Facts In Action

The term "school readiness" is heard more and more often in ECE - but what is it exactly? School readiness is the concept that all children should arrive at school ready for school from the first day. The term "ready" suggests a distinct constellation of skills that facilitate children’s ability to succeed in school, such as having motor control to hold a writing utensil, self-control to sit quietly during circle time, or language skills to be able to communicate their wants and needs. Yet it is not just children who need to arrive at school "ready". Communities must be "ready" to support their young children; families must be "ready" to support their children’s growth and development, and schools need to be "ready" to foster each individual child’s learning.

As states have begun to focus attention on children’s experiences in the years preceding school entry, it has become apparent that there is a shortage of data on children about the years between birth and when they arrive at school. During these in-between years children are rapidly acquiring the skills necessary for success in school, yet data has not been routinely collected documenting children’s progressive development of these school readiness skills. Similarly, minimal documentation exists assessing communities’, schools’, and families’ readiness.

In light of this, beginning in 2001, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT launched The School Readiness Indicators Project. The project is an initiative to assist each of the seventeen involved states to develop state-specific child and system level indicators of children’s, family’s, and community’s school readiness. Each state is being encouraged to develop indicators relevant to their state, specifically reflecting their state policy priorities and data sources. The school readiness indicators will illustrate the status of school readiness in each state, and also enable policymakers and community members to identify where investments in school readiness programs should be directed.

What We Do/ IndicatorsThe Massachusetts School Readiness Indicators Project

Massachusetts is participating in the School Readiness Indicators Project and has developed indicators that will soon be implemented. Massachusetts indicators were developed by soliciting and incorporating input from the Governor’s School Readiness Commission, representatives of the private sector, and members of the early care and education field. Through this process a definition of school readiness for children in Massachusetts was written. Children’s school readiness in MA includes:

• The ability to communicate
• Physical health
• Emotional health
• Social knowledge and competence (getting along with other children and adults)
• Developmentally appropriate language, knowledge, and cognitive skills.

School readiness also appreciates the diverse background of each child and school readiness is the result of a collaborative effort between families, communities and schools.

The indicators selected to measure progress towards the goal that all children arrive at school ready in Massachusetts. The indicators are organized in two categories: "Children are Ready" and "Families, Schools, and Communities are Supportive, Safe & Healthy." Within these categories, there are sets of indicators:

• Children are ready:
  • Physical health,
  • Emotional health,
  • Language and cognitive skills,
  • Social competence.
    
• Families, schools, and communities are supportive, safe and healthy:
  • Early care and education and schools are ready for children,
  • Transitions,
  • Family Involvement,
  • Self-sufficient families,
  • Safe and healthy communities.

Overall, many of the indicators incorporate data currently collected by the Office of Child Care Services, Department of Education, and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

What do indicators mean to early care and education providers?
Early care and education providers are in the unique position that they have the most opportunity, next to parents, to directly facilitate children’s attainment of the necessary school readiness skills. Thus more emphasis may be put on early care and education providers to be knowledgeable about what constitutes school readiness and employ this information in their daily activities. In addition, as new means for collecting school readiness data are selected, early care and education providers may become involved in implementing these assessments.

Ultimately, as a recent presentation from the School Readiness Indicators Project in Massachusetts suggested the indicators are just the beginning. These indicators further have the potential to:

• Provide a means for public and private agencies to focus on common outcomes for children,
• Establish a definition of "school readiness" which parents, providers, and communities can collectively understand,
• Can highlight gaps in children’s readiness earlier in life and thus promote earlier interventions, and
• Make it realistic to track progress towards ensuring that all children enter school ready to learn.

For more information about:
School Readiness:
http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/
The School Readiness Indicators Project:
www.gettingready.org
The MA School Readiness Indicators Project:
http://www.eec.state.ma.us/docs/REEECIndicatorsPage1REGIONSSC.pdf

Facts in Action, October 2004