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Archived: Children entering kindergarten who demonstrate they are ready

The data in the WaKIDS charts above are from a sample of kindergartners who were served by WaKIDS and not the entire population. WaKIDS is mandatory in state-funded full-day kindergartens. Some districts and schools that do not receive state funding for full-day kindergarten volunteer to participate in WaKIDS. Data are not comparable year to year until all students participate. The Legislature's goal is to fund full-day kindergarten for all students by the 2017-18 school year.

Data source: OSPI Report Card Data

Supplemental Information

Information not available.

Why is this a priority?

One of the components of WaKIDS is the "whole-child" assessment which gives kindergarten teachers information about the social and emotional, physical, cognitive and linguistic development of the children in their classrooms, so they may tailor their instruction to the individual needs of each child. The assessment information also serves as a point-in-time measure of kindergarten readiness in six areas of development and learning.

How are we doing?

In the fall of 2016, 47.4 percent demonstrated kindergarten readiness skills in all six domains. The Legislature's goal is to fund full-day kindergarten for all students by the 2017-18 school year. Once all kindergartners are assessed, the results will be comparable year to year.

What are we working on?
  • The Department of Early Learning is working to integrate programs to ensure that a flexible set of services and supports are available to the children that need it most and that these services have common standards, share resources and are administered to maximize outcomes for children.
  • The Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) is expanding to serve all eligible children and families who choose to participate by 2020-21.
  • Early Achievers, Washington's quality rating and improvement, is a key strategy of Washington's Early Learning Plan to improve the quality of child care and early care and education settings. Early Achievers is now being implemented across the state.
  • In 2015, the Legislature passed the Early Start Act making quality-based early learning a priority and requiring all early learning providers that receive state funding to participate in Early Achievers.