Instrumentation for State Readiness Assessment: Issues in Measuring Children's Early Development and Learning.

How to assess the readiness of entering kindergartners to succeed in school has become an increasingly important decision for state administrators, school districts, and other groups. This paper reviews the concept of readiness and its essential ingredients, considers the current educational and policy context, and addresses the central dilemmas of choosing instrumentation--namely, what can be known about children's readiness, and how do we choose among available instruments? It also proposes a broader framework for assessing readiness that captures the outcomes of children's vast and varied experiences during the first five years of life.