650 West North Street    |    PO Box 111    |    Auburn, Indiana 46706  |  260.925.0311
 

Early Childhood Education - What We've Accomplished

Goal: All children in DeKalb County enter kindergarten ready to learn.
 
What We’ve Accomplished
  • Gained consensus around the long-term goal: All children in DeKalb County enter kindergarten ready to learn as measured by a common definition (May 2009). Our progress will be measured by the percent of children entering kindergarten each year screened as “ready.”
  • Reviewed the national research around defining “kindergarten readiness” (August 2009).
  • Developed a definition shared countywide of what it means for a child to be ready to learn upon entering kindergarten and created a parent-friendly Let's Get Ready for Kindergarten! brochure-style checklist (see Community and Parent Resources).
  • Developed a kindergarten readiness screening tool to be used across DeKalb County (January 2010).
  • Developed training and administration guides and kindergarten-readiness screening kits for all DeKalb County schools in Spring 2010.
  • Four DeKalb County libraries and Early Childhood Alliance partnered in creating a 2010 booklet of no- and low-cost ideas and resources for parents and community members to help children develop school readiness skills between Spring and the start of school in Fall 2010.
  • A 12-week early literacy series was published by The Star during Summer 2010 (see Community and Parent Resources).
  • Screening was administered to 409 kindergarten students entering school in Fall 2010.  
  • Collected 2010 kindergarten readiness data from J.E. Ober Elementary, St. Joseph Catholic School and Riverdale Elementary (February 2011).
  • Revised the 2010 kindergarten-readiness screening tool for 2011 (March 2011).
  • Administered the 2011 kindergarten-readiness screening tool countywide (June 2011); 38% of entering kindergarten students screened were 'ready' in all three domains - social, language and academic skills.