BILL REQ. #:  H-5002.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/03/06.   

     AN ACT Relating to kindergarten readiness; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that the first-ever state survey of student readiness for kindergarten in Washington state in 2004 revealed a significant gap in children's readiness for school. Teachers reported that only forty-four percent of incoming kindergarten students were adequately prepared. Student preparedness tended to be much lower in classes with high rates of poverty. As the legislature adopts policies and increases investments to support early learning, it is critical to be able to measure over time whether kindergarten readiness increases in response to these efforts. The legislature needs to be accurately apprised of whether children are ready to succeed in school when they first enter kindergarten.
     (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, working with the governor's early learning efforts, shall:
     (a) Conduct an inventory of the kindergarten readiness assessments used by school districts with incoming kindergarten students;
     (b) Conduct an inventory of kindergarten readiness assessments used in other states or recommended by research; and
     (c) Recommend to the legislature, for statewide adoption, a single culturally appropriate and inclusive kindergarten readiness assessment, for at a minimum reading and mathematics, which may take into consideration benchmarks currently under development by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the governor's office, and a method for statewide data collection that will allow for data analysis and measurement of trends over time in kindergarten readiness.
     (3) The office shall report its findings and recommendations to the education committees of the legislature by December 1, 2006.