Maryland’s 2019 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Results Stay Consistent

Excerpt from MSDE Please read linked PDF for the complete letter MSDE Release- KRA 2019 Data

BALTIMORE (February 25, 2020) – Maryland’s 2019 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results show that the percentage of Maryland kindergartners demonstrating readiness stayed consistent while some individual school systems demonstrated increases from 1 to 12%.

The KRA 2.0 was administered by all kindergarten teachers between the beginning of the school year and October 10, 2019. Items on the assessment measured students’ mastery of the end-of-year prekindergarten skills, knowledge, and behaviors across four domains: Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Social Foundations, Physical Well-Being and Motor Development.

Once again, this year school systems had the choice of whether to administer the assessment to all of their kindergarten students or to a sample of students in each kindergarten classroom. There was a significant increase in the number of school systems that administered the KRA to all kindergarten students. Eighteen systems administered the KRA to all kindergarten students, while only six administered the KRA in specific schools and to a sample in others. This resulted in 65% of all kindergartners in the state being assessed and more families receiving information about their child.

State results showed the following:

• 47 percent of Maryland kindergarten students began the year demonstrating readiness (the student demonstrates the foundational skills and behaviors that prepare him/her for curriculum based on the kindergarten standards).
• 32 percent of the students are approaching readiness (the student displays some of the foundational skills and behaviors that prepare him/her for curriculum based on the kindergarten standards).
• 21 percent of the students are emerging readiness (the student displays minimal foundational skills and behaviors that prepare him/her for curriculum based on the kindergarten standards).
• 18 percent of English learners demonstrated readiness.
• 19 percent of children with disabilities demonstrated readiness.
• 34 percent of children from families that are direct certified demonstrated readiness.

The school readiness information for school year 2019-20 will be available online at https://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.or and at www.readyatfive.org. Below is the percent of kindergarten students by jurisdiction who began the year demonstrating readiness.