Early Childhood Standards

Building a Strong Foundation for School Success

First developed in 2003, by a statewide workgroup of representative stakeholders in early care and education, these standards are designed as a framework to assist parents, early care, intervention, and education professionals, administrators, and others in understanding what children are able to know and do from birth through four years of age. The Early Childhood Standards will enable early care and education professionals and others to become more knowledgeable in providing the experiences to help children reach their full potential. The vision for Kentucky’s young children and their families is that all young children are healthy and safe, possess the foundation that will enable school and personal success, and live in strong families that are supported and strengthened within their communities. Kentucky envisions learning as a continuum, beginning at birth and continuing throughout life. This is reflected in the strong alliances among early childhood educators, public school administrators, institutions of higher education, parent associations, and the business community.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Through PDG funding, the Kentucky Early Childhood Standards are being revised and the new version will be available on this page when completed.

The new 2020 standards will be released at a later date

Important Notice

Through PDG funding, the Kentucky Early Childhood Standards are being revised and the new version will be available on this page when completed.

Kindergarten Readiness Results

The Brigance Kindergarten Screener is a screening tool used statewide at kindergarten entry that is a snapshot to see whether a child has the skills and knowledge needed at the start of his or her education career.

It provides teachers with an individual snapshot of each student’s current development and abilities, and collectively, the development of a class. The screener is aligned with both Kentucky’s school readiness definition and Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards. (704 KAR 5:070)

This assessment is not an entrance exam, and it is not to be used for any type of placement. It will be used for two important purposes:

To help teachers develop more effective lesson plans and meet individual student learning needs sooner than they might have been able to do without the screener.
To help Kentucky assess the effectiveness of our early childhood programs and initiatives. This will allow us to know what we are doing well, and where we need work, as well as to measure improvement from year to year.

The Brigance Kindergarten Screener has two parts and is administered in the first few weeks of the school year.

The first part is a 20-minute, one-on-one assessment conducted in the classroom by trained elementary school personnel (i.e. teacher, counselor, aide). Students are asked to perform tasks designed to indicate the child’s awareness, motor skills, engagement, and other skills. These might be exercises like identifying body parts, counting, giving their ages and names, and standing on one foot.

The second part is a form to be filled out by parents that explain their child’s habits and interests. Parents are also asked what settings (home, preschool, childcare, etc.) the child was in during the 12 months prior to starting Kindergarten.

Kindergarten Readiness Results