Teaching Strategies GOLD FAQs

When will GOLD^TM be available for use?
Teaching Strategies GOLD will launch in the summer of 2010. GOLD will be available both online and in a paper format.

I'm currently using CreativeCurriculum.net as my assessment tool. Do I have to switch?
Not right away, but eventually, yes. Teaching Strategies GOLD will launch in the summer of 2010 and for the first year, programs will be able to run both CreativeCurriculum.net and Teaching Strategies GOLD (for the price of just one assessment tool.) This will allow programs to make their own decisions about how to best transition their staff and classrooms. After the summer of 2011, Teaching Strategies will only offer and support Teaching Strategies GOLD.

What about all the data that I've entered into CreativeCurriculum.net?
All data will be seamlessly transferred from CreativeCurriculum.net to Teaching Strategies GOLD, ensuring continuity and protection of your current data. You will not have to re-enter any of your data. You will still be able to access your progress checkpoint information from previous years, but this data will not be converted into a new rating on GOLD. All your observations previously entered and photos uploaded will still be at your fingertips.

What kind of training or professional development will I need and how will I get it?
Teaching Strategies is designing a wide variety of professional development options, ranging from online tutorials to in-person opportunities and phone support.

What is the research behind Teaching Strategies GOLD?
Teaching Strategies GOLD was created following an extensive, literature-based research review of some of the most recent works in the field of early childhood education: the Child Trends School Readiness Predictors Research (2006), the work of the National Early Literacy Panel (2009), the Pathways Mapping Initiative (2007) along with individual research studies describing predictors of school success. 

Additionally, each of the 36 objectives contained in Teaching Strategies GOLD were selected based on further review and to answer the following two questions: 1) Is this a key predictor of school success? and 2) Is this an outcome valued in most state early learning standards?

What kind of research is being conducted on GOLD?
Teaching Strategies GOLD is undergoing an extensive research review and field testing, including:

• Content review by 20 national early childhood experts
• Two instrument-review pilots in Baton Rouge, LA, and Fairfax, VA
• Assessment Opportunity Card testing in pilot sites and in a randomly-assigned research study for Chicago Public Schools
• Field test of more than 2,000 children (including large numbers of English-language learners and children with IEPs) in Head Start programs, child care programs, laboratory schools, and public schools across the country

What specific objectives will GOLD measure?
The objectives in Teaching Strategies GOLD were carefully selected based upon an extensive, literature-based research review, and have been narrowed down to focus on the 36 objectives that are most predictive of school success and are expectations in most state early learning standards. Objectives have been organized into nine areas of development and learning, including five areas that are specifically focused upon content learning, so what you are assessing and reporting is more closely aligned to the expected outcomes in state early learning standards.

View our Objectives for Development & Learning Poster. (PDF)

How will English-language learners be assessed using GOLD?
A Home Language Survey is included that will help you determine exactly who are English language learners. We've added a tenth area of development and learning on English Language acquisition, developed by national expert Dr. Patton Tabors, with two new, dedicated objectives in receptive and expressive language. In addition, you will be able to assess dual-language learner's progress in Spanish oral language and literacy. Children are able to show what they know and can do in other areas of development and learning without the use of English, e.g., counting in any language.

How will I know if my teachers are using GOLD correctly?
The developers have created model child portfolios and have established "master ratings." Educators have the opportunity to increase their reliability by comparing their assessment decisions against the master portfolios.

Is Teaching Strategies GOLD inclusive of children with disabilities?
Yes. The universal design of Teaching Strategies GOLD enables it to be used with all children, including those with disabilities. GOLD shows typical progressions for each objective through the use of visually appealing, color-coded age bands that are tied to children's ages; because development is uneven and overlapping, the color-coded bands allow teachers to account for natural variations in children's development and learning. GOLD also contains "in-between" steps in each progression to allow for emerging skills or to indicate if a child needs support to accomplish a skill or behavior, making it easier to accurately assess all children, including those with disabilities or special needs. In some circumstances, however, such as a child with a severe disability, other more specific diagnostic and prescriptive tools may be needed.

Do you have questions about Teaching Strategies GOLD that aren't answered in these FAQs? Please e-mail us GOLD@TeachingStrategies.com or call 1-800-637-3652 and choose option 4.