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KEA Case Studies

District Version Interview Protocol

Introduction and Purpose of Interview

Thank you for your willingness to participate in this interview. We are talking with you and other 

administrators and teachers in your state and district about the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (or KEA), 

how it is implemented, and how you are using the results. We’d like to learn about what is working well 

in addition to the challenges and how you’re working to overcome them. We believe information about 

your experiences will be valuable for the many other states and districts interested in implementing 

KEAs. It also has the potential to inform federal policy and to help the U.S. Department of Education 

develop technical assistance that is useful for all states tackling this important effort. This interview will 

take approximately 

60 minutes.

After interviewing people who have been involved in decisionmaking and administration of the KEA at 

the state level, we now want to learn more from you about on-the-ground implementation and use of 

data. We’ll also be conducting site visits to two of your schools where we will interview a range of 

staff—including principals, kindergarten teachers, and preschool teachers.

Consent Process

Email the consent form to the respondent before the interview so he or she can read it, sign it, and send 

it back to you. Ask verbal permission to audio-record the conversation. 

______________________________________________________________________________

We understand that your state has [selected or modified XX measure or developed its own measure 

XX] as your KEA. First, we want to learn a few details about the [measure] itself and the nuts and bolts 

of administering it.

1. When is the [measure] administered (i.e., during what time frame of the school year)? How 

frequently is it administered? (Q6a)

a. Is the measure used only to assess status at kindergarten entry or is it administered 

repeatedly throughout the school year to assess change?

2. Describe how the KEA is implemented in your schools. (Q6)

Probe: 

a. What types of evidence are collected as part of the assessment? For example, are 

knowledge, skills, and abilities assessed through observation, direct assessments, and/or 

parent reports? (Q2b)

b. Who administers or provides information about the student for the [measure]? (Q6b)

c. How, if at all, are families involved in providing information? (Q6d)

d. To what degree is technology used to support the administration or scoring of the 

[measure]? (Q6e)
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3. What general information is provided to parents, teachers, and administrators about the [KEA] 

administration? (Q5)

✪Can you provide me with a copy of the information shared?

4. What training or support do district staff receive from the state on the administration of KEAs? 

(Q5)

5. What training or support do teachers and school administrators receive on the administration of 

the KEA? Please describe the various types of training. (Q5, 6b)

a. So, would you say your training mode uses [read the following list]? (Mark all that 

apply.) (Q5a)

 Workshops

 Webinars

 Coaching

 Online modules

 Other (specify): ________________________________________

b. Who provides the training (the state, the district, a contractor)? 

c. Do individuals need to be certified before administering the assessment? (Q5b)

d. What are the qualifications of the trainers? (Q5b)

i. Are trainers local (in-state or in-district) staff or outside contractors? 

ii. Does the state or vendor train the trainers?

e. What other supports would have been helpful? (Q5b)

f. What, if any plans, are there to continue training after the initial introduction (e.g., 

booster training, coaching, PLC)? (Q5b)

6. When your district administers the [measure], is it a standard process across all participating 

districts in the state? Or can your district adapt administration or implementation procedures? If 

so, what varies? (Q6g)

6a. Similarly, within your district, do all schools need to administer the [measure] in a standard 

way? Or can schools adapt administration or implementation procedures? If so, what 

varies? (Q6g)

Probe: For example, can a school choose which measure(s) to administer? Can it sample 

children (versus universally assess all children in the district/school)? Can it change 

administration procedures (e.g., opt in or out of parent reports, home observations)?

7. How, if at all, does the district monitor and evaluate the implementation of KEAs?

(Q8)

a. What, if any, issues have been uncovered? How have they been addressed?

8. Can you describe how your district submits the resulting data from the KEA to the state? (Q7)

Probe:

a. How are the initial results entered or recorded?
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b. In what form are data submitted from the school to the district? How about from the 

district to the state?

c. How does the data eventually get to the state?

d. Where are the data entered (e.g., statewide longitudinal data system, student 

permanent record)?

e. Do the data become part of the students’ cumulative file?

f. What is the data submission timeline?

g. Who is involved in submitting the data? 

9. What is the approximate amount of time spent by your district on implementing the KEA? (Q6c)

9a. What other costs are there to implement the KEA (e.g., materials, substitutes to release 

teachers)? (Q4)

Finding one assessment that can accurately identify young children’s development status across 

multiple learning domains is challenging. Ensuring that the measure is also linguistically appropriate 

for children whose primary language is not English adds another layer of complication, as does the 

need to accurately assess the strengths and needs of young children with developmental delays or 

disabilities. 

Within this context, we’d like to ask about your thoughts concerning the use of the KEA with these 

particular populations.

10. How does implementation of the KEA differ for students who are English leaners (e.g., children 

are assessed in their home language, use of nonverbal stimuli, observations conducted by 

bilingual staff or adults)? (Q6f)

a. In what ways are those who administer the KEA prepared/trained to use the [KEA 

measure] with English learners?

b. In what ways are expectations or interpretations of the findings adapted for English 

learners (who are learning their home language while also acquiring a second language 

such as in dual language programs)?

