Result 3. All children are curious learners progressing towards their full potential

Indicator 3.1. % of Kindergartners Assessed as "Very Ready" in Four or More EDI Domains

16.7%2022

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About the Data

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a population measure of how young children are developing in communities. The EDI measures five domains of early childhood development: 1) Physical health and wellbeing, 2) Social competence, 3) Emotional maturity, 4) Language and cognitive skills, and 5) Communication skills and general knowledge. A child is considered “Very Ready” when their domain score is greater than or equal to the 75th percentile of the national EDI dataset.

The number of Bexar County ISDs adopting the assessment has increased each year. In some cases, dramatically changing the demographic mix of children assessed. Those changes make trending outcomes from the EDI problematic. In order to accurately trend this indicator and preserve the time series, a baseline geography was set as the 309 tracts assessed in 2015. In addition, the 70% representation criteria prescribed by EDI was applied to the geography as a whole rather than being applied to each individual tract.

All quantitative data and narrative related to the data on this page was prepared by CI NOW for ReadyKidSA.

Why Is This Important?

School readiness, a multi-dimensional concept, conveys important advantages. Children who enter school with early skills, such as a basic knowledge of math and reading, are more likely than their peers to experience later academic success, attain higher levels of education, and secure employment. While cognitive development and early literacy are important for children’s school readiness and early success in school, other areas of development, like health, social development, and engagement, may be of equal or greater importance. However, although experts agree that social-emotional skills are critically important for school readiness, to date there are no nationally representative data in this area. (http://www.childtrends.org/indicators/early-school-readiness/)

Race/Ethnicity

Kindergarteners assessed as “Very Ready” in 4+ domains: Bexar County*, 2022

 

Assessed

Percent “Very Ready” in 4+ Domains

Total Population 11,847 16.7%
Race Ethnicity    
          Asian 390 22.6%
          Black or African American 648 11.9%
          Hispanic or Latino 7,809 15.7%
          White 1,846 21.9%
          Two or More Races 733 17.6%
Gender    
          Male 6,073 12.7%
          Female 5,773 20.8%
Other    
          Free and Reduced Lunch 2,978 14.1%
          Individualized ED Program (IEP) 508 3.1%
          English as a Second Language (ESL) 1,213 18.1%

Source: Transforming Early Childhood Community Systems; Early Development Instrument (EDI), 2022. *309 census tracts used for analysis

Geographic Distribution

Story Behind the Curve

What factors are pushing up on the data?

  • Launch of PK4SA in 2013
  • Increase in professional development
  • Increase in adult education levels in SA/BC
  • Common assessment across district
  • Dual generational programs

What factors are pushing down on the data?

  • Childhood poverty
  • Child mobility
  • Need for stronger parent/caregiver engagement
  • Cost of early learning programs
  • Families keeping kids at home without resources
  • Need for early identification of special needs
  • Segregation – economic/educational, etc.
  • Trickle down effects of standardized testing
  • Food insecurity
  • Unsatisfied basic needs
  • Single parent/caretaker householders (grandparent)
  • Parents/caregivers not knowing/not having resources
  • Adult literacy
  • Low income families don’t always have same access to employer benefits
  • Toxic stress of poverty
  • Lack of community cohesiveness
  • Lack stable funding for childcare/EDL
Partners
  • School districts
  • PK4SA
  • Head Start
  • City of San Antonio
  • Region 20
  • Charter Schools/Private Schools
  • Daycares
  • SAHA
  • FFN providers
  • Parents
  • State of Texas
  • Higher Ed institutions
  • Community/non-profit organizations
  • Local business community
  • Health care providers
  • VIA
  • Parks & Rec
  • Police/fire
  • Churches
  • Libraries
  • Media
  • Corporate partners
What Works

Evidence-based practices

  • HIPPY
  • Nurse Family Partnership
  • Nurturing curriculum
  • High quality PK
  • Universal access to health care
  • Workforce development for parents and/or for caretakers of small children
  • Reduce cost of childcare
  • Increase NAEYC accreditations
  • Raise pay of early childhood educators

Promising practices

  • Building political will to put permanent resources behind early childhood education
  • Market the value of early childhood education to the public
  • Dual generation

No cost or low cost ideas

  • Promoting mindset of high value of early education
  • Schools using data
  • Leveraging the military community as a supportive resource

Outside the box thinking

  • Establish local children’s fund/Office for children at city/county level (child cabinet)
  • Build human development classes into the curriculum
  • City Marketing: San Antonio as great place for early childhood education
  • Making SA a “Child Centered City”
  • Expand quality/city funded early childcare development
Solutions and Strategies

Direct Service

  • Engage Community Health Workers/Promotoras trained on benefits of early childhood development/education to directly interact with parents in the community
    • Embed Community Health Workers/Promotoras at natural outlets where parents come for services - SNAP, WIC, all service outlets
  • Initiate "Kinder Prep Academy", a half-month program for children about to enter Kindergarten, which helps them grow familiar with the norms of a school environment - before they start the school year

Policy

  • Conduct assessments before children enter school, in order to identify potential development delays earlier

Funding

  • Implement a city-wide PSA and media/marketing campaign to raise awareness about the importance of school readiness
  • Increase funding to conduct ECI screenings for more children ages 0 to 3
  • Increase support for Home Visiting Programs for children ages 0 to 5

System Change

  • Engage insurance providers to provide early developmental assessments on young children
  • Ensure that a consistent message about Kinder Readiness is being used across the constellation of public and private partners engaged in school readiness

Other

  • Survey parents and caregivers to frame effective messaging, and then determine if messages are being utilized
  • The Family Resource Centers proposed in the current SA Tomorrow Bond are ideal locations for parent resource centers that can widely distribute educational information about very young children
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