The result for the Fall 2019 kindergarten readiness assessment has been released and evidently there was no visible improvement in the area. The Mississippi Department of Education showed that only almost 37% (36.6%) of the pupil who sat for the exam passed.
This has been a similar trend of events because in the last four years the same amount of pupils has passed the pre-kindergarten readiness assessment. The state-wide assessments evaluate students’ academic aptitude from pre-kindergarten through high school.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarteners are evaluated at the beginning and end of the school year. The Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) evaluates student progress in grades 3 through 8 in English Language Arts and Math, amongst many other subjects. Each one of the assessments evaluates the pupil’s ability to make sure they develop the knowledge they require to graduate from high school, choose a career or progress to college.
Recently, the state has been taking numerous steps to expand early childhood learning, helping the pupil to develop fine motor skills. Developing fine motor skills in early childhood education helps build the foundation for important future skills.
Why the pupils are failing
The reason for the poor results and lack of improvement in the pre-kindergarten readiness assessment has been credited to many factors.
Johanna Lebern, who teaches kindergarten in Pearl district said;
And one of the things I noticed when I was in kindergarten was that we had a lot of kids coming to us that we’re not ready.
While Pearl Lower Elementary Principal, Canda Jackson, attributed the poor performance to the financial predicament of the pupil’s parents saying;
A lot of our parents didn’t have the monetary means to send their children to quality, private daycare that would provide the educational piece that they were missing.
The inability to interact with among their peers, backwardness curriculum, poor communication skills, and motor skills are a vital part for pupils to excel.
The social skills that they’re receiving are extremely among the most important things they need, they need to learn how to communicate.
What schools are doing to improve?
The Pearl Community School District brought back its pre-kindergarten program five years ago. This was necessitated after they saw the score they attained on the kindergarten readiness test and grasped the need for drastic improvement.
Recently, the state has been putting in place steps to expand early childhood learning and that means expanded access for families and children to learning facilities.
We are aware of the fact that third-grade reading assessment is comprehension, but you can’t pass the comprehension if they don’t have the reading skills that they need.
Pearl Northside Elementary Principal Nikki Graham said.