11. How does implementation of the KEA differ for students with developmental delays or 

disabilities? (Q6f)

a. In what ways are those who administer the KEA prepared/trained to use the [KEA 

measure] with children with developmental delays or disabilities?

b. What accommodations are made and for whom? (For example, children may be given 

additional time to perform skills, or children with physical limitations might be able to 

demonstrate a skill verbally.) 

c. Are there particular disability categories for which the [KEA measure] is not 

appropriate? 

i. Are alternate assessments used with these children?

d. In what ways are the results used for screening and referral or IEP purposes?

e. In what ways are expectations or interpretations of the findings modified or adapted for 

children with developmental delays or disabilities?
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12. What have been the most important factors in supporting the implementation of the KEA and 

the use of KEA results to improve students’ educational experience? (Q14)

13. What have been the biggest challenges with implementing the KEA? (Q14)

a. What solutions have you identified for addressing those challenges? 

Now we’d like to switch gears and ask you a set of questions about how KEA results are shared and 

used to inform policy and practice. Let’s begin with the results of the KEAs and how people are 

informed of them. 

14. Who receives the results of the KEAs (check all that apply)? Probe for any groups not mentioned. 

(Q9)

 SEA administration

 District administration

 Principals 

 Kindergarten teachers

 Preschool educators

 Parents (If so, are results translated into families’ languages?)

 Others (specify): ________________________________________

15. What information does each recipient receive about the results? (Q9a, b, 10)

Probe: Let’s take it one at a time and describe the different roles and what they receive.

a. What is the schedule for sharing KEA results? In other words, when and how often does 

[each recipient checked above] receive information? (Q9b)

b. In what format is information shared (e.g., access to database, printed or online reports, 

parent conferences)? (Q9b)

c. How is the information broken out (e.g., by student demographic characteristics, 

districts, schools, classrooms, or by preschool program)? (Q9b)

d. What, if any, supporting information does [each recipient checked above] receive to 

interpret results and consider implications for learning supports at school and at home?

(Q10)

e. What, if any, challenges are there with sharing information with [each recipient checked 

above]? (Q10)

✪Do you have sample reports with results you could share with me?

Now let’s move to how KEA results are used to inform policy and practice.

16. How, if at all, do you as a district administrator use KEA results to inform decisions at the district 

level? (Q11d)

After getting a description, probe: Do you use results to make decisions about:

 Budget allocations 

 Curriculum

 Professional development offerings

 District-wide planning for Kindergarten

 Identify changes needed across PreK programs throughout the district

 Other areas (specify)?
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17. Please describe the training or support you received to help you use KEA results to inform 

teaching and learning? Who provides the training or support? (Q10)

a. Which training or supports are most useful?

b. What other training or supports would have been useful? 

18. How do you expect principals to use KEA results to inform decisions at the school level? (Q11c)

For example, do expect them to use results to [read list]? (Mark all that apply)

 Discuss ways to increase children’s readiness with feeder preschools 

 Assign individual children to classrooms 

 Benchmark learning to track progress in Kindergarten throughout the year

 Make decisions about 

 Budget allocations, 

 Curriculum, 

 Professional development, or 

 School-wide planning?

 Other (specify):

a. Please describe the training or support principals receive to help them use KEA results to 

inform teaching and learning. (Q10)

19. How do you expect kindergarten teachers use KEA results? (Q11b)

For example, do expect them to use results to [read list]? (Mark all that apply)

 Identify children who may need additional supports

 Identify specific skills to teach to individual students or groups of students

 Incorporate a new instructional strategy to support a commonly needed skills

 To engage families in home learning activities

 To benchmark learning in order to track progress throughout the year

 Other (specify): 

____________________________________________________________

a. Please describe the training or support kindergarten teachers receive to help them use 

KEA results to inform teaching and learning. (Q10)

20. Use only if the preschool is part of the district. Do preschool directors and/or teachers receive 

the reports? (Q9) If yes,

a. How do you expect preschool directors and teachers to use KEA results? (Q11a)

For example, do you expect them to [read list]? (Mark all that apply)

 Inform PreK program’s policies

 Inform PreK curriculum

 Inform professional development for your PreK teachers

 Inform PreK family engagement about specific school readiness areas

 Align expectations and/or instruction between PreK and kindergarten teachers

 Inform other PreK program components (specify): 
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b. Please describe the training or support preschool directors and/or teachers receive to 

help them use KEA results to inform teaching and learning. (Q10)

21. Describe any policies regarding how KEA results are not to be used, if there are any (e.g., 

determine promotion or prevent kindergarten entry in any way). (Q12)

a. How, if at all, are these policies communicated to districts, schools, and teachers? 

b. How, if at all, are these policies enforced? Please give me a specific example.

22. What have been the most important factors in supporting the use of KEA results to improve 

students’ educational experience? (Q15)

23. What have been the biggest challenges with using KEA results to improve students’ educational 

experience? (Q15)

a. What solutions have you identified for addressing those challenges? 

This is our final question! In closing we’d like you to reflect on how your state, district, and schools 

administered and used KEA data and try to offer lessons learned. (Q14, 15)

24. Are there lessons learned or recommendations you can share with other districts about KEA 

selection, implementation, and use of KEA results to inform policy and practice?

Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses.