The Early Learning Opportunities (ELO) Act - Child & Family Studies

Evaluation of the Early Learning Opportunities Act
Question
6
Do Participating Children Demonstrate Readiness for
Kindergarten?
Readiness for Kindergarten was examined in a subset of children who would be eligible by
age to enter Kindergarten in the fall of 2004 (i.e., birthdates prior to September 1, 1999). From
this population, evaluators administered the Early Screening Inventory – Kindergarten (ESI-K)
readiness screening instrument to 33 children. Their performance on this tool was used to
answer this question. Next, scores obtained on the ESI-K were plotted on a graph that aligned
these scores with ESI-K outcome recommendations (see Figure 10). Of note, 85% of the
children fell in the expected range with only one child’s performance on the ESI-K indicating a
need for follow-up evaluation to identify if developmental delays were present.
Figure 10
Developmental Readiness (ESI-K Scores) for Students of Participating
ELO Teachers in May 2004 Spring I Cohort
ESI K Scores
30
OK
25
20
15
Rescreen
10
Refer
5
0
Individual Student Scores
The Letter Naming Fluency subtest of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
(DIBELS) also was administered to 149 students from the Spring Cohort I identified as age
appropriate for entry into Kindergarten in the fall of 2004. Figure 11 contains the results of this
effort as well as the expected benchmarks for skill attainment at their entry into Kindergarten
approximately three months later. Inspection of this visual reveals that the majority of students
already are displaying skills that are aligned with expectations that will be assessed upon their
entry into Kindergarten three months later.
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida – page 28