Yesterday, 70 early educators joined DEC and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) for “The Joy of Effective Strategies,” an event to discuss and celebrate the positive and increasing gains in kindergarten readiness in San Francisco over the last three years.
As a city, we focus on ensuring that all San Francisco children are well prepared for kindergarten by addressing the early education needs of both children and their families. San Francisco is proud to meet families’ needs by offering a variety of preschool options through a mixed-delivery system, which includes Head Start, center-based programs, family childcare, and SFUSD preschool and Transitional Kindergarten (TK) programs. DEC and SFUSD’s strategies to meet families’ needs are effective and the data shows increasing rates of kindergarten readiness across the city.
Through San Francisco’s Kindergarten Readiness Inventory, which is administered as part of a city-wide plan to improve kindergarten readiness for all students – we know that young children in San Francisco are better prepared for kindergarten than ever before – and the positive outcomes are continuing to grow. Why? Getting children ready for kindergarten is crucial for their future academic success. Research indicates that the children who start strong often maintain that momentum throughout their education.
In 2007 and 2009, schools in San Francisco implemented a tool known as the Kindergarten Observation Form (KOF) to assess how prepared children were for kindergarten. In 2024, DEC released its first-of-its-kind longitudinal study looking at the long-term school outcomes of those students. The findings revealed that kids who showed readiness for kindergarten typically excelled in middle and high school. Click here to read more about this study and what it told us about kindergarten readiness and long-term achievement.
During last night’s session, attendees focused their attention toward two key indicators of kindergarten-readiness: family engagement and social-emotional learning (SEL). Thank you to the educators who led these fantastic presentations, Paty Chinchilla and Christina Ponce from Project Commotion on family engagement, and Cristina Alejo and Karen Valter from Bessie Carmichael School PreK-8 Filipino Education Center on social-emotional learning.
By focusing on these two key indicators and dedicating ourselves and providing all families with access to high-quality preschool programs that cater to their specific needs, we are ensuring that each child and family has an opportunity to access early education. Improvements in student outcomes do not happen without the commitment from our city’s incredible early educators in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, families also play a vital role in their child’s development and readiness for school by actively participating in their child’s learning through daily activities, reading together, and communication with educators.
By working hand-in-hand with SFUSD, early educators, administrators, and families, DEC has contributed to a culture of improved student focus and success for our youngest learners in San Francisco – and the work doesn’t stop here!