State and local school system results of Maryland's 2018 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) reveal that incoming students are continuing to make strides in their preparation. 

A new report, released on January 22^nd before the Maryland State Board of Education, found that 47 percent of the State’s kindergarteners had demonstrated readiness.  This means that the students were fully prepared to participate in the kindergarten curriculum.  This compares to 45 percent in 2017-18 and 43 percent in the baseline year of 2016-17.

“Every step we take in kindergarten readiness leads to a big, important leap in student success,” said the Maryland State Superintendent. “Continued focus on quality early learning in our State may be the greatest investment we can make.”

The KRA was administered by all kindergarten teachers between the beginning of the school year and October 10, 2018.  Items on the assessment measure students' mastery of the end of the year Prekindergarten skills, knowledge, and behaviors across four domains: Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Social Foundations, and Physical Well-being and Motor Development.

For the second straight year, school systems were given the choice of whether to administer the assessment to all of their kindergarten students or to a sample of students in each kindergarten classroom. Fourteen school systems administered the KRA to all kindergarten students. Nine systems administered the KRA to all kindergarten students in specific schools and to a sample in others. One school system administered the KRA to a sample in all schools.

While State results show progress, they also show there is much to do:

• The majority of kindergarteners—53 percent—do not demonstrate all the knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to be successful when entering school.
• 33 percent of the students are approaching readiness (the student displays some of the foundational skills and behaviors that prepare him/her for curriculum based on the kindergarten standards).
• 20 percent of the students are emerging readiness (the student displays minimal foundational skills and behaviors that prepare him/her for curriculum based on the kindergarten standards).

The school readiness information for school year 2018-2019 is available online at https://bit.ly/2MqOtYc and at www.readyatfive.org