Friday, May 28, 2010

Districts eager to participate in kindergarten readiness pilot

Great news! More than 50 school districts have applied to be part of the voluntary pilot of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) for school year 2010-2011.

Applications were due May 27, and school districts selected for the pilot will be announced June 11. Nearly 50 school districts applied, representing about 230 classrooms and 5,200 students. The pilot will include 120 kindergarten classrooms and 3,000 incoming kindergarten students.

Visit www.del.wa.gov/wakids to see the latest on WaKids including: a video of a licensed child care provider talking about why WaKIDS matters for early learning professionals, and questions and answers about the pilot.

DEL and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with Thrive by Five Washington, are leading this pilot. The 2009 Legislature funded the pilot, which requires a private funding match. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Thrive have awarded the state private matching funds.

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