Final Report to the Knight Foundation

Background for Community-Level Work on School Readiness:

A Review of Definitions, Assessments, and Investment Strategies

Part I: Defining and Assessing School Readiness—Building on the Foundation of NEGP Work

by

Martha Zaslow, Julia Calkins, and Tamara Halle

Part II: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors to School Readiness

by

Tamara Halle, Jonathan Zaff, Julia Calkins, and Nancy Geyelin Margie

December 2000

Copyright Child Trends, 2000

Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................................... iv

What is School Readiness?............................................................................................... iv

How Should School Readiness Be Measured?.................................................................. vi

A Framework for Community Investments in School Readiness........................................ viii

Implications for Community Action................................................................................... xv

Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1

Part I: Defining and Assessing School Readiness.................................................................... 3

The Controversial Goal 1 Sentence.................................................................................... 3

Beyond the Goal 1 Sentence: Building From a Turning Point in Child Assessment................ 3

Component #1: Delineating Dimensions of School Readiness in Children............................. 5

Component #2: Family and Community Supports for Children’s School Readiness........... 10

Component #3: The Readiness of Schools....................................................................... 13

Principles for the Assessment of Children’s School Readiness........................................... 16

NEGP’s Principles for the Assessment of Young Children............................................ 16

Meisel’s Review of Issues in the Assessment of School Readiness................................ 19

Implications of Part I for Knight Foundation’s Work in Communities................................ 20

Part II: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors to School Readiness...................... 23

Introduction..................................................................................................................... 23

Methodological Issues for this Review.............................................................................. 23

Child Health.................................................................................................................... 24

Health in the Early Years............................................................................................. 24

Immunizations.............................................................................................................. 25

Nutrition...................................................................................................................... 26

Unintentional Injury...................................................................................................... 27

Lead Exposure............................................................................................................ 28

Dental Health.............................................................................................................. 29

Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems.................................................................... 30

Summary.....................................................................................................................