Missouri kindergarten: Kindergarten & First Grade Entry

Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) is a one-time assessment designed to measure a child’s skills and behaviors within the first few weeks of entering kindergarten. Using KEA data can help inform teachers and leaders of the number of children who are ready for school overall, as well as support instruction by meeting students where they are when they enter kindergarten.

KEAs should –

• Be reliable and valid;
• Be administered within the first few months of kindergarten;
• Administered by Kindergarten teacher;
• Align with state’s early learning and development standards;
• Use results to support instruction and inform families; and
• Cover the five Essential Domains of School Readiness.(Language and Literacy Development, Cognition and General Knowledge, Social and Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, and Physical Well-Being and Motor Development)

Purpose – 

• To inform instruction;
• To inform families about their child’s skills and behaviors; and
• To inform policy at the district and school levels.

Recommended Kindergarten Entry Assessment Tools

Kindergarten Observation Form (KOF) Pilot and Training

2023 KOF Training Information – Coming Soon! 

The Office of Childhood will offer a training for the 2023-2024 school year at no cost to local education agencies (LEAs). For convenience, the training will be in an online / on-demand format to allow teachers the opportunity to take the training during a time that works best for them. More information on how to sign up for this training will be coming soon!

KOF Pilot Information

• Pilot Information Presentation
• KOF Data Results 2021
• KOF Data Results 2022

School Readiness

Children entering school for the first time bring with them a unique set of skills and behaviors based on personal characteristics and experiences. Thus, school readiness is different for every child. Although school readiness is often viewed from the Ready Child perspective, school readiness is much more complex and is affected by the interplay of multiple factors during the child’s early years.

School Readiness Indicators

Missouri Early Learning Standards (MELS)

Screening versus KEA

A Developmental Screening is a formal process using a tool to see if a child is meeting developmental milestones. It is completed by a healthcare provider, parent educator, or early childhood professional in collaboration with parents/legal guardians. Developmental screenings provide an opportunity for parents to understand their child’s development and learning which can significantly reduce the possibility that the child will have an undetected developmental delay.

A Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) is an assessment tool that serves as an indicator of a child’s skills and behaviors that can set a baseline of school readiness. Teachers and education professionals administer a KEA within the first few weeks of kindergarten. Using this data can help inform teachers and leaders of the number of children who are ready for school overall, as well as support instruction by meeting students where they are when they enter kindergarten.

Check out these resources for more information about the link between developmental screenings and preparing a child for school readiness:

The Link Between Developmental Milestones and Kindergarten Readiness Diagram

Developmental Screening versus KEA Presentation

Developmental Screening versus KEA Presentation Slides 

Screening and KEA Chart

Required Reporting

The LEA is required to report results of the KEA in the DESE MOSIS student data system in the October Cycle.

• Item 329 – Kindergarten Readiness – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has overall age-appropriate skills and behaviors that indicates the child is ready for kindergarten.
• Item 348 – KG Physical Well-being and Motor – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has age-appropriate physical abilities, including gross and fine motor skills.
• Item 349 – KG Social and Emotional – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has age-appropriate behaviors, including the ability to express emotions, build relationships with adults and peers, develop a sense of personal identity, and work cooperatively with others.
• Item 350 – KG Cognition and General Knowledge – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has age-appropriate thinking and problem-solving skills as well as knowledge about particular objects and the way the world works, including mathematical knowledge, abstract thought, and imagination.
• Item 351 – KG Approaches Toward Learning – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has age-appropriate use of skills and knowledge, including curiosity, creativity, confidence, persistence, and initiative.
• Item 352 – KG Language and Literacy – districts report yes, no, or unknown as to whether the child has age-appropriate communication skills such as listening, speaking, and phonological awareness as well as early literacy skills for print awareness, story sense, early writing, and the connection of letters to sounds.

The LEA is required to report the KEA tool used to collect student entry information in the DESE Core Data system in the October Cycle.

• Screen 36 – Kindergarten Readiness

Reporting Changes to Core Data and MOSIS – School Readiness Presentation

Reference Manual 2021-22: Core Data & MOSIS

Kindergarten Requirements for the State of Missouri

While full-day kindergarten isn’t mandatory in Missouri, between 80 and 89 percent of students attend full-day programs. This is in part due to the fact that full-day kindergarten is included in the state funding formula, although some districts do charge parents tuition for the program. Here are the top laws and requirements for students entering kindergarten in the state of Missouri.

