What actually constitutes kindergarten readiness? Knowing a child’s skills and level of development when they enter kindergarten is important, but it takes more than that to be kindergarten ready.

“Kindergarten readiness is also how ready does each family feels for the start of the kindergarten year,” said Amanda Petersen, director of KSDE’s early childhood team. “It’s also about what a school has done to build a relationship with a family so as they get ready for kindergarten and as the year goes on so they can really be partners in each child’s learning.”

All children are ready to enter kindergarten when they meet the age requirement – five years old on or before Aug. 31 of their kindergarten year (unless a child has previously attended kindergarten in another state).  

“The start of kindergarten is such an important milestone in a child’s educational journey,” Petersen said. “We’ve got great research that tells us that everything we can do to help make that start of the kindergarten year a success will pay off in the long run.”

Stacy Clarke, education program consultant on the KSDE early childhood team, said building relationships with families who aren’t comfortable in a school setting is especially important.

“Maybe they’ve had a bad experience,” she said. “Maybe they’ve come from a different country or speak a different language.”

Petersen said the Ages & Stages Questionnaires^® is a valid and reliable tool that has been used for more than 40 years to assess a child’s development, even as early as one month of age. She said it’s a tool communities can use in programs like Parents as Teachers, in child care, and in health care settings.  

“Programs serving families with young children can be sharing this tool with families so that it becomes really normal for families to be doing regular developmental check-ups, just to make sure things are going well and be able to connect with additional supports if needed so that kids can get the services or supports they need as early as possible,” she said. “We know that early intervention is the most effective.”

The Kansas Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot was first implemented statewide in 2018. All Kansas elementary schools are required to partner with families of incoming kindergarten students to complete the ASQ-3 and the ASQ:SE-2 as outlined in Kansas accreditation regulations, which require accredited systems to have in place a method of data collection approved by the state board for collecting kindergarten-entry data. The snapshot data helps teachers ensure their kindergarten classrooms are ready to support the social, emotional and academic success of each student. At the state level, this data provides a snapshot of Kansas kindergartners’ development and helps inform opportunities to improve kindergarten readiness statewide.  

Kindergarten readiness was common theme heard during the original Kansans Can listening sessions in 2015, Petersen said. “As Kansans shared what they needed and wanted from their educational system, we heard loud and clear that a focus on early childhood is essential to later student success."

There was also a recognition that common data needed to be collected statewide to inform kindergarten readiness efforts, Petersen said. Education and early childhood professionals decided the ASQ^® was the best tool to collect that information. In 2017, the ASQ^® was selected as the state’s snapshot tool by the Kansas State Board of Education. Click here to read more about the history of the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot.

The 2024 Kansas Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot window closes Sept. 20. Schools should administer both the Ages & Stages Questionnaires^®, Third Edition (ASQ-3) and Ages & Stages Questionnaires^®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) to all incoming kindergarten students by Sept. 20. All data (including pending Family Access screenings and finalized manual screenings) must be entered in ASQ Online by Sept. 27.

Visit agesandstages.com/ks for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), guides and “how-to” videos on how to implement the ASQ^®.

ASQ^® training scheduled for Aug. 6

“Using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires^® (ASQ) Screeners to Engage with Families and Prepare Classrooms for Kindergarteners” will be presented from 8:30–9:30 a.m., on Tuesday, Aug. 6. KSDE Early Childhood, Kansas MTSS and Alignment, and the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center (KPIRC) are hosting the training designed to help leaders prepare for the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot. This one-hour training is meant to give leaders the knowledge to effectively access and utilize the ASQ^® to engage families and drive instruction. Register for the Aug. 6 training at this link: https://ksdetasn.org/events.

The following are important contacts for the ASQ^® and Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot:

• Email to connect with KSDE Early Childhood team members Stacy Clarke, sclarke@ksde.org and Amanda Petersen, apetersen@ksde.org. 
• For simple questions related to the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot (for example, resetting a password to ASQ Online), contact Brookes Publishing Technical Support or call 1-866-404-9853.   
• For more specific questions (i.e., setting up ASQ Online Family Access links), contact the Brookes Implementation Team at implementation@brookespublishing.com. 

“Kansas educators work hard year-round so that kindergarten students, families and teachers can experience a wonderful start to the school year,” Petersen said. “As schools find successes or need support related to the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at KSDE.”