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EDUCATION Medford kids show improvement in kindergarten readiness Comment Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Feb. 15, 2016 at 4:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2016 at 5:11 PM Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Feb. 15, 2016 at 4:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2016 at 5:11 PM Families invited to schools --> Families with children who will be 5 years old by September 1 and enrolling in kindergarten this fall are invited to attend a meet and greet from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, March 9, at all Medford Scho... » Read more X Families invited to schools Families with children who will be 5 years old by September 1 and enrolling in kindergarten this fall are invited to attend a meet and greet from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, March 9, at all Medford School District elementary schools. Kindergarten registration begins April 20. » Social News Medford children entering kindergarten last fall were more academically prepared for school than in the previous year but still fell short of state averages on math and literacy assessments, according to data released last week by the Oregon Department of Education. The Oregon Kindergarten Assessments were administered to about 40,000 kindergartners statewide, including about 1,050 in Medford, in the first six weeks of school. The assessments are not graded but are designed to gauge a student’s knowledge of letters, numbers, sounds, as well as their behavioral skills. It is basically a snapshot of kindergarten readiness and a tool to identify opportunity gaps and successful early learning practices, as well as to measure progress and inform decisions, explained Karol Collymore, ODE’s early learning spokeswoman. This year, for the first time since the state began administering the tests in 2013-14, there was an uptick in kindergartners’ math and literacy skills both in Medford and at the state level. Hoover Elementary School kindergartners received the highest average of any noncharter public school in the district on the behavioral tests while Lone Pine Elementary kindergartners received the highest math scores and Jacksonville Elementary kindergartners received the highest literacy scores. For the literacy test, kindergartners had one minute to identify the letters and sounds of upper and lowercase letters that appeared in random order on a chart. On average, Medford kindergartners correctly named 15.6 letters and 6.4 letter sounds. That was up from 14.5 letters and five letter sounds in 2014-15. Medford kindergartners also correctly answered an average of 8.3 out of 16 simple counting, addition, subtraction and number pattern problems. Last year, kindergartners averaged 7.9 out of 16. As part of the “approaches to learning” component of the assessment, teachers observed kindergartners during class activities and, on a scale of 1 to 5, rated them on their interpersonal skills and self-regulation behaviors. In Medford, kindergartners averaged 3.6 in self-regulation and 3.9 in interpersonal skills. While the students’ self-regulation behaviors were consistent with last year’s results, there was a slight decrease in interpersonal skills. “(Kindergarten) readiness isn’t always letters and numbers,” said Jackson Elementary School Principal Kelly Soter. “Sometimes it’s how well students communicate that they are upset and interact with their peers.” “That readiness piece is where we see the greatest gaps,” she said. The Southern Oregon Early Learning Hub, under the direction of director Mary-Curtis Gramley, coordinates services to 16,000 at-risk children, ages 6 and under, living in either Jackson or Josephine County. The hub, established in 2014, is one of 14 statewide approved by Oregon’s Early Learning Council and tasked with coordinating the efforts of local service organizations, ensuring children are being raised in safe and stable families and helping prepare them for kindergarten. “It’s one of the more significant challenges in a child’s life as they go from a home experience or a small childcare or preschool experience to a classroom with 28 or 30 other children,” Gramley said. This year, the hub will come alongside schools to implement programs such as READY! for Kindergarten, which is designed to educate parents on how to incorporate learning into everyday activities and equip them with age-appropriate materials, such as floor puzzles, board games and magnetic numbers and letters, that they can take home. “Families are the real teachers of the children,” Gramley said. The program has already been implemented in the Grants Pass School District and will roll out in Medford this spring at Jackson and Howard elementary schools and at Kids Unlimited Academy. Soter said the program is funded by an Oregon Community Foundation grant and will be open to about 35 parents with children ages 4 and 5 who will be starting kindergarten at Jackson next fall. “There will be a commitment on the part of the parents to attend the sessions and use the high quality materials we have at home,” she said. The Southern Oregon Early Learning Hub will be launching several other family-centered initiatives later this year and also is applying for the state’s Preschool Promise grant that would give some families with incomes 200 percent below the federal poverty line access to free preschool. Gramley said next year’s kindergarten assessment results will hopefully reflect the hub’s efforts to improve kindergarten readiness. However, it’s parents that have the greatest impact on kindergarten readiness, Soter said. “Parents are a child’s first teachers and a child’s most influential teachers,” she said. “And we know that anything they do at home to support the child will help the child be more successful.” Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . Kindergarten readiness in Jackson County by Mail Tribune Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT MailTribune.com Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Follow @@teresathomas_MT Posted Feb. 15, 2016 at 4:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2016 at 5:11 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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