CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

3

Overview
In 2008, the Colorado General Assembly passed Senate Bill 08-212, which is also known as Colorado’s
Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K). The law called for an alignment of the preschool through postsecondary
education system to enable Colorado students to graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to be
successful in college and careers. Central to CAP4K was the regular revision of Colorado’s preschool through
high school student learning standards, an aligned state assessment system with a focus on postsecondary and
workforce readiness for Colorado’s students, and expectations for postsecondary and workforce readiness for all
Colorado high school graduates.
Pursuant to section 22-7-1019 (2) C.R.S., the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is required to provide
annual reports related to the provisions of CAP4K, including the results achieved through the implementation of
school readiness, the preschool through elementary and secondary education standards, and postsecondary
workforce readiness.

Kindergarten School Readiness
Background

CAP4K requires the Colorado State Board of Education and
school districts to implement several provisions designed to
support and ensure each child’s readiness for success in
school. CAP4K requires the state board of education to (1)
define school readiness, (2) adopt assessments appropriate
for determining students’ levels of school readiness, and (3)
adopt a system for reporting population-level results.
Colorado school districts are required to ensure all children
in publicly funded kindergarten programs receive an
individual school readiness plan that is informed by a state
board approved school readiness assessment.

Kindergarten School
R e a d i ne s s D e s c r i p t i o n
“School

readiness describes both the
preparedness of a child to engage in
and benefit from learning experiences,
and the ability of a school to meet the
needs of all students enrolled in
publicly funded preschool or
kindergarten. School readiness is
enhanced when schools, families, and
School readiness describes the status and ongoing progress a
community service providers work
child makes within the domains of physical well-being and
collaboratively to ensure that every
motor development, social and emotional development,
child is ready for higher levels of
language and comprehension development, and cognition
learning in academic content.”
and general knowledge. By monitoring each child’s progress
Source: Adopted by the Colorado State Board of Education
in these areas, teachers, parents, schools, and caregivers can
(April 2017).
provide needed support to ensure each child’s success in
school. Information gathered from kindergarten school readiness assessments should be used for supportive

 CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

4

and instructional purposes. According to CAP4K, results from the kindergarten school readiness assessment
cannot be used to deny a student admission or progression to kindergarten or first grade.
The State Board of Education voted to offer districts a menu of school readiness assessments, and the menu
includes four options for Colorado school districts: (1) Teaching Strategies GOLD®, (2) Teaching Strategies GOLD®
Kindergarten Entry Assessment Survey (an abbreviated version of the GOLD assessment), (3) Desired Results
Developmental Profile for Kindergarten, and (4) HighScope Child Observation Record (COR). Colorado school
districts began phasing in kindergarten school readiness assessments in 2013 with full implementation in the
2015-16 school year. The state board of education adopted the reporting system for kindergarten school
readiness in the spring of 2016, enabling CDE to begin collecting data from districts in the 2017-18 school year.
This report provides kindergarten school readiness information from the second year of that data collection, the
2018-19 school year.
Each approved kindergarten school readiness assessment provides information on whether a kindergartner is
meeting age expectations in each of the required school readiness domains at the beginning of the school year:
• physical well-being and motor development;
• social and emotional development;
• language and comprehension development;
• cognition; and
• general knowledge.
For reporting purposes, the general knowledge domain consists of mathematics and literacy, such that six
domains are reported to the state.

Progress in 2018: Second Reporting of Statewide Kindergarten School Readiness
Information
School districts reported school readiness data from the school readiness assessment window, which is the first
60 calendar days of the 2018-19 school year. Data included in this report comes from one of the following
approved assessment tools: Teaching Strategies GOLD®, HighScope Child Observation Record (COR), and the
Desired Results Developmental Profile for Kindergarten 2015 (DRDP-K 2015). Teaching Strategies GOLD® was
used by 88.3 percent of districts throughout the state. DRDP-K 2015 was used by 11.1 percent of districts, and
HighScope COR was used by 0.7 percent of districts (Figure 1). Data for 9,026 students from the eight districts
and 142 charter schools with waivers for use of a State Board approved kindergarten school readiness
assessment have been excluded from this report.

 CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

5

Figure 1. Kindergarten School Readiness Assessments Used in Colorado School Districts
DRDP-K, 11.1%
HighScope COR,
0.7%

Teaching Strategies
GOLD®, 88.3%

The kindergarten school readiness reporting system adopted by the state board of education requires districts
to submit only aggregate kindergarten school readiness information without identifying specific domains of
readiness (i.e., physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, language and
comprehension development, cognition, mathematics and literacy). Instead, districts submit aggregate
information on the number of domains in which students demonstrate readiness. For example, if a student met
kindergarten entry expectations in all domains except cognition, the district would report this information as
meeting 5 of 6 domains. In contrast, if a student was only meeting kindergarten entry expectations in physical
well-being and motor development, the district would report this information as meeting 1 of 6 domains.
Kindergarten School Readiness Findings
The following results were gathered from the 2018 reporting window. As illustrated in Figure 2, over half (58.8
percent) of Colorado’s kindergartners meet 5 or 6 of the school readiness domains.

 CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

6

Figure 2: Percentage of Colorado Kindergartners Meeting School Readiness Domains

Percentage of Students

45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Percentage of Kindergartners
Meeting School Readiness Domains

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

9.7%

6.9%

6.3%

7.8%

10.6%

17.5%

41.3%

N = 45,804

Disaggregation of kindergarten school readiness information by gender, free or reduced-lunch status, and race
and ethnicity can be found in the following figures. School readiness data are not collected based on half-day or
full-day kindergarten status. Also, n-counts for some disaggregated categories vary due to completeness of
information submitted to CDE.
Kindergarten School Readiness By Gender: Readiness data by gender (Figure 3) indicate a higher percentage of
males compared to females meeting four or fewer domains (44.6 percent compared with 37.5 percent), with a
higher percentage of females meeting five or six domains in comparison to males (62.4 percent compared with
55.3 percent).

Percentage of Students

Figure 3: Percentage of Colorado Kindergartners by Gender Meeting School Readiness Domains
50.0%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Female (n=22,347)

7.9%

6.1%

5.6%

7.6%

10.3%

18.1%

44.3%

Male (n=23,457)

11.3%

7.6%

6.9%

7.9%

10.9%

17.0%

38.3%

 CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

7

Kindergarten School Readiness by Free or Reduced Lunch Eligibility: Readiness data by free or reduced lunch
eligibility (Figure 4) indicates that just under half (48.8 percent) of students who do not qualify for free or
reduced price lunches (FRL) meet expectations in all six domains. This is in comparison to students who do
qualify for free or reduced price lunches (FRL), where about the same percentage (48.1 percent) meet
expectations in either five or six domains.
Figure 4: Percentage of Free or Reduced Lunch Eligible Colorado Kindergartners Meeting School Readiness
Domains
60.0%
Percentage of Students

50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

FRL-Not Eligible (n=18,325)

8.0%

5.6%

4.6%

6.8%

9.5%

16.7%

48.8%

FRL-Eligible (n=12,656)

12.7%

8.9%

8.2%

9.4%

12.8%

18.7%

29.4%

FRL-Eligibility Unknown (n=14,763)

9.1%

6.8%

6.7%

7.7%

10.1%

17.5%

42.1%

Note: FRL eligibility data is limited by the capacity of the approved assessment tools to verify FRL status.

Kindergarten School Readiness by Ethnicity and Race: Readiness data by ethnicity (Figure 5) indicates that there
are differences in the number of domains in which students meet age expectations according to ethnicity. As
shown below, just under half (46.1 percent) of students who are not Hispanic met expectations in all six
domains. In comparison, just under half (48.8 percent) of students who are Hispanic met expectations in either
five or six domains.

 CAP4K: 2019 REPORT TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

8

Figure 5: Percentage of Colorado Kindergartners by Ethnicity Meeting School Readiness Domains
50.0%

Percentage of Students

45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Hispanic (n=13,817)

12.3%

9.0%

8.2%

9.6%

12.1%

18.5%

30.3%

Not Hispanic (n=30,569)

8.7%

6.0%

5.4%

7.0%

9.8%

17.0%

46.1%

Ethnicity Unknown (n=1,418)

4.9%

4.7%

7.5%

6.9%

11.7%

20.7%

43.4%

Table 1 illustrates the distribution of readiness data by race.
Table 1: Percentage of Colorado Kindergartners by Race Meeting School Readiness Domains
Total
Category
Student
Domain Readiness Count
Count
0 of 6
1 of 6
2 of 6
3 of 6
4 of 6
5 of 6
American
1,616
10.5%
9.2%
10.0%
10.7%
13.7%
21.1%
Indian/Alaska Native
Asian
1,499
15.1%
9.5%
6.7%
8.5%
10.6%
16.5%
Black
2,498
15.0%
8.7%
6.8%
7.4%
11.8%
20.1%
White
32,290
8.0%
6.0%
5.8%
7.6%
10.4%
17.4%
Native Hawaiian or
168
10.1%
7.7%
6.0%
13.1%
7.7%
19.0%
Other Pacific Islander
Two or More Races
2,694
9.1%
7.3%
5.9%
7.8%
11.1%
18.3%
Race Unknown
1,868
7.2%
6.3%
8.2%
8.2%
9.4%
20.1%

6 of 6
24.9%
33.0%
30.2%
44.8%
36.3%
40.5%
40.6%

Data for ethnicity and race are reported separately due to limitations in the reporting features within approved
school readiness assessments.

The Colorado Academic Standards
Background

CAP4K required the Colorado state board of education to adopt standards that identify the knowledge and skills
a student should acquire as the student progresses from preschool through elementary and secondary
education pursuant to C.R.S. 22-7-1005 (1). In 2009, CDE initiated a year-long process of revising academic