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Hawaii State School Readiness Assessment
Schools Ready for Children
Young children are ready to have successful learning experiences in school when there is a positive interaction among the child's developmental characteristics, school practices & family/community support.
Readiness definition adopted by the State of Hawaii

Purpose
Schools Ready for Children gathers information about key school practices and policies that support the success of young children in school and is designed to measure how well established these policies and practices are. This assessment should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

The data may be used to track improvement of the school's early childhood policies and practices over time in 5 key areas:

  1. Transition between preschool/home and elementary school
  2. Communication with families
  3. Parent involvement
  4. Early childhood classroom practices
  5. School improvement in Early Education
Please read Principal Guide to HSSRA and observe your kindergarten classrooms before you complete this assessment.

Directions
First, please complete the information about your school.

School  
Principal Name  
Name of Kindergarten Grade Level Chair  
WASC Accredited?  Yes  No
If yes, length of Accreditation Term  
No. of Kindergarten positions  
No. of Kindergarten vacancies  
No. of Kindergarten students  

Do not continue until you have read the Principals' Guide for Completing HSSRA sent to you via an email attachment as a Word file or available on arch.k12.hi.us, click on school and then on HSSRA. Otherwise the results may be invalid.

Below is a description of the 3 point rating scale that indicates the extent to which your school's early childhood policies and practices are well established:

1 = Not Yet/Beginning The school has not yet carried out the policy or practice or is just beginning to implement the policy or practice.
2 = Informal/Depends on Individual(s) The school informally supports the policy or practice carried out or used by staff. It changes depending on the individuals on staff.
3 = Well Established/
Institutionalized		 The policy or practice is firmly and officially established at the school. Staff members know and routinely carry out the policy or practice.

Completing this survey should take about 10 minutes. Please "click" on the number that best describes the status of the policy or practice at the school. Do not skip any items.

After completing all items, click on the submit button at the bottom of the page.

School Policies and Practices Not Yet/
Beginning		 Informal/
Depends on
Individual(s)		 Well
Established/
Institutionalized
1. The school has a special orientation for and/or invites incoming children and their families to visit the elementary school before the school year begins.
1 2 3
2. The school has a systematic procedure for providing information between home/school or between preschool/kindergarten teachers about the strengths and needs of entering kindergarten children.
1 2 3
3. The school uses multiple approaches to communicate with families such as home visits, newsletters, phone calls, parent workshops, email.
1 2 3
4. The school communicates information to families about:
  (a) child development and learning
1 2 3
  (b) opportunities for parent to be involved with their child's learning and with the school
1 2 3
  (c) agencies in the community that provide social, health, and other services to families
1 2 3
5. School has a variety of ways for parents to be involved with the school such as classroom volunteers, work at special events, fund raising, telephone tree, etc.
1 2 3
6. On a regular basis, the school evaluates its curriculum and instructional practices in early childhood (grades K to 2) based on current ideas and research in early childhood education.
1 2 3
7. The school has in place a well-developed family literacy program.* This means it is accessible to families, well publicized, and on-going.
1 2 3
8. The school offers on-going parent workshops on child development and learning (in contrast to a single event).*
1 2 3
9. Teachers are given opportunities for professional development specifically focused on early childhood education.*
1 2 3
Items 10 and 11 should be based on direct observation of children in the classroom.
  Little to
none		 Some variety A great
deal
10. There are a variety of hands-on activities available in the classroom for kindergarten children to choose from.
1 2 3
  Not
balanced		 Uneven; now
& then		 Consistently
well balanced
11. The daily classroom schedule provides a balance between:
  (a) Between teacher-directed and child-initiated activities
1 2 3
  (b) Between active and quiet activities
1 2 3
  (c) Between independent and guided activities
1 2 3
  (d) Between large group, small group, and individual activities
1 2 3
  No or
written but
neglected		 Written, but
followed now
and then		 Written and
consistently
followed
12. The school has a written Transition Plan to assist parents and entering children that includes actions for improvement.
1 2 3
* For items 7, 8, and 9: The school may offer workshops, family literacy programs and professional development in conjunction with community foundations, professional organizations, and agencies.


13. Please mark the practice that best describes how teachers are assigned to teach kindergarten to grade 2 at your school:
Teachers are rotated through the grade levels and are expected to be capable of teaching all elementary grade levels.
Teachers are assigned their chosen grade level and their preference is the central deciding factor of grade level assignments.
Teachers with specific backgrounds in early childhood education/child development are given priority to teach kindergarten to grade 2.

CHECK your responses for accuracy NOW.
After you press Submit, no changes are possible.