Engaging with families to build strong relationships during children’s transition into kindergarten is a key strategy to prepare children, families, and schools for a successful start to the kindergarten year. All Kansas elementary schools are required to partner with families to complete the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ-3) and Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2).

These tools provide a snapshot of children’s developmental milestones. As caregivers know their children best, they complete both questionnaires.

Since districts first implemented the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot statewide in Fall 2018, KSDE has gathered feedback on how to best use this tool to improve kindergarten readiness. After receiving positive feedback, KSDE began offering the flexibility for schools to begin partnering with families of incoming kindergarten students to complete the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot (ASQ) in the springtime prior to children entering kindergarten.

For the 2024-2025 Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot, districts and private school systems may begin screening March 1, 2024. All schools must administer both the ASQ-3 and the ASQ:SE-2 to incoming kindergarten students by Sept. 20. All data (including pending Family Access screenings) must be entered into ASQ Online by Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.

Districts/private school systems should review the following expectations regarding springtime administration of the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot:

• The district will not use ASQ or other data as a gatekeeper/method to prevent 5-year-old children from entering kindergarten. Per Kansas law, the only requirement for entry into kindergarten is that a child be 5 years old on or before Aug. 31 of the current school year (unless a child has previously attended kindergarten in another state).
• The district will encourage all age-eligible students to enroll in kindergarten.
• The district will accept the screening results in ASQ Online and follow up with the family within two weeks of completing the ASQ to provide results and learning activities. Timely follow-up ensures information shared by families is relevant and demonstrates to families that their time is valuable.
• KSDE is considering options to remove screenings completed during the springtime that sit pending over the summer months when calculating a district’s Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot participation rate.
• The district will attempt to contact families who complete the ASQ during the springtime but who do not enroll/attend the district at the start of the school year so that screenings can be transferred to the correct new school.
• The district will share ASQ data with the child’s kindergarten teacher prior to the first day of school.

Districts/private school systems are not required to submit an application or survey to KSDE to begin the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot in the springtime.

Visit https://agesandstages.com/ks/ for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), guides and “how-to” videos on how to implement ASQ. Stay tuned to KSDEweekly for live virtual ASQ professional learning sessions.

Action Steps to Consider Before Screening:

• Collaborate to consider how screening data will be shared with families in a timely way (within two weeks of survey completion). See the Tip Sheet for Sharing Screening Reports.
• Review ASQ Online Quick Tips: How to Prevent Duplicate Child Profiles to help keep your data system organized as staff accept completed questionnaires.
• Archive ASQ data for current kindergarten students
• Review and update ASQ Online users
• Check Family Access URLs to ensure landing pages are prepared to receive screenings. Ensure all Family Access landing pages are set to Program/Shared Family Access (see Section 11.3.5)   
• Turn on “My Alerts” for notification of pending Family Access screenings. These will automatically be sent when completed and ready to be accepted.
• Provide parents/guardians with a link or copy of Kindergarten in Kansas. Hard copies can be obtained for free in English, Spanish, Arabic, Burmese, Swahili, and Vietnamese by filling out a request through the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center.

KSDE and Brookes Publishing partnered to provide a five-part newsletter series of resources during the 2023 Snapshot. Visit agesandstages.com/ks and view “Newsletters” to review the complete series.

KSDE is working to finalize 2023 Snapshot participation rates. These should be available within the next month or so, and KSDE is determining the best way to make this data available to districts.

Who do you contact for questions?

For simple questions related to the Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot (for example, looking up a username or resetting a password to ASQ Online), contact Brookes Publishing Technical Support, or call 1-866-404-9853.

For more specific questions (for example, setting up ASQ Online Family Access links), contact the Brookes Implementation Team: implementation@brookespublishing.com.

PreK-12 school staff with questions for KSDE can email Stacy Clarke at sclarke@ksde.org.