Podcast: Measuring the Needs and Skills of Incoming Kindergartners

Exactly what is a kindergarten-readiness assessment? What does it measure? How is it used? The U.S. Department of Education specifically mentions the need for more research on kindergarten-readiness assessments in its budget request for fiscal year 2011. (The Institute for Education Sciences would be responsible for the studies.) It’s a good time to start questioning how and if states and locailties are using various tools to determine the status of their incoming kindergartners.

We can learn some lessons, for example, from Santa Clara County, Calif, where the Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness has already made some major progress. For this second edition of the Early Ed Watch podcast, I spoke with Lori Burns, the director of the Partnership, about how the county is measuring the needs and skills of its kindergartners in their first month of school — along with the expectations and needs of kindergarten teachers. (Download the mp3 from the column to the right or click on the button below for immediate listening.)

Early Ed Watch podcast — February 19, 2010

How Santa Clara County Measures The Needs of Incoming Kindergartners  

With our guest Lori Burns, Director of the Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness