School Readiness
Young children are ready to learn in school when they can adjust to the demands of a classroom, listen to the teacher, play and work well with other children, and are comfortable exploring and asking questions. Children who are physically healthy, emotionally mature, socially competent, and have cognitive, language and communication skills are more likely to succeed in school. Parents, caregivers, early learning educators and communities all have a role to play in helping children reach these developmental milestones. School readiness at the community level is an index of how well a community has served its children through their earliest years.
• 3 school districts, Bellevue, Highline and Shoreline, implemented the Early Development Instrument (EDI) survey in 2004/05 and again in 2008. (figure 1) The EDI measures how ready kindergarten children are for school and compares readiness across neighborhoods in each of the districts.
• 5 areas (domains) of school readiness are measured: 1) physical health and well-being; 2) social competence; 3) emotional maturity; 4) language and cognitive skills; and 5) communication and general knowledge.
• Scores for individual children are not reported; rather, the EDI provides a “report card” on how well a community is preparing its young children to succeed in school.
• Local EDI results are reported in 2 ways: 1. Average scores in each of the 5 areas. 2. Percent of children scoring within highest/lowest percentiles in 1 or more of the 5 domains.
• Comparisons should only be made to an
International Normative score. Because only 3 King County districts participated, no County-wide norm exists. The 3 districts cannot be compared to each other—only neighborhoods within a
district should be compared.
• Children scoring in the bottom 10% are considered “vulnerable” or “not ready for school”.
• In Bellevue, 29.6% of children scored not ready for school on at least 1 readiness domain and 14.1% on at least 2 domains. (figure 2) This compares to 27.2% and 13.6% of the International Normative cohort, respectively.
• 57 (6.0%) children with special needs were assessed using the EDI. 64.9% scored low on at least 1 readiness to learn domain. The areas of greatest need were emotional maturity and communication/general knowledge. Children with special needs are not included in neighborhood scoring.
• Children who had attended preschool scored significantly higher than those who did not in all 5 domains.
• 295 (33.1%) children were English language learners. (figure 3) They scored significantly lower in all domains except physical health/well-being.
• In Highline, 28.3% of children scored not ready for school on at least 1 readiness domain and 14.6% on at least 2 domains. This compares to 27.2% and 13.6% of the International Normative cohort, respectively. (figure 4)
• 49 (6.6%) children with special needs were assessed using the EDI. 81.6% scored low on at least 1 readiness to learn domain. The areas of greatest need were physical health/well-being and emotional maturity. Children with special needs are not included in neighborhood scoring.
• Children who had attended preschool scored significantly higher in physical health/well-being, social competence, language/cognitive development and communication/general knowledge.
• 289 (41.7%) children were English language learners. (figure 5) They scored significantly lower in language/cognitive development and communication/general knowledge.
• In Shoreline, 25.8% of children scored not ready for school on at least 1 readiness domain and 14.3% on at least 2 domains. (figure 6) This compares to 27.2% and 13.6% of the International Normative cohort, respectively.
• 35 (8.0%) children with special needs were assessed using the EDI. 80.0% scored low on at least 1 readiness to learn domain. The areas of greatest need were emotional maturity and language/ cognitive development. Children with special needs are not included in neighborhood scoring.
• Children who had attended preschool scored significantly higher in language/cognitive development and communication/general knowledge.
• 62 (15.2%) children were English language learners. They scored significantly lower in every area except physical health/well-being. (figure 7)
Data Source, Definitions, and Limitations
Information on community-level school readiness is from a kindergarten teacher survey using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The survey was conducted Spring 2004 (Shoreline, Bellevue), Spring 2005 (Highline) and February – March 2008 (all districts). A cultural validity analysis of the EDI for King County was conducted in 2005. While generally found to be valid, the EDI teacher training was adjusted to refine areas susceptible to cultural bias. Participation was voluntary, with teacher participation rates from 85% to 89% in 2004 and 2005. In 2008, school inclusion rates were 72% in Highline, 90% in Shoreline and 100% in Bellevue. Teacher participation by district ranged from 76% to 100%.
Neighborhood boundaries were based on a variety of factors: input from city and school officials, existing boundaries of incorporated areas, census block groups and population characteristics.
