What the 2007-2008 school readiness data mean for Maryland’s children March 2008

what the 2007-2008 school readiness datamean for Maryland’s children

March 2008

Maryland Model for School ReadinessMaryland Demographics

Source: Maryland State Department of Education

Census DataChildren < 5 (ages 0-4)

Estimated 4-Year Olds

365,545

73,109

Kindergarten EnrollmentSchool Year 2007/08

Kindergarten Students 59.455

Ethnicity

American Indian 0.4%

Asian 5.9%

African American 35.4%

White (not of Hispanic origin) 46.5%

Hispanic 11.7%

Kindergarten Students Receiving Services

Special Education 8.1%

English Language Learners 11.0%

Free/Reduced Priced Meals 38.6%

Prior Care EnrollmentSchool Year 2006/07

Pre-K Students 25,674

Full-Day Program 26.3%

Half-Day Program 73.7%

Percent of 4-Year Olds 35.1%

Judy Center Students 8,590

Head Start Students 10,929

Maryland Model for School Readiness

4952

5558

60

67 68

4138

35 34

28 28

7 7 6 6 6 5 4

44

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

Full Approaching Developing

Impressive progress.

68% of Maryland kindergartners are fully ready for school, a 19-point statewide increase in school readiness since 2001/02 and a 1-point increase since 2006/07.

Significant gains for those most in need.

4% of Maryland children need considerable support to do kindergarten work, a 3-point reduction in the past 7 years.

Summary of Results, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



Improvements across all Domains of Learning.

Maryland’s children are well-rounded, showing improvements in all seven Domains of Learning.

Kindergartners demonstrate strongest readiness in the areas of:• Physical Development (79%)• The Arts (71%)• Social & Personal Development (68%)• Mathematical Thinking (63%)

By Domains of Learning, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08


58

63

47

57

71

79

68

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Lang

uage

& Lite

racy

Mat

hem

atica

l Think

ing

Scient

ific Th

inking

Socia

l Stu

dies

The

Arts

Phys

ical D

evelop

men

t

Socia

l & P

erso

nal

01/02 06/07 07/08


49

52

55

5860

6768

42

45

4850

5658

36

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All Children Language & Literacy

Early literacy focus results in gains.

The statewide and jurisdictional efforts that focused on early language and literacy yielded large gains in the Language & Literacy Domain of Learning.

58% of Maryland’s kindergartners are fully ready for school, up from 36% in 2001/02.

By Language & Literacy, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



49

52

55

5860

6768

24

29

32

35

38

4547

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All Children Scientific Thinking

Children require the most support in the area of Scientific Thinking.

47% of Maryland kindergartners are fully ready in the science domain, up from 24% in 2001/02.

Despite the 23-point gain, over 30,000 children need targeted or considerable support in this area to do kindergarten work.

By Scientific Thinking, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



58.1

71

75.878.3

80.5

36.9

54.4

61.1

65.468.2

71

80.6

84.685.8

87.8

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

All 3rd Graders FARMS 3rd Graders

Non-FARMS 3rd Graders

Achievement Gaps for Low Income Children for 3rd Grade MSA Results

Improved MSA results suggest that improved school readiness results contributed to the narrowing of the achievement gap.

Achievement Gaps for Low Income Children for Third Grade MSA Results



49

52

55

58

60

6768

46

50

53

55

6263

54

58

62

6566

7374

43

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All Children Male Female

In the last 7 years, males and females experienced a 20-point gain in readiness.

74% of female kindergartners are fully ready for school.

While only 63% of males are assessed as fully ready for school, they are within 5 points of the statewide composite.

By Gender, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



67

75

62

75

57

44

55

37

56

39

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

American Indian AsianAfrican American WhiteHispanic

Significant gains made by children from all ethnic backgrounds.

The most progress was made by African American children: 62% are now fully ready for school, up from 37% in 2001/02.

These gains narrowed the disparity between African American children and their white peers from 19 points in 2001/02 to 13 points in 2007/08.

By Ethnicity, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



49

52

55

5860

67 68

37

40

37

45

49

55

49

53

57

6062

70 70

35

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All ChildrenLimited English ProficiencyEnglish Proficient

English language learners improve.

English language learners (ELL—children whose first language is not English) experienced a 6-point increase from last year and a 20-point increase in the past 7 years.

