Most Maryland Kindergarteners Aren't Ready For School, State Assessment Finds
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Maryland Department of Education found in a new assessment that 60% of Maryland kindergarteners did not demonstrate readiness to participate in school.
The department said all 24 of Maryland's education agencies reported lower "demonstrating readiness" scores than in 2019–2020, which is when the assessment was last administered.
The assessment found 40% of Maryland's kindergarteners demonstrate readiness, a 7-point decrease from the 2019–2020 school year.
The department said enrollment in prekindergarten last school year declined 25%, and most students who did attend were in predominantly virtual programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leaders pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the reason for the drop.
State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury said the Blueprint For Maryland's Future, the 10-year plan to increase education spending by billions, is the way to increase kindergarten readiness and help underprivileged students.
In early 2021, both chambers in the assembly overrode Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of the measure.
"This year's data show our youngest learners are in great need of support, especially English learners, children with disabilities, and children from low-income families. Simply returning to normal will not be good enough to recover and accelerate student learning coming out of the pandemic," said State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury. "The Blueprint for Maryland's Future provides us with this once-in-a-generation moment and demands that we rebuild our foundation for early learning and expand access to high-quality prekindergarten for every three and four-year-old child in the state."
Kindergarten teachers administer the KRA to students during the first few months of school. The department said the assessment "measures students' skills, knowledge, and behaviors across four domains: language and literacy, mathematics, social foundations, and physical well-being and motor development."
The assessment found 33% of kindergarteners are approaching readiness and may require additional instruction, and 27% of kindergarteners are identified as "emerging" and need targeted supports or intervention to succeed in kindergarten.
Race and Income
The assessment indicated that 33% African American kindergarteners demonstrate readiness and 19% of Hispanic kindergarteners demonstrate readiness, compared to 54% of white kindergarteners.
The previous assessment reported 42% of African American kindergarteners demonstrated readiness, 26% of Hispanic kindergarteners demonstrated readiness, and 60% of white kindergarteners demonstrated readiness, showing all groups dropped a few percentage points.
The readiness gap between students from low-income families and children who are not from low-income families increased.
Only 23% of students from low-income families displayed readiness, compared to 46% of children not from low-income families. The readiness gap increased to 23 percentage points, from 16 percentage points in the 2019–2020 assessment.
A more detailed analysis of the KRA results can be found in the Department of Education's report: "Coming Back Stronger: Resilience and Opportunity."
