CINCINNATI — A study led by Cincinnati Children's found a significant decline in kindergarten-ready children going into Cincinnati Public Schools post-pandemic. Researchers say they discovered the pandemic amplified other factors that they found also held students back.
Researchers found that only 30% of kindergartners were deemed ready in 2021, a 10% decrease from 2018. The study was based on data from a state-required Kindergarten Readiness Assessment taken by around 8,000 children.
"This means that seven of every 10 children in the Cincinnati Public Schools were considered not ready to learn when they entered kindergarten during the pandemic. This trend was even more pronounced among the more disadvantaged, Medicaid-covered children we see in our primary care clinics," the study's lead author, Dr. Kristen Copeland, writes.
Among children who receive care through Cincinnati Children's, researchers found only 21.5% were deemed ready to learn in 2021 compared to 32% in 2018.
The readiness assessment includes questions and tasks that measure a child's reading, early math, gross motor and fine motor skills, self-regulation and attention. The study found that factors found in children from disadvantaged families — including the child being insured by Medicaid, the family previously reporting food insecurity and the child previously failing a developmental screening assessment — were all associated with lower levels of readiness.
"Not all children start off equal and there's a large, substantial percentage of the population that faces a lot of hardships, even before they get into school," Copeland said.
Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said students' basic needs must be met for them to succeed in school.
"I don't think it can be understated, the impact that kindergarten readiness has not just on how well students are going to do when they come to school as kindergarteners, but what that looks like long-term," he said.
Because many of the associated factors are measured during a child's primary care visits, the study recommends enhancing the partnership between health care providers and schools, with a focus on getting families legal aid, speech therapy, early childhood programs and more much earlier in a child's development.
"It will take intense effort on multiple levels to help these children overcome this disruption," Copeland writes.
DiMauro said educators are in a unique position to help as well because of how much time they spend with students.
The study noted Cincinnati Children's and Cincinnati Public Schools have worked together on data-sharing, saying expanding that relationship to other districts can help more increase readiness among more children post-pandemic.
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