The test — called the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment for Literacy, known as the KRA-L — is given to every student in Ohio within four weeks of starting school.
Last year, Middletown children scored 17.58 out of 29, up slightly from 16.49 in 2005.
“It’s saying they may be missing one or two things. They’re not missing a lot,” said Betsy Carter, Middletown City Schools senior director of learning.
The KRA-L is not an indicator of how successful children will be in school, but is aimed at determining areas where students may need extra attention so they can get that help as soon as possible, said Lisa Usselman, with the Ohio Department of Education.
“It’s hard to measure youngsters. At that age, change is very rapid,” Usselman said. “They may excel in one area and be behind in another, and may be caught up in the next month.”
Carter said with the information from the assessment, teachers can start day one with knowledge of which students need help and in what area.
“It’s a quick assessment,” Carter said.
“You’re coming in knowing those kids knowing the challenges some of them have so they can kick off day one with intervention,” Carter said.
Improving instruction is top goal
Most children in urban schools in this area of the state enter kindergarten needing extra attention in some areas of literacy.
Children entering kindergarten are given the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment for Literacy known as the KRA-L, to get a snapshot of their literacy skills upon starting school.
“The purpose is to catch children early on so that we can get them on grade level,” said Lisa Usselman, with the Ohio Department of Education.
The state measurers scores in three categories, with children scoring from 0-13 needing intense instruction, 14-23 needing targeted instruction and 24-29 set for enriching instruction.
Children entering local urban schools scored midrange when given the assessment last year, with Middletown at 17.58, just below Hamilton City Schools at 17.62 and Cincinnati Public Schools at 17.80.
“We know poverty is correlated with low performance, so I think that’s the challenge more than anything,” Usselman said.
“If all children had access to high quality learning programs regardless of their socioeconomic status, they would do better in terms of the KRA-L,” Usselman said.
Middletown scores
This year, Middletown’s incoming kindergartners will take the KRA-L by appointment starting Aug. 18.
They are quizzed on when and why questions, repeating sentences, identifying rhyming words, producing rhyming words, recognizing capital and lowercase letters, and recognizing initial sounds, according to the ODE.
“The most important thing is for the parents and families to be active with the children, read with their children and set those family goals to have their children ready for kindergarten,” said Jon Graft, director of preschool services for the Butler County Educational Service Center.
Students who were older upon entering kindergarten and who attended preschool scored higher on the assessment, according to a survey of parents of incoming students.
Last year, nearly half of parents surveyed said their child did not attend preschool and had an average score of 16.
Students who attended preschool through Middletown City Schools and the Butler County Educational Service Center had average scores of 19-20.
Aiming at success
The United Way is leading an effort to ensure children enter kindergarten prepared with a national Success by Six initiative, started here in 2006.
Success by Six brings together leaders from preschool programs, Middletown City Schools, the public library and the United Way.
The group is working to educate parents with materials on what their children should be learning, reading times and a literacy center at the library, a special trail at local parks for preschool children, and improved quality of child care.
But even as Middletown pushes to improve early childhood education, state funding to public preschool is set to be cut by $11 million in the two-year state budget signed Friday, July 17, by Gov. Ted Strickland.
Also on the chopping block is funding to the Early Learning Initiative program, which has three classes in Middletown, for low-income children ages 3 to 5.
Details still are being worked out on how the funding will be used.
Plans on hold
With funding still in limbo, plans to create a preschool class at Amanda Elementary School are on hold until the state budget details are analyzed.
The Butler County Educational Service Center planned to add a class at Amanda — where 50 percent of students do not have access to preschool education.
The school has the lowest scores on the KRA-L of any Middletown elementary, at 14.71 last year.
“At this point, we don’t know,” said Graft.
The ESC is adding a class at Wildwood Elementary School for students with special needs and English as a second language.
Step Up to Quality
A top goal in Middletown this year is for five more preschool programs to earn a star rating from the state.
Success by Six is supporting the Step Up to Quality, which awards star ratings, up to three stars, for having fewer children per classroom and staff with more training.
Two of Middletown’s 13 preschool programs now have a one-star rating. The Early Learning Center, Butler County Educational Service Center’s program, piloted a program last year and earned a two-star rating, which means half the lead teachers have a degree.
Tina Newlin, coordinator of prekindergarten education at Miami University, leads monthly meetings with the directors of Middletown’s preschools. The group is examining what students are experiencing before they start school.
“We realized that our children here in Middletown were really struggling and the KRA-L scores were an indicator that they were arriving at school not particularly ready to learn,” she said.
Eight preschools have been identified to receive support this year to earn a star rating.
“We’re all in it for the kids,” Newlin said. “Certainly we would hope to see that effect with the children as they enter school that they be better prepared.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or mengle@coxohio.com
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