Queen Anne’s
County
March 2014
A Strong Start for the Future
School Readiness is Essential
School Readiness
• A child’s ability to successfully do kindergarten work.
A Profound Effect
• Children who enter school with high levels of readiness are
more likely to succeed academically throughout their school
careers, as well as later in life.
• Research indicates that early experiences have a profound
effect on the brain's development.
• Children’s early years are the most important in shaping their
formative growth and learning abilities.
How does Maryland Assess Readiness?
Maryland Model for School Readiness
Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR)
An annual assessment on what each kindergartener knows and is able to do in
the following areas or Domains of Learning:
• Language & Literacy
• Mathematical Thinking
• Physical Development
• Scientific Thinking
• Social & Personal Development
• Social Studies
• The Arts
How does Maryland Assess Readiness?
Maryland Model for School Readiness
Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR)
A kindergarten child is identified as:
• Fully Ready
 Consistently demonstrates the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which
are needed to meet kindergarten expectations successfully.
• Approaching Readiness
 Inconsistently demonstrates the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which
are needed to meet kindergarten expectations successfully and
requires targeted instructional support in specific areas.
• Developing Readiness
 Does not demonstrate the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which are
needed to meet kindergarten expectations and requires considerable
instructional support in specific areas.
Statewide Highlights
MMSR, 2013-2014
Key Trends in Maryland
•
Continuing Our Strong Progress
•
•
Achieving Higher Standards
•
•
83% of children entering kindergarten in school year 2013-2014 are
fully school-ready, up from 49% in 2001-2002. This represents a
69% improvement in overall school readiness.
The upward trend from school year 2001-02 is evident for all
subgroups of children.
Working Diligently to Improve School Readiness
•
96% of jurisdictions showed growth from 2001-2002.
•
12 jurisdictions reported higher levels of school readiness than 20122013.
•
10 jurisdictions exceeded or are on par with the statewide school
readiness average.
Statewide Highlights
MMSR, 2013-2014
Key Trends in Maryland
•
Sustaining Upward Trends
•
•
Children receiving education services through an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) exhibit overall higher school readiness.
Narrowing Achievement Gaps
•
77% of children from low-income households (as indicated by Free
and Reduced Price Meal status) are fully school-ready in 2013-2014.
• The 43-point gain from 2001-2002 reduced the readiness gap between
children from low-income households and their mid-/high-income peers from
18 points to 11 points this year.
•
72% of English Language Learners (ELLs: children whose first
language is not English) are fully school-ready in 2013-2014, up from
35% in 2001-2002.
• The 3-point rise in readiness from 2012-2013 closed the disparity
between ELLs and English-proficient children from 15 points to
13 points this year.
Statewide Highlights
MMSR, 2013-2014
Key Trends in Maryland
•
Ensuring a Sound Start
• 39.7% of kindergarten children previously attended public prekindergarten (PreK).
• 31% of PreK children participate in full day PreK programs.
• 14 jurisdictions currently offer a full-day option for some or all PreK children.
•
83% of children who were enrolled in public PreK programs the year prior
to starting kindergarten are fully school-ready, up from 47% in 20012002.
•
Children enrolled in public PreK programs the year prior to kindergarten:
• Show greater long-term improvements (a 36-point gain from 2001-2002,
compared with the 34-point Statewide gain).
• Outperform their peers at the same income level.
• Are better prepared for school than children at home or in informal care.
Queen Anne's County
Demographics of Young Children
Popu la t ion D a t a
MD Department of Planning, 2010
Estimated Children Age 4
Children <5 (age 0-4)
594
2,970
Sch ool En r ollm e n t
MSDE, School Year 2013-2014
PreK Students
Full-Day Program
Half-Day Program
Kindergarten Students
Kindergarteners by Ethnicity
American Indian
Asian
African American
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
White
Hispanic
Two or More Races
226
0.0%
100.0%
Kindergarten by Subgroup
Male
Female
51.2%
48.8%
537
Kindergarteners by Subgroup
Children with Disabilities
English Language Learners
Free/Reduced Priced Meals
9.3%
5.0%
30.2%
0.2%
0.7%
5.8%
0.0%
81.4%
7.4%
4.5%
Continuing Our Strong Progress
MMSR, 2013-2014
Full School Readiness
Maryland and Queen Anne's County
100
89
90
80
Percent
70
70
64
81
82
91
83
•
91% of Queen Anne's County’s
kindergarten students are fully
school-ready in 2013-2014, a
27-point readiness gain from
2001-2002.
•
The County’s kindergarteners
outperform their Maryland peers
(83% fully ready).
68
60
58
50
40
83
88
49
30
20
10
0
01/02
04/05
Maryland
07/08
10/11
12/13
Queen Anne's County
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
13/14
Continuing Our Strong Progress
MMSR, 2013-2014
Full School Readiness
Queen Anne's County
100
89
90
80
Percent
83
91
•
91% of Queen Anne's County’s
kindergarteners are fully ready
for school in 2013-2014, up
from 64% in 2001-2002.
