This study investigated associations of three teacher-reported health indicators--hunger, tiredness, and sickness--with kindergarten readiness skills in San Francisco Unified School District (N = 12,423; female = 48%; M[subscript age] = 5.47, SD[subscript age] = 0.30, range[subscript age] = 4.67--7.00; Asian American = 26%, Black = 5%, Latinx =…

Although disproportionality has been a focus of special education research for more than 50 years, relatively few researchers have addressed potential inequitable or inappropriate treatment of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students in the United States, particularly in quantitative research. This multistudy investigation explored…

School districts in the United States are required to monitor the overrepresentation of students of color in special education, yet recent studies have challenged these trends and suggest students of color may be underrepresented for services guaranteed under federal law. Missing in many of these discussions on disproportionality are the needs of…

This study examined whether fine motor skills were related to the initial scores and growth rate of mathematics achievement in American kindergartners and first graders. Participants were 244 East Asian American and 9,816 European American children from the US-based Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K). To control sampling bias, two…

As part of Maryland's ongoing commitment to early learning and school readiness, a comprehensive Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) was administered for the third time. This assessment is part of the Ready for Kindergarten: Maryland's Early Childhood Comprehensive Assessment System (R4K) that was developed to align to the state's more…

As part of Maryland's ongoing commitment to early learning and school readiness, a comprehensive new Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) was administered for the second time. This assessment is part of the new Ready for Kindergarten: Maryland's Early Childhood Comprehensive Assessment System (R4K) that was developed to align to the state's…

Recent work examining science test performance in the earliest grades of school has demonstrated that science test score gaps by race/ethnicity are apparent as early as kindergarten and that, in a number of cases, the racial/ethnic test score gaps in science are significantly larger than the corresponding gaps in reading or mathematics. This study…

Minnesota has a persistent and substantial student achievement gap based on race and family income. There are also substantial achievement gaps between native English speakers and English learners (Minnesota Compass, n.d.). In 2019, Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood (SPPN) worked with Hmong American Partnership (HAP) and Saint Paul Public Schools…

This study examines the Civil Rights Data Collection of 2014, consisting of 49,605,534 students from 95,635 public schools covering grades from Kindergarten to 12th grade. The primary focus of this study was to examine the relative distribution of different types of discipline between ethnic groups and genders. In every category, the levels…

Overall, children who spend time in full-day kindergarten programs are more likely than children who spend time in half-day kindergarten programs to devote time every day to reading, mathematics, and social studies. Research is inconclusive on longer-term impacts. Trends identified in this report include: (1) since 1977, the percentage of…

This report examines what is known about enrollment, discipline, and support staff in alternative schools, among other objectives. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed data on alternative schools for school years 2013-14 and 2015-16 from Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (most recent years available); visited selected school…

Maryland is charged with providing an equal education and ensuring that personal or social circumstances--such as immigration status, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, or disability--are not barriers to academic success. Equity is achieved when all students have the resources they need, such as exceptional teachers or…

Based on the 2018-2019 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results, nearly half (47%) of all entering kindergarten children in Maryland displayed the foundational skills indicating they are fully ready for kindergarten. A third (33%) are approaching readiness. Twenty percent of children are assessed with emerging readiness skills. The school…

Assessing students at kindergarten entry allows teachers to effectively plan instruction that meets individual student needs, and those of the class as a whole. Maryland uses Ready for Kindergarten (R4K): Maryland's Comprehensive Early Childhood Assessment System, a single coordinated system for measuring the knowledge, skills, and behaviors and…

Private and public investments in early childhood education have expanded significantly in recent years. Despite this heightened investment, we have little empirical evidence on whether children today enter school with different skills than they did in the late nineties. Using two large, nationally representative datasets, this paper documents how…