Indicator: Kindergarten readiness: language and literacy

What to know about measurement

Kindergarten readiness assessments, which teachers complete, are an increasingly popular option for assessing a broad range of school readiness skills, including language and literacy. An estimated 43 states have or are developing kindergarten readiness assessments. These measures are mostly used as formative, not summative, assessments, and are not designed for accountability or high-stakes testing. For example, the past use of these assessments for accountability in Florida faced pushback and eventually was discontinued.
Teacher-reported kindergarten readiness assessments are generally more feasible to conduct at scale than standardized direct child assessments, which have greater reliability and validity and thus allow for comparison across children, classrooms, and pre-K programs. However, direct child assessments may be burdensome to administer or may not be completed for every child. Direct child assessments such as the ECAD or IGDIs must be administered by trained assessors.
Current research is limited on whether kindergarten readiness assessments are reliable and valid for children who speak a language other than English at home. However, the DRDP has specific items for teachers to report on English language development for children who speak a non-English language at home and is a promising measure. Some research indicates that the TS GOLD functions well with children whose home language is not English.