checkpointed at 100%.

Interrater Reliability (IRR)

Staff working in a family

childcare home or childcare

center must pass the Inter-

Rater Reliability Certification

by end of year 2 in GOLD.

Consistency

Observations and documentation

should occur daily.

Quantity/Quality

It is an expectation of the

program that staff have

enough documentation

connected to all areas of

development. It is also

important to have high

quality, detailed, objective

pieces of documentation.

In-Network Status

To receive GOLD support

Child Care Providers must

maintain In-Network Status

(Tier 1 or Tier 2)

Data Reviews

Formal Data Reviews are

conducted every 18 months

for the first 3 years in the

program, and then bi-

annually thereafter. Online

Reviews are conducted

consistently and at random by

the GOLD Specialist and

GOLD Coordinator.

Observation and

documentation have

great potential benefits to

the child and the teacher.

Vea Vecchi

Page 5

Meeting Expectations in GOLD (cont.) You may be chosen for a random online review

at any point in your GOLD program

implementation.

It is expected that the provider participates in the

data reviews via phone call and completes the

self- assessment portion.

All reviews are entered and uploaded into Strong

Minds WELS Database.

Implementation Plans

It is expected that all sites in the GOLD Program

adhere to the implementation plans.

Implementation plan can be found on the ELC

website at http://www.elcpalmbeach.org/csc-

strongminds-gold.

Deleting Portfolios

Never delete children’s portfolios from GOLD. A

portfolio should only be deleted if you created a

duplicate.

Archiving and Transferring Portfolios

Child portfolios can be saved in the online

system through a process called ‘archiving’. This

simply means that all of the documentations and

checkpoints collected on a child can be stored

online even if the child has left the program.

This is an important feature of GOLD that allows

a child’s portfolio to be reactivated if he/she

returns to the program or enrolls in another

GOLD program in the Strong Minds Network.

Archiving portfolios must take place through

Administrator access to GOLD.

Archiving portfolios of children who have un-

enrolled allows the program to now use this

“open slot” to start a new portfolio for a new

child.

If a child leaves a program, do not delete

his/her portfolio.

If a child is known to be transferring from one

Strong Minds GOLD program to another, this

portfolio can be transferred to the new early

learning program. Please see contact information

under the FAQ section to access more

information.

Disabling Teachers Accounts

Providers are required to maintain an updated

teacher roster at all times.

Disable a teacher’s account in GOLD if the

teacher leaves your center. A teacher’s account

can be transferred to another site in the Strong

Minds Network along with any certificates she

has earned. Contact the GOLD team to have the

teacher transferred from the school’s roster.

Never delete a teacher’s account.

Page 6

Not Meeting Expectations Each site will receive a formal review according

to the data entered in the three (3) previous

Checkpoint periods.

During the formal Data Review, “Support Plans”

will be created and agreed upon by the Provider

and the GOLD Assessment Team. The support

plan is a way for the provider to achieve further

growth while using the GOLD online system and

will include specific action items and due dates.

If there is a consistent lack of participation and

expectations are not met, the following support

will be withdrawn, site will still be responsible to

use an On-line Assessment tool and incur all the

costs.

Site will no longer receive TA support from

GOLD Assessment team. Support is also pulled

for children’s portfolios and navigators are

informed of site not meeting GOLD expectations.

Exiting Strong Minds Network Sites exiting the Network voluntarily will be

informed by the GOLD Assessment Team that

they will not be offered subscriptions, tech

support, or TA support beyond the current

checkpoint period. Site will be given a closing

date.

Sites who are involuntarily terminated from the

Network will be informed by the GOLD

Assessment Team that they will not be offered

subscriptions, tech support, or TA support

beyond the current checkpoint period. Site will

be given a closing date. All sites exiting will be

informed of their options for continuing work

with Teaching Strategies GOLD independently.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is qualified to conduct the assessment? All those that are in contact with the child can contribute to observations/work samples. Parent

interview/parent observations should be treated as valid information that can contribute to ratings.

One person is designated to finalize ratings based on observations that are recorded in GOLD.

2. When should children be assessed? On-going progress monitoring requires that teachers and related service providers observe

children and document these observations on a daily and weekly basis. “Checkpoints” are simply

points in time at which teachers will stop to reflect upon and rate this documentation. See GOLD/

MyTeachingStrategies™ for checkpoint due dates.

3. Why are programs required to enter data for fall, winter and spring? Palm Beach is building a system based on best practices that drive instruction and program

improvement. By rating documentation at multiple points throughout the year, teachers can

reflect on the data to make instruction or classroom modifications that will support each child

toward the next level of progress during the remainder of the program year.

4. What does it mean when we say a child has “exited”? This means that a child has moved out of area or withdrawn from the early learning program.

5. How do I know if I am rating children’s progress accurately? See information on taking an inter-rater reliability certification course within GOLD online at no

cost. This is not a task that must be completed immediately, but it is a program requirement when

entering second year in GOLD.

6. Where can I find more training and support in GOLD online? a. Under the Develop tab, click on “My Courses”.

b. On the MyTeachingStrategies™ home page free webinars available.

c. Question mark icon on each page in GOLD has resources/tutorials available.

Page 8

Who do I contact if I need additional support with the Teaching

Strategies GOLD Assessment Program?

Ashley Higgins

Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc. 2300 High Ridge Road, Suite 115. Boynton Beach, Florida 33426

(561) 600-9429 * Fax:561-214-7450 * ashley.higgins@elcpalmbeach.org

Sandra Schultz

Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc. 2300 High Ridge Road, Suite 115. Boynton Beach, Florida 33426

Phone: (561) 600-9427 * Fax: (561) 214-7450 * sandra.schultz@elcpalmbeach.org

Krystal Wallick, MSW

Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc. 2300 High Ridge Road, Suite 115. Boynton Beach, Florida 33426

Phone: (561) 214-7447 * Fax: (561) 374-9214 * krystal.wallick@elcpalmbeach.org

Ricky Connolly

Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, Inc. 2300 High Ridge Road, Suite 115. Boynton Beach, Florida 33426

Phone: (561) 514-3333 * ricky.connolly@elcpalmbeach.org

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