ELL also improved in the Language & Literacy domain by 5 points.

Despite these gains, ELL children are less likely to be fully ready than English-proficient children: 55% of ELL children were fully ready for school, compared with 70% of their English-proficient peers.

By English Proficiency, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



49

52

55

5860

6768

4041

4748

5859

52

58

6264

67

7374

34

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All Children Low-Income Mid/High-Income

Low-income children make gains.

59% of low-income children are fully ready (as indicated by Free and Reduced Price Meal status), up from 34% in 2001/02.

These gains narrowed the disparity between low-income and mid- to high-income children: an 18-point difference in 2001/02 narrowed to a 15-point difference in 2007/08.

By Income, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08



52

55

5860

67 68

30

35 36 37

43 43

53

57

6062

70 71

48

30

49

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08

All ChildrenReceiving Special Education ServicesNot Receiving Special Education Services

By Special Education Services, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08


Children receiving special education services improve.

43% of children receiving Special Education Services were fully ready for school in 2007/08, a 13-point increase from 2001/02.

Children receiving special education services did not improve at the same rate as their peers.

The gap widened, growing from an 18-point difference in 2001/02 to a 28-point difference in 2007/08.


High-quality early learning opportunities promote school readiness.

Children who were enrolled in pre-K programs (70%), child care centers (72%) and non-public nursery schools (83%) the year prior to kindergarten exhibited higher school readiness levels than those who were at home or in informal care settings (58%) the year prior to kindergarten.

By Prior Care, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08


72

6461

58

83

70

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Child C

are

Cente

r

Fam

ily C

hild C

are

Head

Star

t

Home/

Info

rmal

Non-p

ublic

Nur

sery

Pre-

Kind

erga

rten

01/02 06/07 07/08


Majority of Jurisdictions Gained Ground.

• 22 jurisdictions improved their school readiness percentages from 2001/02.

• 10 jurisdictions experienced 20-point or higher improvements in full readiness in the past seven years, greater than the statewide gain of 19 points.

• 11 jurisdictions—Allegany, Calvert, Caroline, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, and Worcester—met or exceeded the state goal of 75 percent fully ready for school by 2007/08.

• 3 jurisdictions—Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Montgomery Counties—are within 5 points of the statewide goal of 75 percent fully ready for school by 2007/08.

• The largest seven-year gains were made by Baltimore County (41%) and Caroline (37%).

By Jurisdiction, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08


Maryland Model for School ReadinessBy Jurisdiction, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Worcester

Wicomico

Washington

Talbot

Somerset

St. Mary's

Queen Anne's

Prince George's

Montgomery

Kent

Howard

Harford

Garrett

Frederick

Dorchester

Charles

Cecil

Carroll

Caroline

Calvert

Baltimore

Baltimore City

Anne Arundel

Allegany

2007/08

2001-2002


Jurisdiction 2001/02 2006/07 2007/087-YearResult Total K

Maryland 49 67 68 +19 59,455Allegany 66 73 77 +11 659Anne Arundel 51 69 72 +21 5,281Baltimore 32 77 73 +41 7,385Baltimore City 28 58 57 +29 6,124Calvert 48 70 75 +27 1,125Caroline 42 69 79 +37 424Carroll 62 60 63 +1 1,952Cecil 46 53 61 +15 1,149Charles 55 52 46 -9 1,590Dorchester 38 59 61 +23 320Frederick 68 76 76 +8 2,885Garrett 58 81 76 +18 268Harford 69 83 82 +13 2,827Howard 66 71 76 +10 3,230Kent 83 67 81 -2 153Montgomery 61 68 70 +9 9,775Prince George's 36 59 62 +26 8,819Queen Anne's 64 72 89 +25 556Somerset 81 79 78 -3 222St. Mary's 47 70 69 +22 1,238Talbot 52 68 66 +14 325Washington 58 65 69 +11 1,606Wicomico 55 66 66 +11 1,133Worcester 45 68 75 +30 409

By Jurisdiction, School Years 2001/02 to 2007/08

Majority of jurisdictions gain ground.

Over the last seven years, 10 jurisdictions experienced 20-point or higher improvements in full readiness, greater than the statewide gain of 19 points.


Documents

What the 2007-2008 school readiness data mean for Maryland’s children March 2008