Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Revised Updates – Apr 30, 2024

Dear Kindergarten Assessment Data Managers, Administrators, and Teachers,

This message contains important updates about the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Revised (KRA-R). The KRA-R will continue to be administered in the 2024-2025 school year. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) and Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) will collaborate on supporting statewide administration of the KRA-R.

You will continue to receive communications about the KRA-R through the DEW GovDelivery system. If you would like to also receive communications from DCY, please subscribe here for Tuesday Times, Kids Corner, and other topics of interest.

The Office of Early Learning and School Readiness has transitioned to the Department of Children and Youth, including the people who have been supporting the KRA-R for many years. The KRA-R is transitioning over to DCY over the next year. The KRA-R email address for inquiries has changed to KRAHelp@childrenandyouth.ohio.gov.

Most operations will continue as they have in the past, with two major updates to the KReady system:

1. A new Professional Development (PD) platform. The PD platform within the KReady system, where teachers complete the required training and access supports and resources, will have a new, enhanced look beginning this spring. Teachers will still need a KReady account to access this platform within the system.
2. The addition of a User Assessment Tag functionality. This change is to the data manager side of the system, which will allow data managers to “tag” teachers and administrators with a designation within their account. A KReady user with the KRA assessment tag will be granted access to the KRA modules/sites within their account.

Enhanced KReady PD Platform
Starting on Thursday, May 9, the PD platform within the KReady system will have a new, enhanced look and functionality. Teachers will no longer need the one-time site pin to gain access to the KRA PD site. Instead, the KReady system will automatically grant teachers and administrators access to the KRA PD site if they have the correct “tag” or designation within their account from their data managers.

User Assessment Tag Functionality in KReady- NEW
Data managers will need to make sure that teachers and administrators have the correct “tag” or designation within their KReady account to access the KRA PD site. This is a one-time designation. Data managers can either make this selection manually or via the bulk loader. The teachers template will be updated with an additional column labeled – “assessment_tag”. In that column, data managers will designate the KRA so that the system knows which users should be granted access to the KRA modules/sites within the PD component. If a data manager opens a user profile, there will be an option to designate KRA manually as well. This designation has to be made for all users who need access to the KRA modules/sites. If this is not done, then the user will not be able to access the PD component of the system when they click the green Access Professional Development and Resources button from the KReady dashboard. The Data Manager/Administrator manual will be updated with the how-to steps for this functionality.

KRA and KRA-R Training Certificates
Teachers who have completed the KRA or KRA-R training in a previous year are encouraged to download their training certificate from the KReady system prior to Wednesday, May 8.

Important: Once we switch to the new PD platform on May 9, any previous KRA or KRA-R certificates that teachers received will no longer be accessible. All current users who have access to the KRA PD site will need to be updated in KReady by the data manager with the KRA assessment tag. No user will automatically have access.

KRA-R Teacher Training
The enhanced PD platform will include an updated training for teachers who will administer the KRA-R for the 2024-2025 school year. The new training will be available in early June, and we will communicate with data managers and administrators when the training is live in the KReady system. The new KRA-R training will be provided in a fully online, self-paced (asynchronous) format. This will allow teachers and others supporting the KRA-R to complete the training at a time that is convenient for them.

Remember that because of the enhancements to the KReady system and the new PD platform, data managers will need to “tag” teachers with the KRA assessment tag in order for them to access the KRA modules/sites. This can be completed through the Bulk Loader or manually. Data managers can begin adding teachers with that tag beginning in early May.

Archiving Reports
Data managers and building administrators are encouraged to download available reports from KReady and save them locally by May 31. The Ohio KRA-R data from 2023-2024 will be archived in the KReady system in June. Reports that have been generated this school year by data managers and administrators will be archived in the system and will be available at the user level next school year. After the archive, no user can generate a new report from a previous year. Reports generated by teachers are not available after the archive. For additional information, visit Accessing the Archive on Ohio K-12 Help.

KRA-R Administration Materials
Please ensure your current KRA-R administration materials are securely stored as they will be used again for the fall 2024 administration. Some schools and districts might need additional or new administration materials for next school year. The KRA-R Kit Order Form is available on KRA for Administrators Webpage. Tests are secure materials. If you need to report a destroyed kit, please complete this Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Document of Secure Test Destruction .

To Do in May:

1. Add new teachers to the KReady system and “tag” them with the KRA designation, starting in
2. Join us for KRA Open Office Hour on May 6 at 1 p.m. Click here to join the meeting.
3. Ensure teachers who have been previously trained download their KRA or KRA-R training certificate from their KReady account by May 8.
4. Generate and download available reports from KReady and save them locally by May 31.
5. Order additional KRA-R kits if needed for teachers. Shipping begins in June.

KRA-R Open Office Hour
Monday, May 6, 1 – 2 p.m.
Kindergarten administrators and teachers, along with KReady data managers, are invited to join DCY staff members Wendy Grove and Elizabeth Sailer Agnew for an open office hour to discuss and ask questions about the KRA-R and the KReady system. No registration or RSVP is needed to participate, and the session will not be recorded. Click here to join the meeting.

The State of Ohio is a disability inclusion state. We promote access to our meetings and trainings. To request a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please use the Help link to contact the ADA Coordinator for the scheduling agency. Org help

Preparing for School Year 2024-2025.
The administration window for the KRA-R is not earlier than the first day of July of the school year and not later than the twentieth day of instruction of that school year. The KReady system will open for the next school year on July 1 and remain open through November 1 to accommodate differences in district schedules. November 1 is the deadline for teachers to enter data in the KReady system.

For KReady technical questions, please contact the Help Desk:

844-K12-OHIO (844-512-6446), http://www.ohio-k12.help/

Thank you for your continued efforts to support teaching and learning in kindergarten!