Kindergarten Not Mandatory

In the state of Missouri, children are not required by law to attend kindergarten. However, it’s mandatory that districts offer at minimum a half-day program.

Full-Day Kindergarten Not Required

Missouri school districts are not required by state law to offer and fund full-day kindergarten for all eligible students. At minimum, districts must offer kindergarten programs for 3 hours per day, or 574 hours per year. According to an Education Week study published in 2015, between 80 and 89 percent of Missouri’s kindergarten students were enrolled in full-day programs.

Educational Standards: Common Core

Common Core standards were adopted by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in June, 2010, with full implementation in the 2014–2015 school year. They are aligned with the Missouri Learning Standards, which cover such core subjects as social studies, science, and fine arts.

Current Age Requirements

To be eligible to attend kindergarten in Missouri, a student must have turned age 5 before August 1 of that same school year. Compulsory school age in Missouri is set at age 7.

Early Entry Rules

Missouri allows school districts serving metropolitan areas to establish their own minimum age requirement for kindergarten, allowing early entry by district for those children who will be turning 5 at the latest before October 1. In addition, if a child begins kindergarten in a district with early entry rules in place and then moves, he or she can enroll in that new district without meeting the age requirement.

Required Immunizations and Available Exemptions

In order to attend school in Missouri, students must have proof of all required immunizations (or a valid exemption as discussed below). Required immunizations include DTaP, polio, MMR, hepatitis B, and varicella. See the list of required vaccinations here.

Missouri allows for immunization exemptions based on both medical and religious grounds. Religious exemptions can be obtained from the local health department and must be filed with the school administrator. Medical exemptions must be filed the same and be signed by a physician.

Pre-Entrance Testing/Screening Requirements

There are no kindergarten entrance assessment requirements specified in Missouri statute.

Maximum Teacher to Pupil Ratio

In Missouri, maximum classroom size is 1 teacher to 25 students.

Early Learning Standards

Missouri has early learning standards in place that are aligned with K–12 standards. These standards include the core subjects literacy, mathematics, and science, as well as physical development, health, and safety, and social and emotional development.

All of these laws and requirements are reviewed in great detail on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

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My travels. City of Saint Louis, Missouri. Part 4. Missouri Botanical Garden

And one of the most visited places for recreation and unity with nature is the Missouri Botanical Garden.

This botanical garden is one of the oldest in the United States.

It was founded in 1851 as a private garden around the home of American businessman and amateur botanist Henry Shaw.

(In the second part of my story, I already mentioned his name in connection with another park, which he also founded. Then I also touched on the topic of slavery, since Shaw, like many other rich people of that time, was a slave owner.)

In 1859 the garden was opened to the public.

In addition to natural, man-made objects, there is beauty, many man-made objects in this garden.

Here you can see fountains and waterfalls, sculptures and monuments, gazebos and bridges, glass installations, swimming pools, labyrinths, greenhouses, playgrounds, historic mansions and much more.

The dome of one of the largest greenhouses in the world, named as “Climatron”.

The interior of this greenhouse is inspired by the rainforest.

Entering inside, visitors immediately find themselves in the tropics.

Approximately 3,000 plants can be seen here. The mausoleum where Henry Shaw is buried.

Behind the house is a well maintained Victorian style garden.

In general, there are several specific gardens on the territory of the botanical garden: rose garden, rock garden, Chinese, Japanese, biblical, children’s garden, herbal garden, etc.

Of course, in spring and summer, when everything is in bloom – trees, flowers, and shrubs – it should be especially beautiful here.

But another charm of this garden opened up before us – the Babyelette one: when roses and chrysanthemums are still blooming, when the trees are still green in their mass, but now here and there yellow-crimson blotches appear on the foliage, and already you can hear how they rustle , breaking the silence, dry leaves underfoot (it’s funny that in this phrase, due to an overabundance of hissing leaves, this rustle of leaves is literally heard, as if in reality).

It is worth noting that the Missouri Botanical Garden is also known as a major international research and educational botanical center.

No wonder there are several interesting objects dedicated to science on its territory.

In this historic building, built in 1859, Henry Shaw established a science museum and library.

Here, in particular, there are books for scientific research, various natural artifacts, as well as a huge collection – 60,000 plant samples.

And right in front of the building there is an obelisk in honor of the English botanist and naturalist Thomas Nuttall, who lived and worked in the United States for 35 years.

