School Readiness Task Force
The School Readiness Task Force is chaired by Patricia Hamamoto, DOE Superintendent of Schools and Dee Jay Mailer, CEO of Kamehameha Schools. The Task Force is a diverse group of influential stakeholders who together identify outcomes and recommendations to ensure that all of Hawai`i’s keiki enter school ready to succeed. Details of the plan can be seen in their Report to the 2003 State Legislature
Who is at the table?
Department of Education
Department of Human Services
Department of Health
Good Beginnings Alliance
Governor’s Office
Hawai`i State Senate
Hawai`i State House of Representatives
Head Start Association
Hawai`i Association for the Education of Young Children (HAEYC)
Kamehameha Schools
UH Manoa College of Education
UH Center on the Family
UH Education Policy Center
School Readiness Recommendations
The School Readiness Task Force recommends the following seven strategies that government and the private sector can support in order to achieve our goal that all children in Hawaii are safe, healthy and ready to succeed in school:
- Establish a community and family school readiness network to provide families, caregivers, and communities with the information and resources to ensure that children are ready to succeed in school;
- Provide voluntary statewide access to quality early childhood education programs
- Assess readiness of children and schools at the system level to determine progress and efficacy of school readiness efforts;
- Ensure that teachers and administrators are qualified in early childhood education;
- Develop Hawaii Preschool Content Standards that link to the K-12 Hawaii Content and Performance Standards;
- Establish a statewide systematic approach to address successful transitions;
- Convene a financing task force to determine financial and other resources needed to fund early education services, and school readiness services for families.
Guiding Principles
The School Readiness Initiative:
- Includes children, families, schools and communities;
- Is collaborative and inclusive.
- Focuses on results, outcomes and performance;
- Addresses the needs of each stakeholder, add value to their work;
- Respects the need for internal accountability of stakeholders;
- Learns from other states.
First Steps
- Publish Hawaii State Preschool Content Standards that link to the DOE Hawai`i Content and Performance Standards;
- Validate an assessment instrument that measures schools’ readiness for children and children’s readiness for school;
- Design and pilot a sustainable, replicable model and materials to support successful transitions;
- Develop family and community guidelines that offer suggestions of how families and communities can support young children’s success in school;
- Raise awareness among families, communities, business leaders, and policy makers about the importance of early education through school readiness events.
“Hawaii’s ability to prepare young children for school clearly depends upon the infrastructure in place to support school readiness. A fully developed system must include components such as a coordinating mechanism, public policy development, ongoing resource development, facilities, data system, and evaluation. ”
- Liz Chun, Executive Director
Good Beginnings Alliance
