1. Baltimore County March 2012 Children Entering School Ready to Learn
The Maryland
School Readiness Report
Baltimore 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 successfully 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. Baltimore County Demographics Facts About Young Children

7. Significant School Readiness Gains Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
87% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school – a 55-point gain in readiness from
Baltimore 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
87% of the County’s kindergarten students are fully ready for school, up from 32% in and 85% last year.
Only 2% of the County’s children are developing readiness – fewer than 150 require considerable support to do kindergarten work.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

9. Increased Readiness Across All Domains Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
Kindergarteners show the greatest gains in:
Scientific Thinking (79% fully ready, up 68 points from )
Kindergarteners demonstrate the strongest readiness in:
Physical Development (93% fully ready)
The Arts (88% 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.
79% of kindergarteners are fully ready in the area of Language & Literacy, a 58- 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 (81% fully ready, a 53-point gain)
Scientific Thinking (79% fully ready, a 68-point jump)
Despite the gains, over 1,600 kindergarteners (21%) require targeted or considerable support to successfully complete work in the Sciences.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

12. All Children Show Higher Achievement Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
85% of African-American children are fully school- ready, up 53 points from
80% of Hispanic children are fully school-ready, up from 21% in
Not Tracked in
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

13. Good Progress Among Males & Females Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
90% of females are fully school-ready in , up from 37% in
While fewer males (84%) are fully ready in , they are within 87 points of the County average.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

14. Increases Among Low-Income Children Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
82% kindergarteners from low-income households (Free and Reduced Priced Meal status) rose to full readiness, up from 27% in
These gains bring children from low-income households within 5 points of the countywide average.
46% 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
73% of English Language Learners (ELL – children whose first language is not English) are fully ready, up from 18% in
These gains bring ELL within 14 points of the countywide average.
8% 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
63% of children with disabilities are fully ready, a 45-point gain from and 4 points more than last year.
These gains bring children with disabilities within 24 points of the countywide average.
10% 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
82% of Baltimore County’s kindergarteners from low-income households are fully ready in , compared with 91% of children from mid- to high-income households.
Despite he 55-point gain from , the readiness disparity between children from low-income households and their peers grew from 6 points to 9 points in
English Language Learners
73% of Baltimore County’s English Language Learners are fully ready in , compared with 88% of their English-proficient peers.
Even with the 55-point gain from , the readiness disparity between English Language Learners and their English-proficient peers widened from 14 points to 15 points in
Children with Disabilities
63% of Baltimore County’s children with disabilities are fully school-ready in , compared with 90% of children without disabilities.
Despite the substantial gains, the readiness disparity between children with disabilities and their peers grew from 14 points in to 27 points in

18. Prior Care Enrollment Predominate Care Prior to Kindergarten
44% of the County’s children who matriculated to kindergarten in attended a public PreK program.
This year, Baltimore County enrolled 3,631 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 57- point increase from to 91% fully ready in
Family Child Care experienced a 54-point gain to 79% fully ready.
Head Start observed a 63- point jump to 87% fully ready.
Non-public nursery programs noticed a 58-point rise to 96% fully ready.
Source: Maryland State Department of Education

20. PreK Makes a Difference Maryland Model for School Readiness, 2011-2012
PreK programs experienced a 53- point gain to 86% fully ready.
Children previously enrolled in PreK are within 1 point of the countywide readiness average (87% fully ready), but outperform their low-income peers (82% 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
Early Childhood Breakthrough Centers
Aligning early learning standards with statewide Common Core Standards
Professional development
Refining the MMSR
Early intervention and prevention programs
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