School Readiness

• Background on School Readiness
• Key indicators related to school readiness
• Early Nurturing/Parenting
• Early identification/intervention with developmental issues
• Child Care Quality
• Head Start, Early Head Start,
       Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)
• Early Literacy
• Poverty and Inequality
• Other issues that can impact early childhood development
• Best and Promising Practices Index
• Resources

Vision

Supported by their families and their communities, young children entering kindergarten in King County have the social, emotional, physical, and
cognitive skills they need to succeed in school and in life.

Being ready to succeed in school involves more than academic skills—in fact, children often have more critical gaps in other kinds of skills when they
come to school for the first time. Young children need:

• to be nurtured physically - feeling safe, getting enough sleep and proper nutrition
• to be nurtured socially - learning how to get along with others
• to be nurtured emotionally - so that they feel good about who they are
• to be ready to tackle learning, willing to try new things even when they seem difficult
• to have developmentally appropriate language skills, and be familiar with words and books
• to have the cognitive skills to know basic shapes, sizes, and colors, to have basic counting skills, and to understand that numbers have
  meaning.

Background on School Readiness

Research tells us that babies are born learning, that the first years of a child’s life are a crucial time of brain development, and that experiences in the early years set the stage for a child’s future.^[1] The nurturing a child receives and the learning that occurs in the first few years shape that child’s continuing
ability to learn, relate to others, and thrive.

“The astonishing developmental achievements of the earliest years occur naturally when parents and other caregivers talk, read, and play with young children and respond sensitively to their cues,” says the report From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development.^[2]

Children who arrive at kindergarten prepared to succeed tend to do well throughout their school careers, whereas children who are not ready are more likely to fail or repeat grades, need special support, or drop out.^[3] There is growing evidence that investing in early learning pays off with high returns, greatly reducing later costs for things such as remedial education, job training, special education, grade repetition, crime, and welfare dependency.^[4]

Read more background on school readiness

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Key indicators related to school readiness

• There are 146,597 children under 6 living in King County.^[5]
• 13% of children under 6 King County live in poverty.^[6]
• Ranking of King County in rate of child poverty among all Washington counties is 38 of 39 (the rate is higher in all but one other county.)^[7]
• Approximately 21,530 children in King County entered kindergarten in 2006^[8]
• 56% of entering kindergarteners statewide were assessed by their teachers as not prepared for school in at least one area of readiness^[9]
• The average age of identification of developmental problems is 1.8 years, often too late to prevent later need for special education.
• There are 1,861 licensed child care facilities in King County; 67% of them family child care businesses, 33% of them centers.^[10]
• Approximately 20,000 family, friend, and neighbor caregivers provide child care for about 29,000 children, while their parents work. This represents 18% of all children in care.

Population Data

The 0-6 population (146,597) made up 8.1% of the total population in King County in 2006.  The number and percent of the population is declining slightly for this group.

Download Data | Source: Claritas 2006 Update (Cesus Tract Level)

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Early Nurturing/Parenting^[11]

Children gain the key skills for school readiness through day-to-day experiences that encourage their social growth and learning. Extensive research shows that the relationships children have with their parents and caregivers play a significant role in this growth, since stable and secure relationships are central to healthy human development.

Nurturing is a difficult concept to measure. We know that poverty and living in an impoverished neighborhood are some of the greatest and most common threats to a family’s ability to provide optimal nurturing.

• There are 76,400 families with children ages 0-5 in King County.
• An estimated 1300 families received intensive family support through home visiting programs in 2005.
• Approximately 7,600 parents receive parenting skills training through community based programs.

Read more about early nurturing

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Early identification/intervention with developmental issues^[12]

Early intervention services exist for infants and toddlers, birth to three, who have a developmental disability and/or delay and their families. Research indicates that early diagnosis and access to services can reduce the intensity of service required later in a child’s life and prevent involvement in special education for some children.

• There are 65,000 children birth to three years of age in King County, and it is estimated that up to 2.2% or nearly 2,000 annually, experience developmental disabilities.
• The average age of identification of developmental delays in King County is 1.8 years. Federal guideline for early identification is an average age of 1 year.^[13]

Read more about early intervention

Children’s Health Care

In order for problems with development and other health problems to be identified, children should have regular health care from a consistent provider or group of providers. Consistent, quality health care is the most effective way to insure early intervention . This can prevent problems from developing into more serious problems that limit a child’s ability to meet their greatest developmental potential.

