Eliminating the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Is a Mistake Ohio Can’t Afford
Ohio lawmakers are considering a significant step backward in early childhood education. In the House-passed version of the state’s operating budget, Amended Substitute House Bill 96, legislators propose eliminating the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA), the state’s primary tool for measuring whether children are prepared to begin school.
Since 2004, Ohio has been a national leader in tracking kindergarten readiness. The KRA, a 27-item assessment developed and owned by Ohio, has been carefully built, tested, and refined over many years.
It offers insights not only into individual children’s preparedness for kindergarten but also into broader trends across communities, highlighting disparities and helping inform policy decisions and targeted support.
In 2011, Ohio received a $70 million federal Early Learning Challenge Grant, which enabled the state to improve the KRA significantly. The current version, implemented in 2014, goes beyond literacy to assess children’s development in four key areas: language and literacy, math, social foundations, and motor development.
This comprehensive view helps educators and policymakers understand which children need early interventions and where resources should be directed.
The importance of the KRA cannot be overstated. It provides a consistent, statewide measure that allows Ohio to track progress over time, assess the impact of early childhood programs, and identify achievement gaps before they widen.
Disaggregated by factors like race, income, disability status, and English learner status, the data enables a clear view of equity and effectiveness across the state’s early learning systems.
Scrapping the KRA would not only erase years of investment and progress but also strip Ohio of a critical tool in its educational toolkit.
Without it, we lose the ability to answer vital questions: Are children entering school more prepared than they were five years ago? Are state-funded preschool programs making a difference? Are community initiatives paying off?
We also know that KRA scores are linked to future outcomes, such as third-grade reading success, particularly for students who struggle the most. Identifying these challenges early gives educators and families the chance to intervene before it’s too late.
As someone with experience as a policy analyst, early education researcher, kindergarten teacher, and parent, I’ve seen firsthand how essential it is to understand where children are developmentally when they enter school. The KRA gives us that understanding.
Ohio has spent two decades building this system. Dismantling it now would leave us behind 26 other states that currently require kindergarten readiness data. We cannot improve what we do not measure.
Now is the time to strengthen, not abandon, our commitment to ensuring all Ohio children are prepared for success. Lawmakers should preserve the KRA, not throw it away.
