A new initiative is showing promise as a way to help teachers prepare children for the growing rigors of kindergarten.
Why it matters: Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn are more likely to . But if they fall behind, the odds are against them catching up to their classmates.
Stunning stat: found that kindergarten readiness in Palm Beach County rose from 66% in 2022-23 to over 72% in the last school year 鈥� a six-point gain.
- The improvement is one of the most significant gains documented in Florida鈥檚 free and voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) system.
- The achievement is featured in the Florida Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 , which highlights Palm Beach County as a case study.
READ MORE: Teachers have left Palm Beach County schools as enrollment has grown
The initiative, led by the of Palm Beach County, is happening in VPK programs with the school district, Head Start and private sites. It embeds learning technology, teacher training, and coaching in VPK classrooms.
- Technology: Programs called My Reading and Math Academy, developed by , a Glendale, Calif.-based technology company, are being used at 270 VPK sites in Palm Beach County, providing 15 minutes of daily instruction to more than 5,000 students.
- Training: Professional development supports teacher growth.
- Coaching support: Coaches work with teachers at each site, offering immediate feedback.
鈥淥ur readiness rate is evidence that what we are doing works,鈥� Aruna Gilbert, chief program and policy officer at the Early Learning Coalition, said.
The big picture: Most counties in Florida have hovered around 50% to 60% in kindergarten readiness for some time, Erin Gallagher, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, told Stet News. 鈥淎 lot of other states are sitting in the same place.鈥�
Context: Kindergarten in 2025 is a much steeper climb than it was a generation ago, Gallagher said. Today, the focus is on prereading, counting and patterns. The curriculum moves at a much faster pace.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for children to feel like they can keep up,鈥� she said.
Age of Learning came at a critical time: Many teachers left the field during the pandemic, Gallagher said. There was a need to support new teachers who were called on to rapidly develop their skills.
鈥淲e are thrilled VPK programs and their teachers have embraced Age of Learning and prioritize training,鈥� she said.
How it works: Age of Learning gathers information on each VPK student, and the data guides teachers. The technology is designed to give teachers the ability to see where children are.
- 鈥淲e can pull that report and say, 鈥極h, we didn鈥檛 know that they were struggling with that letter. We didn鈥檛 know they were struggling with this part,鈥欌�� said Vanity Fields, director of Atkins Tender Loving Care of Riviera Beach.
- 鈥淟earning is not linear,鈥� Gallagher said.
If a class is learning to count from 1 to 20 鈥� and a child doesn鈥檛 get it 鈥� without an individual look at each student, that might be glossed over, she said.
鈥淪o when you ask a child to add, if they don鈥檛 have that number sense, that is going to be really cumbersome,鈥� Gallagher said. That foundation was never set.
The technology is designed to give teachers the ability to see children where they are.
In the room: Children spend time on tablets for a maximum of 15 minutes a day during time in learning centers. The program feels like a game, but each activity is designed to build math and reading skills.
鈥淲e grappled with screen time,鈥� Gallagher said. 鈥淲e wanted to make sure we were well below the recommended time for the age group. And we wanted to make sure that 15 minutes was worth it.鈥�
The program gathers information on each student, and the data guides teachers.
Coaches provided by the coalition spend their time in the classroom, following up on training and guiding teachers on tactics like asking open-ended questions to help young children give longer responses and develop language skills.
- Tell me about your drawing.
- Tell me about what you built.
- What do you think will happen next in the story?
鈥淵ou get all that rich dialogue,鈥� Gallagher said.
What鈥檚 next: 鈥淔or us, the biggest thing is to ensure these opportunities are available to as many children as possible,鈥� Gallagher said. 鈥淲e would like to engage more VPK sites as we go.鈥�
This story was originally published by , a SA国际传谋 News partner.
