1. Cecil County March 2012 Children Entering School Ready to Learn
The Maryland
School Readiness Report
Cecil County
what the school readiness data
mean for Maryland’s children

2. Birth to Five a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
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

3. How does Maryland Assess Readiness? About the MMSR
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

4. 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.

5. Statewide Highlights Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
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.

6. Cecil County Demographics Facts About Young Children

7. Significant School Readiness Gains Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
78% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school – a 32-point gain in readiness from
Cecil County’s kindergarteners outpace the statewide readiness level, currently at 83%.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

8. Stunning Improvements Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
78% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school, up from 46% in
Only 3% of the County’s children are developing readiness – fewer than 35 students require considerable support to do kindergarten work.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

9. High Readiness Across All Domains Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
Kindergarteners show the greatest gains in:
Scientific Thinking (72% fully ready, up 44 points from )
Kindergarteners demonstrate the strongest readiness in:
Physical Development (81% fully ready)
The Arts (77% fully ready)
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

10. Investments in Language & Literacy Pay Off Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
There is a direct correlation between increases in Language & Literacy skills and improvements in overall school readiness.
66% of kindergarteners are fully ready in the area of Language & Literacy, a 32- point gain since
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

11. Big Gains for “STEM” Disciplines Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
The domains aligned with the “STEM Disciplines”– Science Technology Engineering and Math – saw high gains:
Mathematical Thinking (70% fully ready, a 32-point gain)
Scientific Thinking (72% fully ready, a 44-point jump)
Despite the gains, over 340 kindergarteners (30%) require targeted or considerable support to successfully complete kindergarten work in Math – one of the domains with the least readiness.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

12. All Children Show Higher Achievement Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
65% of African-American children are fully school- ready, up 26 points from
69% of Hispanic children are fully school-ready – a 19-point jump from
Not Tracked in * Fewer than 5 Students
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

13. Good Progress Among Males & Females Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
82% of females are fully school-ready in , up from 52% in
While a smaller percentage of males (74%) are fully ready in , they are within 4 points of the County average.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

14. Increases Among Low-Income Children Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
68% kindergarteners from low-income households (Free and Reduced Priced Meal status) rose to full readiness, up from 32% in
These gains bring children from low-income households within 10 points of the countywide average.
12% of the County’s kindergarteners are from low- income households.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

15. Substantial Progress Among ELL Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
64% of English Language Learners (ELL – children whose first language is not English) are fully ready, up from 14% in
These gains bring ELL within 14 points of the countywide average.
2% of the County’s kindergarteners are ELL.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

16. Good Gains Among Children with Disabilities Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
62% of children with disabilities are fully ready, a 37-point gain from and 1 point more than last year.
These gains bring children with disabilities within 16 points of the countywide average.
9% of the County’s kindergarteners have an identified disability or receive services through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

17. Readiness Disparities for At-Risk Children Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
Children from Low-Income Households
68% of Cecil County’s kindergarteners from low-income households are fully ready in , compared with 79% of children from mid- to high-income households.
Despite the 36-point gain from , the readiness disparity between children from low-income households and their peers remained largely unchanged (10 points in and 11 points in
English Language Learners
64% of Cecil County’s English Language Learners are fully ready in , compared with 78% of their English-proficient peers.
The 50-point gain from narrowed the disparity between English Language Learners and their English-proficient peers from 27 points to 14 points in
Children with Disabilities
62% of Cecil County’s children with disabilities are fully school-ready in , compared with 79% of children without disabilities.
Despite the substantial 37-point gain, the readiness disparity between children with disabilities and their peers remained constant (17 points in and ).

18. Prior Care Enrollment Predominate Care Prior to Kindergarten
43% of the County’s children who matriculated to kindergarten in attended a public PreK program.
This year, Cecil County enrolled 590 students in its public PreK program.
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.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

19. Improvements For All Prior Care Settings Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
Child Care Centers saw a 43- point increase from to 80% fully ready in
Family Child Care observed a 47-point jump to 79% fully ready.
Head Start experienced a 43- point gain to 67% fully ready.
Non-public nursery programs noticed a 49-point rise to 89% fully ready.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

20. PreK Makes a Difference Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
78% of children previously enrolled in PreK programs are fully ready, up from 52% in
Children previously enrolled in PreK are on par with the countywide readiness average and outperform their low- income peers (68% fully ready).
Because public PreK programs serve a high percentage of low income children, this data is significant for addressing the achievement gap.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

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

22. Looking Ahead What does the future hold?
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

23. 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