The Children are Ready for School sub-committee is responsible for considering the coordination of community services and resources that support children being ready for school, to monitor trends to know how the community is doing getting children ready for school, and to be a dialog table for brainstorming and harvesting ideas for how to do better.
MEMBERS
Angie Haver, Chair, Logan County Family & Children First
Kelly Compton, Council on Rural Services
Joy Badenhop, Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Children who are ready for schoool are more confident/better self esteem and transition to kindergarten easier. They tend to have a better attitude about going to school and are more likely to have later school success. Research shows a decreased likelihood of later criminal behavior when children are at grade level. Children who are ready for school tend to have more security/connection with parents, they are more likely to graduate, have better peer interaction, and fewer behavior problems.
The KRA-L is a quick screening instrument that assesses oral language, rhyming, letter identification and alliteration – elements identified through research as being essential for reading. The purpose is to identify children for whom additional testing may be needed and to assist teachers in literacy instruction (reading & writing). It is not a substitute for sound, comprehensive assessment and observation of children and their learning. According to the KRA-L data, approximately 20% of Logan County Students are not ready for reading and writing when starting Kindergarten. This average is lower than the state average, however, forecast lines indicate a historical trend that is going in a positive direction for both Logan County and Ohio.
