Ready for Kindergarten

Recently, I attended a workshop with two kindergarten teachers and one preschool teacher. The workshop was sponsored by the Kennewick School District and an organization called National Children's Reading Foundation. KSD has been collecting data and working on interventions since 1996. The most striking data shows that the achievemnt gap really starts in the birth through five age range. In fact, "100% of the gap in reading acheivement between the top and bottom quartiles in reading is created prior to the beginning of the second grade" (READY! for Kindergarten).
Rather than ethinicity or socio-economic status, it is the learning that takes place from birth to five that determines later learning. About 20% of children enter kindergarten with the skill level of a three year old and an additional 20 % enter with the skill level of a four year old. Most children enter kindergarten with the skills of a five to eight year old. As most students grow a year in a year, the gap simply perpetuates itself. Students who are behind never catch up. The rough rule of thumb is that 13 percentile points equals one year of growth. We spend over two times as much money on the students who are behind as we do on the general education population.
What Kennewick has done is create a program that teaches the parents how to interact with their children during the birth to five years. They post signs and send postcards to get the parents to come to the Parent Lessons. They give the parents a literacy box of developmental toys and sign the children up for the Dolly Parton Book Club.
Sounds expensive, but when I think about the cost as well as the data about getting students up to grade level, it seems like money well spent.
Kennewick is still collecting data. I know I'll continue to look at their assessment data.
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