One side of the obelisk is engraved with the inscription: “In Honor of American Science” (“In Honor of American Science”).

Another amazing object is a statue hidden in a mausoleum called “Temple of Victory”.

The statue itself has a very good name: “The Victory of Science over Ignorance” (“The victory of science over ignorance”).

This is an exact copy of the sculpture “Victory” by the Italian master Vincenzo Consani, located in the Pitti Gallery in Florence.

Unfortunately, it was inconvenient to take pictures up close – it was very glare.

On the pedestal, in addition to the name of the sculpture, you can read the following inscription (which, in my opinion, should be cast in gold):

“Ignorance is the curse of God. Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.”

(“Ignorance is the curse of God. Knowledge is the wing with which we fly to heaven.”)

And this sculptural composition is dedicated to a very interesting person – the black nerd George Carver.

He was born in Missouri around 1864 to a family of slaves.

As a baby, he was kidnapped by robbers along with his sister and mother (his father died before he was born) and sold in Kentucky.

However, the first owner, Moses Carver, managed to return George, whom he, after the abolition of slavery, raised as his own son and taught him to read and write. It was there that George learned how to take care of plants.

Over time, Carver became involved in the development of new types of southern crops, such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, etc.

Along with this, he became involved in teaching poor southern farmers how to restore the soil after depletion.

And in 1896, Carver was invited to head the agricultural department of one of the institutes in Alabama, where he taught for 47 years until his death.

Interestingly, in the early twentieth century, when there was a famine in the state of Alabama (due to soil depletion by cotton and the invasion of the weevil), Carver suggested that residents grow peanuts instead of cotton, developing 105 recipes based on it.

George Carver went down in history not only as a botanist, chemist, teacher, but also as one of the most prominent black scientists of the early twentieth century. He was even called “Black Leonardo”.

It is believed that Carver was a clear proof that America is a land of opportunity for all people.

As soon as we left the botanical garden, right in front of us we saw a large crowd of people.

It turned out that some kind of exhibition and sale of local products and goods was launched here.

Horse for sale

to be continued… soil samples from an elementary school playground in Missouri found 22 times more radioactive isotope lead-210 than expected. The Jana Elementary school is located in a suburb of St. Louis, near which nuclear weapons were produced during World War II, Insider writes.

Radioactive waste has been found in the playground of an elementary school in Missouri, located near the site where nuclear weapons were manufactured in the United States during World War II, Insider reports. An elementary school called Jana Elementary school is located near the Missouri tributary Coldwater Creek, which has been polluted with nuclear waste since the 1940s, the article explains.

According to a report that was prepared in October this year by environmental research company Boston Chemical Data Corp. after studying various soil, dust and plant samples collected in August on the grounds of an elementary school in the city of Florissant (a suburb of St. Louis , Missouri), a high level of radioactive contamination was detected both inside the school building and outside.

Samples for testing were taken from fields and playgrounds located around the school, as well as from its interior, including the library, kitchen and classrooms, reports Insider. As a report prepared by experts from the Boston Chemical Data Corp. showed, several types of radioactive contamination were detected at once, which far exceeded expected or acceptable levels.

The report states, in particular, that the radioactive isotope lead-210 is present in the kindergarten’s playground in quantities that are 22 times the expected amount, and also many times higher than the allowable limits set by federal regulations. The most significant discovery was the fact that radioactive particulate matter was found inside the school, which, if swallowed or inhaled, can cause long-term exposure to alpha radiation, which the report describes as “most biologically harmful”, compared to the rest.

This study was carried out after experts from the US Army Corps of Engineers launched an investigation back in 2018 after reports of possible radioactive contamination on school property, the article explains. The results of their study were obtained earlier this year by the non-profit Missouri Environmental Defense Coalition, who requested them under the Freedom of Information Act, Insider writes.

Corps of Engineers experts, who are also tasked with cleaning various sites from the effects of earlier US atomic weapons programs, found in the course of their investigation not as serious contamination as was revealed in the latest report. However, they did not take samples within 300 feet of or within the school for study, the article emphasizes.

“I was heartbroken,” , said Ashley Bernau, head of the Parents and Teachers Association at Jana Elementary school, after seeing the results of the new report. “Although it sounds trite, it just takes your breath away,” emphasized Bernau, whose son also studies at this elementary school.