Early Childhood and Family Education
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Welcome to the Early Childhood Department of Education at OSDE. Our department serves the earliest learners in Oklahoma, from birth to 3rd Grade.
The Early Learning Inventory (ELI) is a free, comprehensive tool to assess students’ knowledge and skills at the start of the school year and to monitor students’ progress in these areas across the year. The ELI covers foundational knowledge and skills, such as counting and alphabet knowledge, as well as dispositions and abilities critical to early learning. Educator can quickly and purposefully gather information about their students’ knowledge and skills using the ELI’s observational rubrics that outline the progression of children’s learning across six essential domains of school readiness:
- Literacy;
- Mathematics;
- Approaches toward learning;
- Physical Development, Health, and Well Being;
- Scientific Conceptual Understanding; and
- Self, Family, and Community.
Beyond providing insight to educators on the entry point of the students in their class, it allows for rich conversation and information sharing with families on student goals.
For more information see the Oklahoma Early Learning Inventory Webpage:
Skills and Behaviors that Promote Learning Webinar Series
This fall, we heard from early childhood educators across the state handling a new set of challenges around foundational skills and behaviors that students need to achieve academic and personal success in the classroom. In response, OSDE launched a webinar series to assist educators in supporting students with these skills and behaviors. Below, you will find the recordings of the first three sessions hosted in November, December, and February. Each session is full of practical strategies that can be taken back to your classroom and implemented immediately.
Session #1 - Essential Skills and Behaviors that Promote Learning
Session #2 - Challenging Behaviors in Early Childhood
Session #3 - You Can't Say you Can't Play
Oklahoma Academic Standards
Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) serve as expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the end of the school year. These standards were written by Oklahomans for Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Academic Standards:
- Focus on deep thinking, conceptual understanding, and real‐world problem-solving skills
- Set expectations for students to be College, Career, and Citizenship Ready
- Incorporate Literacy in Science, Social Studies, and Technical Subjects
- Emphasize the use of citations and examples from texts when creating opinions and arguments
- Increase rigor and grade‐level expectations
- Determine the full range of support for English Language Learners and Students with Special needs.
Learn more about Oklahoma Academic Standards here.
From the Start Reading Project - Foundational Literacy Courses
The OSDE is pleased to offer the From the Start Reading Project, a set of 9 professional development courses on evidence-based foundational literacy in the OSDE Connect virtual learning platform. These dynamic modules provide professional learning on the components of strong early literacy instruction with a focus on practical classroom, application, and cover the following topics:
Through these courses, educators will learn highly-effective strategies based in the Science of Reading. Each module is 1-2 hours in length, can be accessed individually or as a complete set, and are available for educators to explore independently for personal growth or with a team of colleagues.
These courses have also been combined into one course entitled Evidence Based Instructional Practices in Early Literacy. This course is designed to meet the requirements for a micro-credential in Early Literacy Instruction. Completing this coures will also meet the OSDE continuing education requirements for Emergency Certified Teachers.The nine modules include research-based strategies and suggestions for effective tier 1 litearcy instruction in the classroom.
For questions or more information, reach out to Melissa Ahlgrim at melissa.ahlgrim@sde.ok.gov.
Family Guides
The OSDE Family Guides are resources aligned with the Oklahoma Academic Standards and developed specifically for Oklahoma families to complement classroom learning. They illustrate what is expected of students at each grade level in different content areas along with activities families can do at home to further support children's learning experiences. These guides are great resources for families at Open House, Parent Teacher Conferences, Family Nights, and School Newsletters.
English |
Español |
| Pre-K | Pre-K |
| Kindergarten | Kindergarten |
| 1st Grade | 1er Grado |
| 2nd Grade | 2do Grado |
| 3rd Grade | 3er Grado |
For more information or to see other grade level family guides click on the image above.
Early Childhood Newsletters
Please subscribe to the #OKEarlyEd Newsletter here.
Early Childhood Professional Development
The Office of Instruction is available to provide customized professional development to school districts in their local area. Please contact the Office of Early Childhood and Literacy at (405) 521-3034 or complete the online request form.
