From the get-go, our youngest students need the right tools to get their school careers off on the right foot. For many years, educators, lawmakers and parents have stressed the need for children five- and six-years-old to hit the kindergarten ground running.
In 2012, the legislature established WAKids, a transition process to help kids get a successful start in school and to assess the learning readiness of each child.
The Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills results are now in. Our youngest students generally scored well in physical development, but not so well in math. The assessment also cited an “opportunity gap,” with race and ethnicity adversely affecting a youngster’s readiness to learn.
A key objective of the assessment is helping “kindergarten teachers tailor instruction to the needs of individual students, begin meaningful conversations in communities about how to improve education, and inform state-level decisions about education policy and investments.” Kindergarten teachers conducted the assessment — covering “six areas of development and learning (social emotional, physical, language and cognitive development; literacy and math)” — earlier this school year.
Family connection and early learning collaboration are the two other components that comprise the work of WaKIDS. The state’s education office reports that 187 school districts and 550 schools, including 38,443 kindergartners and 1,800 teachers, participated in this year’s assessment. State Superintendent Randy Dorn emphasizes that “this information can help teachers target their instruction as needed. Hopefully, by going through this process, families feel more connected to their child’s teacher and classroom. And this will lead to future school success.”
A press release detailing data from this second year that the assessment has been conducted is available here. Also, for more WaKIDS-assessment and related information, see:
- WaKIDS Report Card.
- WaKIDS data highlights and fast facts.
- Department of Early Learning.
- Thrive by Five Washington.
Here in Olympia, state-funded, full-day kindergarten invariably stands out as a crucial slice of the budget pie. Last year, in fact, the Legislature hiked the state’s investment in full-day kindergarten enough to double the number of students eligible for the current school year.