Studies show that educational achievement gaps already exist at Kindergarten entry.  Children from low-income families are more likely to start school with limited language skills, health problems and social and emotional problems that interfere with learning.  The larger the gap at school entry, the harder it is to close.

Language proficiency is a key predictor of school success. Early literacy skills (size of vocabulary, recognizing letters, understanding letter and sound relationships) at kindergarten entry are good predictors of children's reading abilities throughout their educational careers. Language and literacy skills enable children to develop cognitive skills and knowledge and to interact effectively with peers and adults.

 







Our first Residency Roundtable was held April 10 � 11, 2002 in New York City. The topic was indicators of social and emotional development. The objectives of the Roundtable were:

� To identify the issues that are critical to the healthy social and emotional development of young children, including family environment, community conditions, child characteristics, and service systems for young children and their families.

� To develop a set of school readiness indicators that reflect child outcomes (healthy social and emotional development of infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers and early elementary school children) as well as systems outcomes (state policies and programs that affect the social and emotional development of young children and families).

� To select core indicators to track progress in supporting the healthy social and emotional development of young children from birth to age 8.

� To identify potential data sources for indicators of the healthy social and emotional development of young children.

       

© 2005, School Readiness Indicators Initiative
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The School Readiness Indicators Initiative is supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
The 17-state initiative is managed by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT