School Readiness Is More Than What Children Know – It is Multidimensional
- Language, pre-literacy, and numeric skills are important to school success but represent only one dimension of school readiness.
- Physical, social, and emotional development (paying attention, following instructions and rules, getting along well with others) are also fundamental to learning in school.
School “Unreadiness” Is Expensive
- Up to half of school problems and eventual school dropouts start with children entering school developmentally behind.
- The costs to society of children not being ready to start school include health-related costs, extra educational costs to try to catch up (special education), juvenile delinquency, and adult corrections costs.
Quality Matters
- Child Care quality matters for all children: good care improves development, while poor care can cause damage.
From: Seven Things Policy Makers Need to Know about School Readiness, State Early Childhood Policy Technical Assistance Network, Charles Bruner, with Sheri Floyd and Abby Copeman, January 2005
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