In this 2011 report to the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Stakeholder Committee details the context for how and why the Illinois Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) was developed, as well as the assessment’s potential benefits and the necessary conditions, priorities, and next steps to successfully undertake KIDS in Illinois.
A New Beginning: The Illinois Kindergarten Development Survey
This report details the goals and context for the development of the IL Kindergarten Individual Development Survey.
Key Findings
- A major goal of developing KIDS was to promote the success of every child by providing key adults — family members and teachers alike — with a clear picture of a child’s developing strengths across multiple domains, including cognitive skills, language, social-emotional skills, approaches to learning, and physical health.
- Key benefits of implementing KIDS includes promoting alignment, learning expectations and smooth transitions from a variety of early childhood program environments to kindergarten, as well as from kindergarten to early elementary grades.
- The Illinois Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Stakeholder Committee recommended that ISBE conduct an initial, voluntary pilot of KIDS in the 2012-2013 school year, with a demographically and geographically representative sample of school districts.
