Indicator: Developmental progress: cognition

Definition

Children develop and demonstrate progress toward foundational math and scientific reasoning skills.

RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)

  • Percentage of children meeting benchmarks on a teacher- or parent-observed developmental assessment, such as:
    • Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) Cognition domain
    • Ready 4 Kindergarten Early Learning Assessment (R4K ELA) Mathematics and Science domains
    • Teaching Strategies GOLD (TS GOLD) Cognitive and Mathematics subscales
  • Or, percentage of children meeting benchmarks on direct child assessments, such as:
    • Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognition and Academic Development (ECAD) Number Sense subtest
    • Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) Early Numeracy assessment
    • Research Based Early Mathematics Assessment (REMA)

Type(s) of Data Needed

Assessments

Why it matters

Children’s cognition, including math and scientific reading skills, is essential for a growing number of tasks. Children’s early skills in this domain set the course for their later achievement, with the skills that children demonstrate at an early age being the strongest predictors of their later school achievement. For math skills in particular, disparities by race, ethnicity, and income appear early and widen during early childhood. Compared with White children, Black and Latino children enter kindergarten 9 to 10 months behind in math skills, on average. As noted in the E-W system conditions section of this report, there is inequitable access to quality pre-K education that promotes positive outcomes for all children.

Note: This indicator has been updated from ‘kindergarten readiness’ to ‘developmental progress’ to reflect a child’s growth across developmental milestones rather than being ready at a single point in time. This term also aligns with the System Transformation for Equitable Preschools (STEP Forward with Data) Framework (Child Trends, November 2023). Alternate terms for developmental progress may include kindergarten readiness, school readiness, and/or early child development and progress. 

What to know about measurement

This indicator’s measurement considerations are similar to those noted under the developmental progress: language and literacy indicator. Children’s cognition skills can be measured through direct child assessments, but assessments that ask teachers to report and rate children’s skill development are increasingly common and less burdensome to implement at scale. For example, the DRDP has one subscale that measures cognition, including math and science skills. These items ask teachers to rate children’s development of number sense, measurement, patterning, shape recognition, cause and effect, inquiry through observation and investigation, and understanding of objects and their characteristics. As noted in the developmental progress: language and literacy indicator discussion, these assessments should only be used for formative purposes.

In the System Transformation for Equitable Preschools Framework, Child Trends emphasizes the importance of using multiple forms of evidence to assess a child’s developmental progress. This could include observational or direct child assessments, as well as information from parents, pediatricians, counselors, therapists, or other organizations serving the child. Using multiple forms of evidence can help ensure that preschool systems do not over-rely on a single source that might not be culturally or developmentally appropriate for the child, as well as provide information that is meaningful for families.

Source frameworks

Developmental progress or a related term, such as kindergarten readiness, appeared in 10 source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed definition and measures align with the five domains of school readiness summarized in the Getting Ready framework, prepared by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, which are also included in the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.

References

The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.