"The effort to get a snapshot of kindergarten readiness is part of the National Survey of Children's Health, which collected information from thousands of parents and guardians about their child in five areas - early learning, motor skills, social-emotional development, self-regulation and health. The goal was to answer an overall question: Is your child ready for school? Readiness in California is on par with the nation's average, which also puts kindergarten readiness at two-thirds of 3- to 5-year-olds."
"But immense disparities exist. The gap in kindergarten readiness between the poorest families and the wealthiest is approximately 20%. While there's growing interest in assessing school readiness, education experts differ on what to measure and how. And some dispute whether children should be ready for school or if schools should be better prepared to address the needs of kindergartners. Despite the complexities, what a young child learns before they enter classrooms can set the course for the rest of their academic career, experts said."
Approximately two-thirds of California's 3- to 5-year-olds are assessed as ready for kindergarten, matching the national average. The National Survey of Children's Health evaluated thousands of children across five domains: early learning, motor skills, social-emotional development, self-regulation and health. Large socioeconomic disparities exist, with about a 20% readiness gap between children from the poorest and wealthiest families. Debate persists about which skills to measure and whether responsibility lies with preparing children or adapting schools. Early experiences before kindergarten influence long-term academic trajectories. National Education Goals Panel guidance provides commonly used readiness criteria developed in the 1990s.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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