S.C. Code § 59-155-150 requires that students entering publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten beginning in Fiscal Year 2014–15 must be administered a readiness assessment by the forty-fifth day of the school year. In compliance with the South Carolina Read to Succeed Act and provisos, readiness assessments for students in prekindergarten and kindergarten are administered to publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten students. Each school district and private provider participating in a publicly funded prekindergarten program administered one of the two approved formative assessments to each child eligible for and enrolled in a publicly funded prekindergarten program during the first forty-five days and the last forty-five days of the school year. Assessments approved by the State Board of Education are Individual Growth and Development Indicators (myIGDIs^™) and Teaching Strategies GOLD^®.

A brief overview of each of these products is provided in the following sections. For more in-depth information, please consult the publisher’s web site provided in each description.

Individual Growth and Development Indicators (myIGDIs™)

myIGDIs™ Literacy is a formative assessment individually administered by the teacher to support the identification of preschool children requiring additional diagnostic assessment or levels of intervention in oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and comprehension. This assessment can be used to measure developmental gains and inform instructional needs of individual children. More information about the assessment is located on the myIGDIs web site.

• New South Carolina myIGDIs™ User Dashboard
• SCDE and myIGDIs Summer and Fall Training Sign-ups and Virtual Office Hours Schedule
• myIGDIs Caregiver Report
  • Downloadable MS Word format (Literacy and Numeracy on one form) 
  • Fillable PDF Literacy and Numeracy

myIGDIs™ Test Security Agreements

• 4K and 5K Monitor and Teach Assistants Agreement to Maintain Confidentiality
• myIGDIs Test Security Agreement for DTCs, STCs, or Trainers 
• myIGDIs Test Security Agreement for Teachers or TAs
• 4K and 5K Readiness Assessments Testing "Do Not Disturb" Sign 

myIGDIs™ Test Administration Resources

• myIGDIs User Guide v2.1 (819 Kb PDF)
• myIGDIs Meaningful Scaled Score Benchmarks (527 Kb PDF)
• myIGDIs Early Literacy and Fidelity Review (666 Kb PDF)
• myIGDIs Screening Record Form (158 Kb PDF)
• myIGDIs Literacy Accommodations Guide (136 Kb PDF)

Teaching Strategies GOLD®

Teaching Strategies GOLD® is an authentic, ongoing observational system for assessing children from birth through kindergarten. It helps teachers to observe children in the context of every day experiences, which is an effective way to learn what they know and can do. GOLD is based on 38 objectives for development and learning that include predictors of school success; teachers use them to focus their observations as they gather information to make classroom decisions. More information about the assessment is located on the Teaching Strategies website.

• SY 2025-26 SCDE and Teaching Strategies GOLD Summer and Fall Training Sign-ups and Virtual Office Hours Schedule
• Teaching Strategies User Dashboard, SmartTeach

Teaching Strategies GOLD® Test Security Agreements

• 4K and 5K Monitor and Teach Assistants Agreement to Maintain Confidentiality
• GOLD Test Security Agreement Form for DTCs and STCs 
• GOLD Test Security Agreement for Teachers or TAs 
• 4K and 5K Readiness Assessments Testing "Do Not Disturb" Sign 

Additional 4K Readiness Resources

• 4K/5K Readiness Assessment Guidance: Assessing Students with Disabilities Guidance on providing meaningful participation on the statewide 4K and 5K readiness assessments for students with disabilities.
  • 4K decision tree and special circumstances request form
  • 4K and 5K Readiness Assessments for Students with Disabilities District Message