|
|
|
School readiness means that children are prepared to
succeed in school and that attributes of children,
families and communities contribute to that success.
School readiness in children is much more than whether or
not a child can count to 10, knows her ABCs, recognizes
colors, or can stand in line and take turns. Getting ready
for school begins before preschool and involves much more
than buying school clothes, pencils and crayons. Helping a
child develop and learn what he needs to succeed in
school, and ultimately in life, begins with his parents
and family and needs to be supported by the surrounding
community and schools.
Becoming ready for school is an ongoing process from the
moment of birth, to infant and toddlerhood and then the
transition into elementary school. The child’s parents
play the most important role in giving a child a good
start in life and equipping him with all the tools he
needs to be ready for the first day of kindergarten. But,
children need more than what even the very best parents
can provide. They need accessible and affordable health
care; parks and recreation centers; high quality early
childhood care and education; the promise of good schools;
and of course the basic necessities such as warm homes,
nutritious food, and safe neighborhoods.
Failure to start school ready to
learn has negative consequences for children and
society. Students who start out behind are more likely
to stay behind and eventually drop out of school, get
into trouble with the law, or have emotional
difficulties.
Presented on this website is a set of 62 indicators
along with the most current data available for each that
the project task force charged with the work of the
Colorado’s School Readiness Indicators Project felt most
accurately predicted and reflected the school readiness
of Colorado’s children. The indicators are a combination
of both outcome measures such as math and reading
proficiency, and predictors of school readiness such as
health status and family stability. They are reflective
of the four essential domains related to school
readiness: Ready Child, Ready Family, Ready School, and
Ready Community. Each indicator was evaluated and chosen
based on the best and most current research from experts
in the fields of education, health, mental health, child
development, evaluation, community planning and child
advocacy.
It is the hope of the School Readiness Indicators
Project Task Force that visitors to this site will use
these indicators to create partnerships, plan
strategically for children, prioritize policy, build
awareness around school readiness issues, allocate
resources, monitor performance, understand local or
state trends, or simply initiate a school readiness
dialog in your local communities.
To see a complete list of the indicators and
Colorado-specific data, click on the domain name at the
top of this screen. The ready child indicators focus on
the physical, social emotional, language, and cognitive
development of children, while the remaining indicators
relate to the ability of families, schools, and
communities to support children’s readiness for school.
Taken together, they are all essential ingredients
impacting children’s success in school.
The selected school readiness indicators contained in
this report will be updated on an annual basis by the
Health Statistics Section of the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment and available through this
website.
|
