TSG Tips and Tricks for the Classroom Team
TSG: 10 Tips for Successfully Completing Your Checkpoint
Teaching Strategies: Alignment with Vermont Early Learning Standards - Birth Through Third Grade
UPK Guidance: My Teaching Strategies Gold - 2020-21 Requirements and Guidelines (Interrater Reliability (IRR)
UPK Guidance: My Teaching Strategies GOLD® 2022-2023 Requirements and Guidelines
Teaching Strategies GOLD® Transfer Request 2024-25 School Year
2024-2025 End of Year Guidance from AOE
All documentation and data for all UPK students in your program must be completed and finalized by Sunday, June 15, 2025.
Please keep in mind the following as you are entering data:
Are there duplicate portfolios for any of your students?
Are there empty “classrooms” under your program account?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, your percentage of entries will be incorrect. Programs with checkpoints totals falling below 85% of entry will be part of the TSG monitoring period for Fall 2025.
Here are some resources to help you through a smooth checkpoint period:
Documentation in GOLD®
Staff should make every effort to have enough documentation for each Objective and Domain, so checkpoint levels can be confidently chosen for each child. Documentation will vary depending on the language of the indicators. It is highly recommended that documentation be uploaded and/or added directly to MyTeachingStrategies®.
Best Practices for Collecting Documentation
Finalizing Checkpoints
Once you have completed entering checkpoints for your children, you MUST finalize. This step is important for capturing data and verifying that your program has completed the checkpoint.
Primary teachers and co-teachers can complete and finalize checkpoint ratings for the children in their classrooms in MyTeachingStrategies®. Assistant teachers can view checkpoint ratings but cannot add, edit, or finalize checkpoint ratings.
Checkpoints must be finalized on or before the checkpoint due date. To confirm that you have submitted correctly, you can run the “Assessment Status” report. The Assessment Status report enables you to see whether you have entered finalized checkpoint levels by area and by objective/dimension. The report also makes it easy to determine where you are missing finalized data.
10 Tips for Successfully Completing Your GOLD Checkpoints
Checkpoint Completion for Mid-Year Transfers
If the child leaves within two weeks or so of the fall or spring final checkpoint date, the current provider should finalize the checkpoints for that child. If it is 3 weeks or more, the current provider should continue to add documentation until the child leaves. The “new” provider will use previous and current documentation within GOLD® to make the checkpoint determination.
One Portfolio for Each Child
Each child participating in Act 166 is to have one GOLD® portfolio only. This portfolio should be maintained by the program providing the 10 hours of Universal PreK. If a child attends another program for additional hours, that program may contribute feedback either in written form to the program providing Universal PreK or request to be a contributing member of Team Central.
Duplicate Portfolios
If a child has two portfolios, it is the program administrator’s responsibility to determine which portfolio should be maintained and transfer any information needed. The State GOLD® Administrator should then be notified to delete the duplicate portfolio.
Duplicate Accounts
If a program has a duplicate account, it is the program administrator’s responsibility to determine which account should be maintained and transfer any information needed. Contact Teaching Strategies® in order to close out and delete any duplicate accounts.
Archiving Students
Three years is the recommended time for archiving students after they have left your program.
Student Transfers
When a child leaves a program, it would be helpful if the sending program asked the family if they intend to enroll their child in another PreK program. If it is another Prequalified PreK, both sending and receiving providers must complete and sign the necessary Vermont GOLD® Transfer Form and send it to the AOE GOLD® Administrator. The GOLD® Administrator will make changes, ensuring the child's portfolio will transfer with the child.
Funding Sources
The following three sources are to be completed on every child:
The Supervisory Union or School District counting this child in their Average Daily Membership (ADM).
Town of Residence.
The School District (SD) or Supervisory Union (SU) including this child in the school census.
Helpful Resources and Documents
Alignment of GOLD Objectives for Development and Learning Birth-Grade 3 with the VELS.
MyTeachingStrategies® Support Portal: quickly and easily find the support you need by browsing articles, videos, frequently asked questions, archived and live webinars from the resource library, or simply type your question into the search bar on the home page. The Portal also contains a form for reporting GOLD® issues. The Portal can be accessed after logging into your account on the MyTeachingStrategies® home page or by clicking on the ? on the left side of your screen.
GOLD® Communications Plan: This document contains dates of communications such as webinars and emails to the field that support topics for teachers and administrators such as setting up classes, documentations, planning, and checkpoints.
Vermont GOLD® Transfer Form is to be used for transferring children from one program to another, or from one site to another. It is not required if the child is moving to a different classroom within the same site.
VELS: The Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) inform educators and families about the development and capabilities of children from birth through grade 3, guiding educators in the development and selection of program-wide curriculum and educational strategies for this age group. These standards are central to the shared vision of what we want for young children in Vermont and highlight the importance of high-quality early childhood experiences as the foundation for school success and lifelong learning.
Thank you for all you do!
Best,
Michele
Michele Johnson
Early Education Coordinator
VT AOE Early Education Team