Oregon Department of Education Early Learning Division GOLD Application

For more information on the state of Oregon

Teaching Strategies GOLD was adopted by Oregon as the state’s formative assessment (a way to help identify children’s strengths and learning needs, and inform early childhood educators of them) to be used in programs receiving Oregon Prekindergarten (OPK) funding. In addition, many Preschool Promise and Baby Promise grantees use GOLD as their assessment tool and participate in ELD’s umbrella agreement with Teaching Strategies, who produces GOLD.

The Early Learning Division’s (ELD’s) GOLD umbrella agreement also includes community users in Oregon, such as licensed family child care programs and licensed centers. This offer is not an endorsement or recommendation that licensed child care and early learning programs use GOLD in their programs. Programs must choose an assessment that is appropriate for their setting.

Signing and Renewing GOLD Contracts under the State Agreement

  • The cost for GOLD subscriptions under the Oregon Department of Education Early Learning Division (ODE ELD) agreement is $13.50 per child per year. Programs are eligible for this contracted rate when they initially sign up and/or renew their licenses for GOLD. The one-time start-up fee for GOLD is waived for programs signing up under the state agreement.
  • ELD reserves the right to monitor use of GOLD to check the accuracy of data or how much the system is getting used.

Training

The ELD provides detailed training guidance and requirements for grantees. For community users, it can be found here:

It is strongly recommended that all staff receive training before using GOLD.  There are several free on-line options available on the SmartTeach website under Develop > Go to the Quorum eLearning Platform, including:

The Power of GOLD®/ El Poder de GOLD®, Discover how to use GOLD® to advance the essential functions of assessment in an early childhood classroom, including how the 2021 Assess area updates streamline collecting, organizing, and leveraging your documentation of children’s development and learning. This is a 2-hour course.

 

 

 

Introducing SmartTeach / Introducción a SmartTeach, This course introduces you to SmartTeach®, a single online entry point for all of Teaching Strategies’ digital classroom solutions. Discover how to make the most of SmartTeach® as you explore the Teach, Assess, Develop, Report, and Family areas. This is a 2-hour course.

Objectives for Development and Learning / Objectivos para desarrollo y el aprendizaje, Discover important information related to the knowledge, skills, and abilities described in the objectives for development and learning that are most predictive of school success. This is a 10-hour course.

 

 

In the SmartTeach Support Portal, “you can quickly and easily find the support you need by browsing articles or videos from our resource library, or simply type your question into the search bar ….” You can also access it by selecting the question mark in the lower left-hand side on most pages.

 

Interrater Reliability Certification

ELD requires that teachers in grantee programs achieve reliability certification before the fall checkpoint. For community users, we strongly recommend teachers demonstrate reliability.

Data Entry

It is important to have a consistent approach to entering program and child data so that accurate reports can be run at the classroom, program and state levels. Community users of the ELD umbrella agreement should carefully select funding sources appropriate to their enrolled children.

GOLD – Key Contacts

If you have questions or concerns about using GOLD please contact one of the following individuals:

For clarification and support implementing state policies and guidelines:
Michael Connor ([email protected])

GOLD Technical Support (for implementation questions and technical assistance)
[email protected]
1-866-275-8918

Please note that due to the volume of requests, it may take 3-4 weeks to process your request. You will receive contact from Teaching Strategies staff regarding your subscription.