2022-2023 Kindergarten School Readiness Assessment Review Process

Background

S.B. 08-212 was passed by the Colorado General Assembly in 2008. Known as Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K), the law called for an alignment of the preschool through postsecondary education system to enable Colorado students to graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in college and careers. CAP4K includes an emphasis on kindergarten school readiness, calling for the State Board of Education to adopt a definition and for local education providers to annually measure school readiness at the beginning of kindergarten. Furthermore, Colorado maintains a commitment to literacy development by ensuring all kindergarten assessments that address reading are aligned to the Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act (READ Act), passed by the Colorado legislature in 2012. Like CAP4K, the READ Act asserts that students succeed in school if they have the foundational skills necessary for academic success. These skills include social skills, executive function skills, and other domains of readiness, and also must include foundational literacy skills grounded in the research on early reading (Read the READ Act). Ensuring assessments in kindergarten adhere to the Colorado READ Act advances the work of creating an aligned system of assessment as set forth in the CAP4K and further supports local education providers in establishing and refining cohesive assessment systems to monitor the growth and progress of all students.

Kindergarten school readiness assessments are to be research-based, reliable instruments of measuring school readiness. The purpose of the kindergarten school readiness assessments is to determine the instruction and interventions students need to improve their readiness to succeed in school. Assessment of school readiness is to include physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, language and comprehension development, cognition, mathematics, and literacy.

Process

The CDE has contracted with an outside entity to complete the full review. CDE will support the application process with the expected technical review to be completed outside of CDE. Inclusion on the approved list of assessments follows these steps:

• Part I: Letter of Intent to Apply
• Part II: Assessment Review
• Appeal Window
• Submission to the State Board of Education for approval
• Approved List of Kindergarten School Readiness Assessments Posted on Website

All vendors currently on the Kindergarten School Readiness State Board of Education Approved List of Assessments must reapply.

Implementation Timeline 

The Colorado State Board of Education is slated to review assessments during the June 2023 board meeting. To provide time for planning, local review, and training, we anticipate the current list of approved KSR assessments will continue to be permitted for the 2023-2024 school year. Selection from the new Kindergarten School Readiness Colorado State Board of Education Approved List of Assessments following the State Board decision will be required no later than the 2024-2025 school year. Please note, if the State Board of Education presentation or decision falls within a different timeframe than anticipated, this may impact the timeline for assessment tool selection and implementation. 

For questions, please contact Megan Prior Rogers.