Report Title:

School Readiness; Definition.

Description:

Adds the definition of "school readiness" to Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997. (HB2352 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2352

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to education.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the Good Beginnings Alliance, established in response to Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, is a public-private partnership charged with the responsibility to improve early childhood outcomes through the development of quality early childhood education and care and related family support services. Specifically, the Good Beginnings Alliance develops policy recommendations concerning all aspects of a coordinated early childhood education and care system, including coordination strategies, resource development, and advocacy.

Through Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, the Good Beginnings Alliance was charged with ensuring forward and strategic movement with partners--families, communities, providers, and policy makers--who share the commitment to the goal of all children in Hawaii starting school as safe, healthy students who are ready to succeed.

The legislature also recognizes that recent reports on the science of child development continue to emphasize that during the first five years of life, it is critical for optimum growth and development that a child be in an early education and care environment that stimulates the child's curiosity and creativity, is safe and healthy, and nurtures the child's spirit. Studies have shown that young children thrive when they live in a family and a community that foster their "warm heartedness," respect their dignity, and encourage their lifelong learning.

The legislature recognizes the importance of early childhood development in ensuring that children will be ready to succeed in school. Public and private agencies in partnership with communities across the state have implemented the state policy adopted in 1998 by the legislature in House Concurrent Resolution No. 38, "All of Hawaii’s Children Will Be Safe, Healthy and Ready to Succeed."

There is increasing national and local focus on the need for quality early childhood programs to prepare children for kindergarten. The public is becoming more aware that addressing the school readiness of young children is essential for meeting the standards that the federal government will be putting into place as part of education reform. As growing numbers of kindergarten teachers report that children are entering kindergarten not ready for success, the focus is beginning to fall on how families, communities, and early education can support a child to become ready for school, and on how the schools can become better prepared to meet the needs of each individual child entering kindergarten.

The 2001 census reports state that Hawaii has thirty-one thousand seven hundred fifty-one children of ages three and four. Of those children, fourteen thousand nine hundred sixty-seven are from low-income families, meaning they earn less than one hundred eighty-five per cent of the Federal Poverty Index. Fifty-one per cent of three and four-year-old children from low-income families do not receive preschool subsidies. Studies in Hawaii and nationally have demonstrated that children from low-income families that are in quality early childhood education environments and programs prior to entry to kindergarten show greater gains in later school achievement than children who did not have these opportunities.

The recent "From Neurons to Neighborhoods" report developed by a committee of seventeen national leaders in the fields of early childhood, education, psychiatry, neuroscience, economics, and public policy, convened by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, states that, "striking disparities in what children know and can do are evident well before they enter kindergarten. These differences are strongly associated with social and economic circumstances, and they are predictive of subsequent academic performance." The report goes on to state, "children grow and thrive in the context of close and dependable relationships that provide love and nurturance, security, responsive interactions, and encouragement for exploration. These conditions most often occur when there is a positive interaction among family, school, community, and the child." The report emphasizes the importance of ensuring that:

(1) Young children’s needs are met through sustained relationships with qualified caregivers;

(2) Special needs of children with developmental disabilities or chronic health conditions are addressed; and

(3) The settings in which children spend their time are safe, stimulating, and compatible with the values and priorities of their families.

The legislature recognizes that the adoption of the definition of "school readiness" will emphasize the importance of positive interactions among family, school, community, and the child. The legislature affirms the progress of the interdepartmental council and school readiness task force established by Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, and the resulting performance framework they have created. The overriding purpose for developing a definition of "school readiness" is to create conditions that will enable children in Hawaii to succeed in kindergarten and subsequently in school.

To realize this purpose, Hawaii is following the lead of the National Education Goals Panel and the results of national and state early childhood research by defining "school readiness" broadly to include the following critical attributes of children, schools, and family and community support:

(1) Children’s developmental characteristics and abilities vary widely in individual children and include: physical health and well being, social and emotional development, school-related behaviors and skills, approaches to learning, motor development and self-help skills, communication and language developmental skills, general knowledge, and cognitive development;

(2) Family support includes meeting children’s basic needs, providing emotional support, supporting learning by providing stimulating experiences, talking to children, and reading to them every day;

(3) School support includes welcoming children and families, involving families in school, providing transitions between the home or early program and the school, providing active, hands-on learning experiences, supporting quality instructional methods, building relationships between children and teachers, honoring individual and cultural diversity, and partnering with community agencies; and

(4) Community support includes provisions for children to have adequate nutrition, opportunity for physical activity, health care, enriching preschool and home experiences, and programs that help families to be their child’s first teacher.

The purpose of the Act is to include the definition of "school readiness" in Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997. The inclusion of the definition of "school readiness" is in keeping with the intent of Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, that recognizes the Good Beginnings Alliance as the focal point for policy development and dedicated to enhancing, developing, and coordinating quality early childhood services.

The school readiness task force of the interdepartmental council, private nonprofit corporation, and community councils are committed to improving the school readiness of Hawaii’s children and joining with families, schools, and communities to further support children’s readiness for school and school’s readiness for children.

SECTION 2. Section 2 of Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, as amended by Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, is amended by adding a new section to read as follows:

"§ -6 School readiness; progress report. (a) "School readiness" means that young children are ready to have successful learning experiences in school when there is a positive interaction among the child’s developmental characteristics, school practices, and family and community support.

(b) The corporation and the interdepartmental council shall jointly submit, in their annual report to the governor and the legislature, a description of the progress achieved in enlisting public, private, and community support and family participation in school readiness and in developing policies and strategies for measuring results and performance indicators of school readiness that will strengthen Hawaii’s early childhood system and build capacity for sustainability."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.