• 4.3 % of children under age 18 are uninsured
• 3.9% of children in King County have medical needs that could not be met because of cost.^[14]

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Child Care Quality

Research shows that high quality early care and education have a huge impact on children’s lives. The quality of this care is critical to promoting healthy development and preparing children for school success.

Read more about child care quality

The status of child care in King County

• 51% of children in households surveyed in the 2004 Communities Count survey said the children were in regularly scheduled care. This would translate to about 74,000 children 0-6 and 161,000 children 0-14 if applied to 2006 population totals.
• 45% of those children were in child care for at least 25 hours per week.
• 176,942 children in King County live in a two parent family in which both parents work or in a single parent family in which their parent works.^[15]
• In 2005 King County had about 1800 licensed child care programs with capacity for about 50,000 children. Half of these slots were available to school age children, however some of those could serve younger children as well.
• Over 20,000 people provide informal care to a child while the parent works. This is referred to as “Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) Care”. 18% of parents surveyed by Communities Count said their child was in FFN care. If applied to the total population, this would suggest that about 29,000 children are cared for in such informal ways.
• About 11,000 children in King County are in subsidized care at any one time.
• 55% of parents with children 0-5 in child care expressed some dissatisfaction with at least one aspect of their child care.

 Download Data | Source: Communities Count 2005

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Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)

The purpose of the Head Start Program, authorized by Congress in the Head Start Act, is “to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of low income children through the provision, to low income children and their families, of health educational, nutritional, social, and other services that are determined based on family needs assessments, to be necessary.”

• In 2006, a projected 30% of the 11,414 young children in King County eligible for Head Start and ECEAP services were served by those programs. This left 7990 eligible children unserved.^[16]
• Early Head Start enrollment in King County is 298, representing 2% of the eligible population (19,303).^[17]

Read more about Head Start and ECEAP programs

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Early Literacy

Language skills and early literacy are building blocks for success in children’s ability to read, learn and communicate. These, in turn are fundamental tools for ongoing success in school and in life. The benefit to young children of being read to and told stories on a regular basis begins at birth. Early literacy is a critical area in young children’s preparation for success in school and life. Children who can’t read well struggle with all of their academics, and those who have a hard time learning to read in kindergarten typically still struggle in later years, with the gap growing over time. Reading and telling stories is an indicator of parent involvement in early learning. Across King County as a whole there has been an increase in the proportion of parents reading and telling stories to their children on a regular basis. This is especially true in South King County.

• In a 2004 King County survey, 84% of respondents with children ages 2-5 in the home said the children were read to or told stories by a family member every day.^[18]

Download Data | Source: Communities Count 2005

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Poverty and Inequality and School Readiness

Poverty

Poverty causes a wide variety of risks for the development of young children. They may have poor nutrition, less stimulating environments, exposure to stress, less consistency in living environments and care providers, and less attention from parents who must work long hours and cope with the multiple stressors that poverty creates.  The demographics of poverty tell us that children are currently the age group most likely to live in poverty, and the gap between the rich and poor is widening. Increasing the financial stability of families with young children can have positive effects on children’s outcomes. One study found that “a child whose family is $10,000 wealthier over the first 5 years of its life has 2.8 times the chance of graduation from high school than the child in the baseline family.^[20]

Source: Claritas 2006 Update (Census Tract Level)

Read more about poverty and school readiness

Equal Opportunity

Embedded racial inequities produce disparities in children’s opportunities to be school ready. Some of the factors that we know contribute to these inequities are disproportional rates of poverty, segregation of neighborhoods, and disparate access to community resources. One of the key resources that can promote school readiness is quality child care. Because of economic disparities, people of color are less likely to have access to the highest quality programs and the programs they do access may pose cultural barriers to children’s learning and growth in the program.

Read more about racial equity and school readiness

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Other issues that can impact early childhood development

A range of issues can affect a child's opportunities to develop to their greatest potential. The health of a child's mother before and after birth can have an impact, as can issues that interfere with parents' ability to care for small children. 

Read about Prenatal care, child abuse and foster care

Best Practices

Go to the index to best and promising practices

Resources

Footnotes