Understanding and Using KIDS Data to Improve Collaboration and Student Outcomes

Do you understand how your district’s KIDS data was collected and how it might be helpful for improving student outcomes? The B-3 Continuity Project and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) hosted an hour-long webinar on Tuesday, November 13 to discuss what the KIDS data is and what it shows about communities.

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recently released the first-ever statewide snapshot of kindergarten readiness in Illinois. The data cap off the first year of the state’s bold effort to collect readiness data for all kindergartners in the state. The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) puts critical information about children’s early development into the hands of policymakers, schools, and communities. The data reinforce the importance of high-quality early learning experiences for all children to get a strong start.

In response to community’s engagement with the release of this data, Illinois Action for Children, the Illinois Birth-to-Third Grade (B-3) Continuity Project and the ISBE KIDS team partnered to provide a webinar series on understanding and using the released KIDS data. The series provided targeted information to both early childhood collaborations and early childhood administrators about what KIDS is, how it was implemented, and how the data can be used in a variety of systems. These materials are for the second part of the webinar series. Materials from the first webinar from the series can be found on the Partner Plan Act website.

The webinar shares information about what KIDS is, how data is gathered, and different ways the data may be used. Ways in which the data may be used in comparison with other assessments from pre-kindergarten and beyond kindergarten were discussed. New crosswalks between common pre-kindergarten and KIDS were released. Participants also learned how the data may be used outside of school districts, within communities to support early learning and improve student outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Build an understanding of KIDS data
• Unpacking the data at a local level
• Using the data to improve your community’s early learning system
• Peoria Heights, IL shared about how they are taking action

Webinar Materials:

• Presentation Handout 
• KIDS Data Release Information
• KIDS EL Instrument Crosswalk – 14 Required Measurements
• KIDS EL Instrument Crosswalk – 5 Readiness Domains

These events are hosted by the B-3 Continuity Project.