•
The County exhibits an overall
upward trend – a 42%
improvement in school
readiness since 2001-2002.
•
1% of kindergarteners (less
than 5 children) require
considerable support to do
kindergarten work.
70
64
70
88
60
50
40
30
35
27
20
15
11
11
8
10
0
1
3
1
3
2
1
01/02
04/05
07/08
10/11
12/13
13/14
Full
Approaching
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Developing
Achieving Higher Standards
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Domain
•
73
Language &
Literacy
41
80
Mathematical
Thinking
In key Domains of Learning,
kindergarteners experienced longterm gains:
•
Language & Literacy: 73%
fully ready for 2013-2014 (a
32-point increase from 20012002)
•
Mathematical Thinking:
80% fully ready (a 30-point
jump)
•
Scientific Thinking: 90%
fully ready (a 53-point gain)
•
Social & Personal: 86% fully
ready (a 16-point
improvement)
50
96
Physical
Development
73
90
Scientific
Thinking
37
Social &
Personal
Development
86
70
91
Social
Studies
59
93
The Arts
63
0
20
40
60
80
Percent
13/14
12/13
01/02
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
100
120
Sustaining Upward Trends
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Ethnicity
77
African
American
•
77% of African-American
children are fully school-ready in
2013-2014. The 39-point
improvement from 2001-2002 is
substantially higher than the
County’s 27-point readiness
gain.
•
80% of Hispanic children are
fully school-ready, a 16-point
gain from 2012-2013. Hispanic
children demonstrated stronger
short-term gains than their
Queen Anne’s County peers (a
3-point gain).
38
*
*
*
American
Indian
75
Asian
*
80
Hispanic
*
Native
Hawaiian/Pacifi
c Islander
*
*
96
Two or More
Races
93
White
68
0
20
40
60
80
Percent
13/14
12/13
01/02
- Not Tracked
* Fewer than 5 Children
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
100
120
Sustaining Upward Trends
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Gender
91
•
95% of females are fully schoolready in 2013-2014, up from
73% in 2001-2002.
•
87% of males are fully ready, a
31-point gain from 2001-2002.
•
These gains reduced the
readiness gap between males
and females from 17 to 8 points.
All
64
95
Female
73
87
Male
56
0
20
40
60
80
Percent
13/14
12/13
01/02
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
100
Narrowing the Readiness Gap
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Disability Status
100
89
80
Percent
66
72
88
89
82
73
60
93
•
76% of children receiving special
education services through an
Individualized Education Program
(IEP) are fully school-ready in
2013-2014, a 31-point gain from
2001-2002.
•
The readiness gap between
children with disabilities and their
peers narrowed from 21 points in
2001-2002 to 17 points this year.
•
9.3% of kindergarteners (50
children) have a disability; this
is a 22% one-year increase.
76
54
40
45
35
20
0
01/02
04/05
07/08
Children with Disabilities
10/11
12/13
13/14
Children w/o Disabilities
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Narrowing the Readiness Gap
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Income Status
100
Percent
80
90
69
76
84
91
•
86% of children from low-income
households (as indicated by Free
and Reduced Price Meal status)
are fully school-ready in 20132014.
•
The 53-point gain from 2001-2002
reduced the readiness gap
between children from low-income
households and their mid-/highincome peers from 36 points to 7
points this year.
•
30.2% of kindergarteners (162
children) in 2013-2014 are from
low-income households.
86
80
72
60
52
40
20
86
93
33
0
01/02
04/05
07/08
10/11
12/13
13/14
Children from Low-Income Households
Children from Mid- to High-Income Households
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Narrowing the Readiness Gap
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by English Proficiency
94
100
89
92
•
81% of English Language Learners
(ELLs: children whose first
language is not English) are fully
school-ready in 2013-2014.
•
The 22-point rise in readiness
from 2012-2013 closed the
disparity between ELLs and
English-proficient children from 30
points to 11 points this year.
•
5% of kindergarteners in 20132014 are ELLs (27 children).
83
Percent
80
67
71
88
81
80
60
59
55
40
38
20
0
02/03*
04/05
07/08
10/11
English Language Learners
12/13
13/14
English Proficient
* The first year with more than 5 children in this subgroup.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Examining the Readiness Gap
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County Skills Gap Status
Full Readiness in Language & Literacy by Subgroups
60
54
51
•
In Language & Literacy, the
readiness gap between ELLs and
their English-proficient peers fell 11
points from 2012-2013 (currently a
23-point gap exists).
•
ELLs who enter school approximately
two years below their English
proficient peers in the area of
Language & Literacy are not able to
“catch up” by eighth grade.1
50
40
34
30
33
23
25
23
20
31 30
23
12
11
10
0
English Language
Learners
10/11 Gap
Low Income
11/12 Gap
Children with
Disabilities
12/13 Gap
13/14 Gap
Mancilla-Martinez, J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Predictors of Reading
Comprehension for Struggling Readers: The Case of Spanish-Speaking
Language Minority Learners. Journal of Educational Psychology,
102(3), 701-711.
