Children Enter School Ready to Learn (Anne Arundel County)

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment: Demonstrating Readiness

Current Value

46%

FY 2020

Definition

Line Bar

Story Behind the Curve

Economic impact (poverty)
How the assessment is delivered and by whom - in a prior year tests were only delivered via iPad which might be a barrier for young children with limited technology access/experience, create lag times that show up as deficiencies in motor skills, etc.
Who developed the assessment?
Potential for bias - both in the assessment itself as well as in early learning teachers/providers (similar to classroom discipline disparities in school-aged children)
Language Barriers (tests aren't available in other languages) which further perpetuates gaps for ELL
Technology Barriers
Consistency in the assessments
Comparing tests from earlier years - would love to know about MSDE/AACPS's staff opinions on the change to the test content/process and how that has shifted us from 80%+ readiness
Concerns about COVID compounding issues that contribute to readiness
Parents may be unaware of the things they could/should work on with their young children to ensure readiness
Quality childcare/early childhood education programming - we need more of it
Accesss to childcare/early childhood education is equally problematic - not enough slots, most options are not affordable for a large percentage of parents
Lack of programs that are involving the parents to reinforce concepts learn in preK/childcare settings
Headstart Model/empowering parents to support early childhood learning is the ideal model - need more headstart & early headstart locations & spots!
Parents capacity - working parents may lack time, energy, capacity to provide enough learning at home, time to do regular reading, etc.
Trusted relationships in the community to connect parents/families to supports and programs
Engaging the village not just the parent
Consistency with providers - lots of turnover means lack of consistency in learning as well
Impact of trauma - community and personal
Incremental successes need to be celebrated and built on!
Lack of bilingual resources/resources that address cultural differences
When are resources available? Timing may make them difficult for working parents to access.

Links shared during discussion:

https://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/kindergarten-readiness-report

https://www.marylandfamilynetwork.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/AnneArundel_1.pdf

https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins

https://www.actiaf.org/

https://aacpl.librarycalendar.com/events/importance-resilience-wellbeing-children

What Works

Parent Ambassador Programs - leverage interpersonal relationships & peer support
Going out in the communities knocking on doors - bringing information and services to people where they are
Incentives- but beyond incentives! "cotton candy and broccoli model" - need to mix incentives and fun with content & proven tools/techniques
Celebrate/build on small wins to help parents and families feel successful
Creative service delivery models (mobile, informal at bus stop, community-based/focused)
Increase trauma-informed practices to support both family and community and reduce intergenerational harm
integration of interfaith as part of the process
Engaging in community activities
More headstart/early headstart
Expand programs/services like BEST 2.0 that help parents (like incarcerated parents) understand their role/value as child's first teacher and give them skills/tools to foster success
Increase bi-lingual programming options

Strategy

More access to Headstart/Early Headstart (or programs that utilize similar models)
More affordable quality early childhood programs/services/childcare options
Expansion of BEST 2.0, particularly for underserved communities (bi-lingual families, families impacted by incarceration, families impacted by substance use, single-parent households, etc.)
Integration of ACES/trauma-informed practices into early childhood and family programs & services

Data Discussion

Unless otherwise specified, any missing data is either because there are no individuals who identify with the race/ethnicity or the data is suppressed to protect privacy. The race/ethnicity groups included in the indicator are as written in the original data source.

Data Source