Achievement: Kindergarten to 8th Grade

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA)

Entering kindergarten with low levels of cognitive and social-emotional skills is associated with poorer academic outcomes from elementary to high school.  Children rated poor in academic readiness are nine to ten times more likely to have low reading scores at the end of first grade.   Low social competence and emotional maturity at school entry is associated with poorer well-being in later grades.

SC READY – Third Grade Reading

For students who do not read at grade level, up to half of the printed fourth-grade curriculum is incomprehensible.  Three-quarters of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor readers in high school.   These students tend to have more behavioral and social problems in subsequent grades and high rates of grade retention.  Students who can’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school.

SC READY – Eighth Grade Math

Eighth-grade math proficiency is a strong predictor of high school, college, and career success.  Poor performance limits a student’s access to advanced math and science courses such as calculus and physics.

NAEP

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides the only stable national standards for, and common measure of, student achievement in the elementary and secondary years across the country.  It provides the best, and most recognized, method for comparing student achievement among the states.  It is also useful for evaluating expectations for learning in state assessments as compared to those in national standards.