1
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Ensuring A Sound Start
Predominate Care Prior to Kindergarten
Queen Anne's County
Prior Care Enrollment of Kindergarteners
•
0.2%
21.4%
32.0%
4.5%
2.8%
20.1%
In 2013-2014:
•
226 children (4- and 5-year-olds)
attend a public PreK program.
•
100% of PreK children participate
in half-day programs.
19.0%
Child Care Center
Family Child Care
Head Start
Home/Informal Care
Non-public Nursery
PreK
32% of the County’s kindergarten
students attended a public
prekindergarten (PreK) program in
2012-2013 – the year prior to
starting school.
Repeat K
NOTE: Prior Care Enrollment denotes the early care & education setting of children the
year prior to kindergarten (i.e. school year 2012-2013). Some prior care settings have
enrollment criteria. For example, Head Start and public PreK almost exclusively serve
children from low-income households and children with disabilities—two subgroups that
have consistently had significantly lower school readiness than Maryland kindergarteners,
as a whole, and are considered at risk.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Ensuring A Sound Start
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by Prior Care Settings
97
Child Care
Center
•
65
88
Family Child
Care
42
73
Head Start
36
90
Home/Informal
Care
58
96
Non-public
Nursery
74
86
PreK
66
0
20
40
13/14
60
12/13
80
01/02
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
100
120
86% of children who were
enrolled in public PreK programs
prior to starting kindergarten
are fully school-ready, up from
66% in 2001-2002.
Ensuring A Sound Start
MMSR, 2013-2014
Queen Anne's County
Full School Readiness by PreK
•
91
All
64
86
Low-Income
33
86
PreK
66
0
20
13/14
40
12/13
60
01/02
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
80
100
Children attending public PreK
programs – the majority of whom
are from low-income households –
are on par with their peers at the
same income level (86% of children
with PreK experience and
kindergarteners from low-income
households are fully ready).
Strategic Investments
Building A Firm Foundation
Maryland is committed to creating a world-class education system that
prepares students for college and career success in the 21st century.
Early education is an integral part of this vision.
Maryland’s Substantial Investments
• Maryland Model for School Readiness
• Full-Day Kindergarten
• PreK for Children with Significant Risk Factors
• A Strong Governance Infrastructure
• An Expanded Early Learning Framework
• An Interactive Guide to Early Childhood Pedagogy
• A Strengthened Early Care & Education Workforce
• Engaged Families & Communities
A New System for Assessing School Readiness
Measuring Early Learning for the 21st Century
Ready for Kindergarten (R4K): Maryland’s Early Childhood
Comprehensive Assessment System
•
Builds on the success of the MMSR.
•
Aligns with the more rigorous Maryland College and Career-Ready
Standards for K-12 instruction.
•
Enhances the birth-to-Grade 12 learning continuum.
•
Is supported by extensive professional development for teachers and
child care professionals, as well as school and system administrators.
•
Monitors children’s learning progress and gauges the school readiness of
incoming kindergarteners through computer-based assessment.
•
Connects to the state longitudinal data systems to allow for consistent
and meaningful reporting at the student, class, school, district, and
state levels.
A New System for Assessing School Readiness
Measuring Early Learning for the 21st Century
Domains of Child Learning
R4K measures a child’s learning progression (knowledge, skills, and abilities) in
seven domains. These domains were adapted from the Domains of Learning
currently used in the MMSR. They are:
•
Social Foundations
•
Physical Well-Being and Motor Development
•
Language and Literacy
•
Mathematics
•
Science
•
Social Studies
•
The Arts
A New System for Assessing School Readiness
Measuring Early Learning for the 21st Century
R4K has two components:
•
An Early Learning Assessment measures the progress of learning in
young children, 36 to 72 months (3 to 6 years old).
• Each child’s progress is monitored along a continuum and tracked over time.
• Early educators can create individualized learning opportunities and plan
interventions, if needed, to ensure that children are on the path of
kindergarten readiness.
•
Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) is administered to all
incoming kindergarteners, measuring school readiness in seven
developmental domains.
• Snapshot of school readiness, making it possible to determine if entering
students have the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to succeed in
kindergarten.
• The KRA also identifies the individual needs of children, enabling teachers to
make informed instructional decisions.
A New System for Assessing School Readiness
Measuring Early Learning for the 21st Century
Implementing R4K
•
Statewide Technology Infrastructure
• All R4K data is entered into an online reporting system—a dashboard that
integrates results to produce reports for teachers, school administrators, and
families.
• The system will also produce reports for children with disabilities that align
with Maryland’s online Individualized Education Plan (IEP) system.
•
Professional Development Program
• Support for teachers and administrators in the effective use of R4K.
• State-approved trainers will provide R4K professional development to all
kindergarten teachers throughout Maryland (in spring and summer of 2014).
•
School systems will begin implementing the new system in school year
2014-2015.
•
The Early Learning Assessment for younger children will be launched in
late winter 2015; it is optional for programs.