As a state, Kansas is focusing on students’ preparation for college and career and on developing a longitudinal data system that connects the early learning years, from birth to the start of kindergarten, with later school and college learning. Knowing that children’s learning experiences prior to the start of kindergarten are crucial to their success in school and beyond makes it clear that progress must be tracked beginning at birth.

Towards this end, on July 9, 2010, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) launched the Kansas School Readiness Data Initiative (Initiative) with a meeting held at the Holiday Inn Express at the Legends in Kansas City, Kansas. Report on the July 9th Meeting describes the Initiative, provides an overview of the meeting and its results, and details next steps. This report will be widely distributed and all meeting documents are being placed on the KSDE website.

The vision for this Initiative is informed decision making on behalf of young children’s healthy development and school readiness. Focused on young children from birth to the start of kindergarten, this Initiative will lead to increased availability of valid and reliable data that can inform effective state and community policy decisions on children’s behalf.

The School Readiness Data Initiative was launched on July 9, 2010 with a Stakeholders meeting that developed a list of Priority Questions around School Readiness. As a “Next Step”, the School Readiness Data Task Force was brought together to meet the challenge of updating as necessary the Kansas School Readiness Framework.

Convened by the State’s leaders in data collection and management, the Kansas School Readiness Data Task Force was assembled to identify data elements associated with children’s school readiness. Task Force recommendations were submitted to the Kansas State Department of Education and the Early Childhood Advisory Council for approval. Once approved, these data elements will serve as the foundation for Kansas’ statewide comprehensive and coordinated early childhood data system.

The Kansas School Readiness Data Task Force convened five (5) times between March and November 2011. The facilitated process was tightly focused and results-oriented. State and national expertise were engaged in reviewing the Task Force’s emergent recommendations.

The work of the Task Force was informed by the input of work groups virtually convened between Task Force meetings. The work groups, convened by Task Force members, were associated with each of the four components of the State School Readiness Framework: child readiness, family readiness, school readiness, and community readiness.