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Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Data Released

Posted January 30, 2018

Hagerstown, MD (January 30, 2018) - The Maryland State Department of Education has released the fall 2017 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment data, which ranks Washington County Public Schools (WCPS) 23 out of 24 Maryland school systems. 

Assessed students represent both WCPS pre-kindergarten students in addition to children who attend private programs, other public programs or no programs prior to entering kindergarten. Among all groups, 37 percent of incoming kindergartners demonstrated readiness, which is an increase of 4 percentage points from the 2016 assessment. 

“Even though the report reflects a slight increase, we are disappointed in these overall results, but it’s not unexpected,” said Superintendent Dr. Boyd Michael. “The system has recognized for many years that significant change was needed to improve these results, which is why I announced the expansion of our pre-kindergarten program this year that added 120 new students.” 

“I anticipate that better results will begin to emerge as we continue to grow our program and enhance the quality of classroom instruction. The move to full-day pre-kindergarten is an important step in the right direction, along with other enhancements like professional development of our teachers and the alignment of our curriculum.” 

WCPS curriculum and instructional staff members will spend the next several weeks studying the 200-page technical report, which will be followed by a full presentation to the Board of Education in late February or early March. 

“Dr. Michael and his team have kept the board updated regularly about the significant changes to our pre-kindergarten program, and I believe these efforts will positively affect our readiness data in the future,” said Board of Education President Melissa Williams. “We have approved significant funding recently to support the expansion, but it’s also critical for the community at large to take an active role in helping to prepare students from birth to when students enter school.” 

For additional information related to preparing students for kindergarten, please contact Dr. Stacy Henson, coordinator for early learning, at 301-766-8722 or visit www.readyatfive.org.