Children Entering School Ready to Learn The Maryland School Readiness Report what the school readiness data mean for Maryland’s children Montgomery County

The Greatest Chance for Learning 90% of brain development occurs before age 5 The brain depends on early experiences to grow Early learning experiences build school readiness School Readiness A child’s ability to successful carry out kindergarten work Birth to Five a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR) An annual assessment on what each kindergartener knows and is able to do in the following domains: Language & Literacy Mathematical Thinking Physical Development Scientific Thinking Social & Personal Development Social Studies The Arts How does Maryland Assess Readiness? About the MMSR

Maryland Model for School Readiness (MMSR) Children are identified as: Fully Ready: Consistently demonstrates the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which are needed to meet kindergarten expectations successfully. Approaching Readiness: Inconsistently demonstrates the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which are needed to meet kindergarten expectations successfully and requires targeted instructional support in specific areas. Developing Readiness: Does not demonstrate the skills, behaviors, and abilities, which are needed to meet kindergarten expectations and requires considerable instructional support in specific areas. How does Maryland Assess Readiness? About the MMSR

Statewide Highlights Maryland Model for School Readiness, Key Trends in Maryland Strong short-term gains. Stunning long-term improvements. 83% of Maryland kindergarteners are fully school-ready, up 34-points from and 2 points more than last year. Statewide full readiness level higher than projections in the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant. Maryland experienced pronounced gains across all Domains of Learning. Focus on Language & Literacy is paying off. All children show higher achievement. African-American and Hispanic kindergarteners made substantial gains – higher than statewide overall gains. Children attending a PreK program the year prior to matriculating to kindergarten are highly prepared.

Montgomery County Demographics Facts About Young Children

81% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school – a 20-point gain in readiness from Montgomery County’s kindergarteners are within 2 points of the statewide readiness level, currently at 83%. Significant School Readiness Gains Maryland Model for School Readiness, Source: Maryland State Department of Education

81% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school, up from 61% in and 74% last year. Only 3% of the County’s children are developing readiness – fewer than 310 students require considerable support to do kindergarten work. Stunning Improvements Maryland Model for School Readiness,

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Increased Readiness Across All Domains Maryland Model for School Readiness, Kindergarteners show the greatest gains (up 31 points from ) in: Social Studies (68% fully ready) Scientific Thinking (63%) Kindergarteners demonstrate the strongest readiness in: Physical Development (89% fully ready)

Source: Maryland State Department of Education There is a direct correlation between increases in Language & Literacy skills and improvements in overall school readiness. 72% of kindergarteners are fully ready in the area of Language & Literacy, a 25- point gain since Investments in Language & Literacy Pay Off Maryland Model for School Readiness,

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Big Gains for “STEM” Disciplines Maryland Model for School Readiness, The domains aligned with the “STEM Disciplines”– Science Technology Engineering and Math – saw gains higher than the countywide average (20 points): Mathematical Thinking (76% fully ready, a 23-point gain) Scientific Thinking (63% fully ready, a 31-point jump) Despite the gains, over 4,000 kindergarteners (37%) require targeted or considerable support to successfully complete work in Science – the domain with the least readiness.

Source: Maryland State Department of Education 77% of African-American children are fully school- ready, up 23 points from % of Hispanic children are fully school-ready – a 25-point jump from These gains are substantially higher than the overall countywide gains (20-point increase from ). All Children Show Higher Achievement Maryland Model for School Readiness, Not Tracked in * Fewer than 5 Students

Source: Maryland State Department of Education 85% of females are fully school-ready in , up from 67% in While a smaller percentage of males (77%) are fully ready in , they are within 4 points of the County average. Good Progress Among Males & Females Maryland Model for School Readiness,

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Increases Among Low-Income Children Maryland Model for School Readiness, % kindergarteners from low-income households (Free and Reduced Priced Meal status) rose to full readiness, up from 46% in These gains bring children from low-income households within 10 points of the countywide average. 38% of the County’s kindergarteners are from low- income households.

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Substantial Progress Among ELL Maryland Model for School Readiness, % of English Language Learners (ELL – children whose first language is not English) are fully ready, up from 51% in These gains bring ELL within 10 points of the countywide average. 35% of the County’s kindergarteners are ELL.

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Good Gains Among Children with Disabilities Maryland Model for School Readiness, % of children with disabilities are fully ready, a 28-point gain from and 5 points more than last year. These gains bring children with disabilities within 29 points of the countywide average. 8% of the County’s kindergarteners have an identified disability or receive services through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Children from Low-Income Households 71% of Montgomery County’s kindergarteners from low-income households are fully ready in , compared with 86% of children from mid- to high-income households. The 25-point gain from reduced the readiness disparity between children from low-income households and their peers from 18 points to 15 points in English Language Learners 71% of Montgomery County’s English Language Learners are fully ready in , compared with 86% of their English-proficient peers. Despite the substantial gains (20 points), the disparity between English Language Learners and their English-proficient peers widened from 10 points in to 15 points in Children with Disabilities 52% of Montgomery County’s children with disabilities are fully school-ready in , compared with 83% of children without disabilities. The 28-point gain from decreased the readiness disparity between children with disabilities and their peers from 37 points to 31 points in Readiness Disparities for At-Risk Children Maryland Model for School Readiness,

Source: Maryland State Department of Education NOTE: Some prior care settings have enrollment criteria. For example, Head Start Centers and public PreK almost exclusively serve children from low-income households and children with disabilities—two subgroups that have consistently had significantly lower school readiness than Maryland kindergarteners as a whole, and are considered at risk. Prior Care Enrollment Predominate Care Prior to Kindergarten 46% of the County’s children who matriculated to kindergarten in attended a public PreK program. This year, Montgomery County enrolled 3,627 students in its public PreK program.

Source: Maryland State Department of Education Improvements For All Prior Care Settings Maryland Model for School Readiness, Child Care Centers saw a 17- point increase from to 85% fully ready in Family Child Care observed a 21-point jump to 77% fully ready. Head Start experienced a 20- point gain to 72% fully ready. Non-public nursery programs noticed a 16-point rise to 91% fully ready.

Source: Maryland State Department of Education 82% of children previously enrolled in PreK programs are fully ready, up from 55% in Children previously enrolled in PreK exceed the countywide readiness average and show greater long-term improvements (a 27-point gain, compared with 20 points). Children with PreK experience outperform their low-income peers (71% fully ready). Because public PreK programs serve a high percentage of low income children, this data is significant for addressing the achievement gap. PreK Makes a Difference Maryland Model for School Readiness,

Investments Race to the Top PreK Full-day Kindergarten Accreditation & Credentialing Judy Center Partnerships Jurisdictional Actions Community Commitment Research & Policy Monetary Support Why has Maryland Improved? Long-term Investments

Maryland Awarded $50 million Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Funds 24 Local Early Childhood Councils Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System: Maryland EXCELS Quality Capacity Building in support of Maryland EXCELS Promoting early learning standards, aligned with statewide Common Core Standards, to all early childhood programs Expanding PD and workforce development Developing a Comprehensive Assessment System (in collaboration with Ohio) Innovative early interventions Family Engagement Leadership in Early Learning Academies Linking early childhood data with Maryland’s longitudinal data system Looking Ahead What does the future hold?

Maryland’s New Benchmarks & Ambitious Goals 92% of kindergarteners fully school-ready by 2015 Narrowing of school readiness gaps among at-risk populations Collective Action Through Maryland & Jurisdictional efforts, we are on track to achieve all Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Fund goals Looking Ahead What does the future hold?