The assessment of school readiness needs to include all aspects of children's early learning and indicators of family/community activities that support children's development. This study used a holistic approach to set baseline benchmarks on factors related to school readiness for entering kindergarten children, and to engage schools in Washington County, Oregon in discussing the nature of school readiness and to empower them to collect information independently. Data were collected on 413 entering kindergartners and their families during September 1997 in six public school and two private programs. Factor analyses yielded 17 child-, family-, school-, or community-based factors related to an acceptable performance level, including: (1) child cognitive development; (2) physical well-being: (3) motor development; (4) social development; (5) television viewing habits: (6) family reading habits; (7) family activities and routines; (8) parental involvement in child's education; (9) family involvement and empowerment; (10) coordinated transition to kindergarten; (11) access to high quality child care; and (12) collaborative and integrated services in community offered through school. Six factors identified a potential need and area for intervention: emerging literacy development--not being read to and/or exposed to books enough to support typical early literacy; family access to basic resources--unmet needs in mental and physical health and parent education; developmentally appropriate curriculum, assessment, and instruction; culturally and linguistically appropriate education; collaborative and integrated services--unmet needs in housing, adult basic education, and employment supports; and access to parent education. Data were used to create a list of community strengths and a profile of a neighborhood in need. (KB)