Fact sheet on Minnesota's school readiness study
Observing Kindergartners’ Everyday Behavior
Background on the Minnesota School Readiness Year Two Study
Approach
For anyone who knows kindergartners, it is hard to imagine how you can accurately assess their school readiness. Given their energy and enthusiasm, they don’t sit still long for lunch, let alone some kind of test. That’s why the Minnesota School Readiness Study was based on the kindergartners’ teachers own assessments, gathered through the course of their interaction with their students over six weeks at the start of the 2003-2004 school year. From the kindergartners’ perspective, the research was unobtrusive. It also allowed for observations over time — an important consideration, given how mercurial five-year-olds moods can be, especially given the change associated with starting school.
The teachers assessed the students between the start of school and October 15 on 32 indicators; these indicators represent nationally accepted standards for what children should be able to do as four-year-olds by the time they turn five and before they enter kindergarten. These indicators fell into one of five areas or domains of learning: language and literacy, mathematical thinking, physical development, the arts, and personal and social development. And for each indicator teachers rated the students one of three ways: proficient; in process, meaning that a child exhibits this skill intermittently; and not yet, meaning a child has not yet acquired this skill.
From the teachers’ perspective, the project didn’t require a lot of preparation, given that they use the same approach and kinds of tools for other assessment work they already do. However, the teachers did need to spend considerable time and energy completing the assessments.
How teachers made their assessments
With terms like assessment, indicators and domains, this research can sound far removed from the reality of a kindergartner’s experience. And the indicators themselves can seem complex. But the teachers had concrete examples of what they were looking for in determining their students’ proficiency.
The following table shows some examples of the everyday evidence teachers needed for six of the 32 indicators. The results for these indicators are given as well. (Of the 11 indicators related to language and literacy, the three with the lowest levels of proficiency are shown. Of the four indicators related to mathematical thinking, the two with the lowest levels of proficiency are shown. And of the three indicators related to physical development, the one with the highest proficiency is shown.)
Sample indicators |
Evidence examples for each indicator |
Indicator results |
Using letter-like shapes, symbols and letters to convey meaning. (Language and literacy domain) |
Making squiggles and shapes on paper and calling it writing Beginning to write several letters correctly Labeling a drawing with several randomly placed letter-like shapes |
Not Yet: 19% In Process: 52% Proficient: 29% |
Demonstrates phonological awareness. (Language and literacy domain) |
Hearing rhyming sounds and creating rhyming words and nonsense words Experimenting with words, giving them new beginning sounds Saying the sound of a letter when they see it in a new word because they recognize it from a familiar word (for example, the “s” sound in “stop”) |
Not Yet: 20% In Process: 51% Proficient: 30% |
Begins to develop knowledge about letters. (Language and literacy domain) |
Differentiating and correctly identifying some letters by their shapes Guessing a word by recognizing its initial letter Naming the letters in their first names as they attempt to write their names |
Not Yet: 13% In Process: 49% Proficient: 38% |
Begins to recognize simple strategies to solve mathematical problems. (Mathematical thinking) |
Figuring out how many cups it takes fill a pitcher at a water table Deciding who is older Guessing whether there are enough cartons of milk for everyone |
Not Yet: 15% In Process: 53% Proficient: 32% |
Shows beginning understanding of numbers and quantity. (Mathematical thinking) |
Pointing to each object they count and assigning the appropriate number to it Counting footsteps, jumps or repetitions of exercises Recognizing that there are four blocks without counting them |
Not Yet: 11% In Process: 50% Proficient: 39% |
Performs some self-care tasks independently. (Physical development) |
Using the toilet independently Washing and drying hands with only occasional reminders Pouring juice or milk from a small pitcher without spilling |
Not Yet: 2% In Process: 36% Proficient: 62% |
Facts and figures
3,002 kindergartners were assessed.
128 kindergarten teachers at 52 schools participated.
The sample represents the statewide pool of kindergartners within a 2.5 percent margin of error.
Sample schools were randomly selected from urban, suburban and rural areas of the state to match the state’s demographics. The demographic make-up of schools in the sample is very comparable to that of all Minnesota elementary schools.
Teachers assessed students on 32 indicators from five different domains: language and literacy, mathematical thinking, physical development, the arts, and personal and social development.
These indicators were selected because they represent what children should be able to do as four-year-olds — before they enter kindergarten.
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