Many students entering grades K–2 require additional support to succeed academically. This additional support, provided when students need it most, lays the groundwork for future academic achievement. Our Policy Perspectives papers examine how early assessment systems can empower schools and districts to support the academic performance of young learners.
Kindergarten Readiness Assessments Help Identify Skill Gaps
By Joanne L. Jensen, Jessica Goldstein, and Matthew A. Brunetti
Researchers have long traced achievement gaps in elementary students’ learning back to gaps at the beginning of kindergarten. Over the past decade, states have developed a kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) to evaluate how well-prepared each child is to begin learning the state’s academic standards. This paper reviews the status of KRA development and how states are utilizing KRA data.
K–2 Assessment Systems Enable Early Intervention to Foster Student Success
By Joanne L. Jensen, Jessica Goldstein, and Matthew A. Brunetti
While statewide assessments in English language arts and mathematics are federally mandated in grades 3–8 and high school, there is a distinct lack of systemic state-level attempts to evaluate students’ ongoing progress in grades K–2. This paper focuses on the lag in K–2 assessment systems and what states can do to address it.