Facts In Action

Massachusetts Acting Governor Jane Swift created the Commission on School Readiness in February 2001 to advise and make recommendations about ways to improve the current system of services delivered by the Commonwealth to

young children birth to age five and their families, to ensure that all Massachusetts' children enter school ready to learn and succeed. These services include child care, pre-kindergarten programs, Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Intervention, home visiting, family support and education, and health and mental health services.

The Commission's report, issued in November 2001, cited the abilities and capacities young children need to make a successful transition to school, including: the ability to communicate wants, needs, thoughts, and feelings; physical health and good nutrition; emotional well-being; social/relationship skills; and appropriate knowledge and cognitive skills. Importantly, the Commission also stressed that the community must be ready for the child, and recognized cultural background, physical environment, the quality of early childhood programs, and the role parents play as a child's primary teacher as significant influences on a child's readiness for school. This "ecological approach" to school readiness contrasts with the use of IQ-like tests and other academically based measures to determine a child's readiness for school that were common into the late 1980's.

Using the expertise of its 60 members and the findings from parent and provider surveys and focus groups, the Commission concluded its work in Fall 2001 and made recommendations in three areas:

• Supporting Massachusetts families - includes a statewide strategy for providing information to families about services for children, expansion of school orientation programs, and promotion of health screening and preventive care programs for children birth to age five.
  
  
• Workforce development - includes the promotion of a culturally diverse early education workforce, improved training and education programs and increased compensation for early education professionals, and the inclusion of in-home and relative caregivers in training programs.
  
  
• Integration and coordination at the state level - includes the efficient use of existing resources, development of seamless delivery systems, and regular surveys of supply and demand for services to target resources where they are most needed.

The Commission also suggested that the Acting Governor create or identify an agency or some other entity to oversee the implementation of the recommendations included in its report.

Sources:
School Readiness in Massachusetts: A Report of the Governor's Commission on School Readiness, The Massachusetts Governor's Commission on School Readiness, A. Wieworka and V. Washington, Co-Chairs. November, 2001; "Background for Community-Level Work on School Readiness: A Review of Definitions, Assessments, and Investment Strategies." M. Zaslow, J. Calkins, T. Halle, J. Zaff, N. Margie, Final Report by Child Trends to the Knight Foundation, December 2000.

For more information:
contact Valora Washington at (617) 868-6600, or OCCS Commissioner Ardith Wieworka at (617) 626-2000.

Facts in Action, February 2002