In contemporary kindergarten classrooms, children's literacy abilities are often assessed by tests used to determine a child's "readiness" for school. Readiness often means letter identification, phonemic awareness, letter-writing, and other functions related to language mechanics. This paper investigates the assessment tools (both…

The Koppitz Human Figure Drawing (HFD) Test was examined for use in early identification of academically not-ready kindergarten children. HFD scores of children who later "passed" the Metropolitan Readiness Test were compared with HFD scores of children who later "failed." Results indicate that HFD scores are useful in…

Describes the concept of school readiness and considers the purpose, content, and process of assessing children's school readiness. Notes that early childhood assessment is undertaken for numerous purposes but that these purposes are not always clear. Delineates different purposes for collecting data and discusses critical principles that could…

A major challenge facing the prekindergarten-12 education system in the United States is the fact that as the population changes, the particular needs of children change with it. One of the largest demographic shifts over the last ten years is the sharp increase in the number of students in public schools who speak English as their second language…

A number of preschool and kindergarten assessment systems are being put into place across the nation, with a variety of purposes and collection methods. The "Assessing the State of State Assessments" symposium was convened to provide an opportunity for persons working most closely with state assessment systems to identify common…

Discusses the first national education goal, which concerns children starting school ready to learn. Outlines the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and reports on activities of the National Education Goals Panel. NAEYC calls for a commitment to addressing inequities in children's lives, supporting…

On the surface, it appears that it should be quite simple to identify the characteristics of a child who is ready for school and then to assess whether or not any given child has these characteristics. But readiness is a difficult construct and one that has been the topic of great debate. Assessment of readiness is even more challenging. Policies…

This videotape, with accompanying discussion guide, addresses issues of young children's learning readiness and the readiness of the school to teach young children. The 50-minute videotape, for use as a stand-alone instruction video in one sitting or as an accompaniment to group discussions or to a self-study program, is geared toward informal…

The use of readiness assessment rather than chronological age for admission to kindergarten is proposed. The article examines why this approach is needed, how it might be accomplished, and the relative advantages of admitting by readiness assessment compared to chronological age. (JDD)

The first of the National Education Goals states that by the year 2000 all children in America will start school ready to learn. Pressed by demands for greater accountability and enhanced educational performance, states are developing standards and creating new criteria and approaches for assessing achievement. Calls to assess young children are…

The purpose of this article is to develop, validate, and field test two readiness assessment instruments, "Schools Ready for Children" and "Children Ready for School." The authors first describe the development of the assessment instrument dealing with policies and practices of "ready" schools. The items on this…

The purpose of this research study was to build and pilot a psychometric instrument, the Primary Childhood School Success Scale (PCSSS), to identify behaviors needed for children to be successful in first grade. Fifty-two teacher responses were collected. The instrument had a reliability coefficient (Alpha) of 0.95, a mean of 13.26, and a variance…