NCREL's Policy Briefs

Integrating Community Services for
Young Children and Their Families

School Readiness

Following the 1989 Education Summit Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Bush and the 50 governors announced our National Education Goals. The importance of early childhood experiences could not have been given more emphasis. Goal #1 reads: "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." This goal is strongly supported by political leaders of both parties as well as the general public. It reflects the nation's increased awareness that early childhood experiences influence school performance, and it expresses a deep concern for the way in which young children and families are supported. No wonder many policymakers and practitioners feel that achieving the first goal is a prerequisite for achieving the others.

Goal #1 echoes what many early childhood advocates have been saying for a long time. We cannot expect children to learn if they come to school hungry or poorly nourished, if they are ill, if they have poor or no health care, and if they do not have the support of families and communities. But the responsibility for readiness does not reside with children. Families, schools, and communities have the responsibility and obligation to ensure children's readiness.

In 1991, the National School Readiness Task Force issued a report to encourage and guide public policy and community efforts to achieve Goal #1. Central to this report is a redefinition of school readiness:

• School readiness involves not only academic knowledge and skills, but also physical health, self-confidence, and social competence.

• School readiness is not determined solely by the abilities and capacities of young children. It is shaped and developed by people and environments. Further, "getting ready for school involves helping children in the context of families and improving programs in terms of the morale and skill of their staff members" (p.11).

• School readiness is not determined solely by the quality of early childhood programs. Readiness also depends on the expectations and capacities of teachers and elementary schools, including factors such as developmentally and culturally appropriate practice, class size, access to technology, and staff development.

• School readiness is also the responsibility of communities, because they have a stake in and an obligation to support families in the development of healthy young children (NASBE, 1991).

References and Resources

Posted on March 23, 1995

URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/93-3read.htm