Seattle pre-K program is helping more students prepare for kindergarten

When Laura Nicholson observes children pretending to bake a cake in a kitchen set, she sees more than play. She’s watching how their fingers move around measuring tools and nobs, noting a child’s choice to prepare the cake in the oven rather than on the stovetop. 

“That’s all fine motor, that’s cognition, that’s math, it’s science — it’s all those things together,” said Nicholson, who directs Launch, an education nonprofit serving — among other kids — 180 preschoolers across a handful of its Seattle locations.

State data shows that students with foundational skills such as listening to instructions, sharing, gripping a pencil and understanding the concept of numbers before they begin kindergarten are more likely to meet standards on third grade math and reading exams. Meeting those standards is an early indicator of whether students are likely to earn a high school diploma.

With that in mind, Seattle began its taxpayer-funded early learning program, the Seattle Preschool Program, in 2015. Launch participated in the pilot, which offered subsidies to low-income families and served a majority of students of color.

Almost a decade later, new data published by Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction shows that more students of color and students from low-income backgrounds in the city are entering kindergarten ready to learn.

To help capitalize on the momentum in Seattle, SPP and Seattle Public Schools are sharing information about what students learned in preschool with their future teachers to ensure a smooth transition to kindergarten.

Throughout a single school year, each preschooler in the program receives three observational reports on their development in six areas — social-emotional, physical, language, cognition, literacy and math — which will later be monitored in kindergarten. 

The evaluation, conducted in the fall, winter and spring, measures whether students can write all the letters of their name, even if some are out of order; count a handful of items and understand how many they have; and control their emotions. It gives teachers and families a view of students’ growth throughout the school year and a snapshot of where they stand before transitioning into kindergarten. 

This past fall, Seattle Public Schools added SPP participants’ spring reports to its student records portal, said Whitney Smith, the district’s interim director of early learning. This makes the information accessible to principals, kindergarten teachers and others involved in student planning. Smith said the effort was challenging, partly because of the complexity of data-sharing agreements. But the hope is to eventually include every preschool student assessment in the internal database. 

Researchers at nonprofit Education Northwest recommended the information-sharing agreement as part of a program evaluation commissioned by the city.

“This would help kindergarten teachers understand their incoming students’ knowledge, skills, and needs so they can place the children in the most appropriate class and plan for necessary supports,” they wrote.

In a recent parent-teacher conference for her third grader, Smith said she could review math scores dating back to kindergarten to identify and discuss learning patterns.

“We want teachers to be able to look at a historical framework to understand where this child came from — what happened,” Smith said.

“Ready for all kindergartners”

Upon entering kindergarten, all students in Washington receive a Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills assessment, an observational evaluation by their teachers on the same six areas of development observed by SPP. Those with age-level skills in all six areas are considered ready. While experts say it’s valuable to examine all data to identify ways to support children’s learning, they say parents and teachers shouldn’t see this feedback as a limiting factor. 

The observational WaKIDS assessment is meant to help teachers understand and cater to students’ individual learning needs, “regardless of where they are on that scale,” said Ashley Pierson, a researcher who co-authored Education Northwest’s March 2024 evaluation of the Seattle Preschool Program.

Samantha Bowen, executive director of early learning at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, echoed her.

“We need to be ready for all kindergartners,” she said. The data can help guide classroom placement, lesson planning and student support. But Bowen said kindergarten teachers should also collaborate with families and preschool teachers during the transition process. 

At Launch, teachers try to start building relationships early. They offer quarterly conferences with parents and send home a “child profile” and strategies for supporting learning at home.

Nicholson said teachers can offer insights into a child’s development and adapt lesson plans to help a child struggling with a concept or push a student who is excelling toward new challenges. All of this prepares students for a solid entry into kindergarten. 

Other SPP centers try to help parents and future teachers understand students’ growth and needs by preparing portfolios of their work, said Leilani Dela Cruz, director of early learning for Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning.

Each summer, the department distributes backpacks with learning materials and books to participating preschoolers who are moving into kindergarten, she said. The state also has resources that families can use at home to support learning, from development guides based on age to learning resources. 

Preschool for Seattleites

Seattle kindergartners have consistently entered school more prepared than their peers statewide. 

Across Washington, 53% of students entered school prepared this year, up from 48% in 2016, the first year for which data was representative. Seattle readiness has hovered near 70% in recent years. 

When Seattle voted to fund its preschool program a decade ago, it was lauded as an avenue to close achievement gaps before kids entered K-12. 

The state had recently begun pushing to improve early learning opportunities. That’s because kids who attend high-quality pre-K programs are less likely to repeat a grade, drop out or be referred to special education services, according to research cited by the U.S. Department of Education.

“For early learning, what we’re doing is providing students with the … instruction they need just in time for their brain development,” the vast majority of which occurs before kids enter K-12, said Smith, the school district’s interim director of early learning. “If we miss that window instructionally, that can have long-term impacts.”

A 2014 city-commissioned analysis had found that just a third of the city’s 3- and 4-year-olds, or some 12,000 children, were enrolled in preschool. The SPP, a collaboration between the Seattle Public Schools, DEEL and the University of Washington, aimed to reach students who were missing out. 

“It’s an opportunity to actually do something about the dramatic differences in education outcomes between children of color and Caucasian children, poor children and children who come from wealthier families,” then-Mayor Ed Murray said of the nascent program after the $58 million tax levy was approved.

The pilot program began in 2015 with 269 students in 14 classrooms.

Today, SPP serves over 2,100 students across 98 sites citywide — about two-thirds of whom qualify for free tuition. About a quarter of Seattle Public Schools’ kindergartners are former program participants.

While disparities in kindergarten readiness still exist, the district has seen growth in readiness among almost every student demographic. 

Since 2016, the first year for which data was representative, readiness in all six areas of development that WaKIDS monitors has risen among Black, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander and Asian students, as well as those from low-income backgrounds, students experiencing homelessness or those living with disabilities, state data shows. 

Roughly 58% of Latino students entered kindergarten prepared in all areas this year, compared with 49% in 2016. Thirty-six percent of students with disabilities were considered ready this year, up from 23% in 2016. White students’ outcomes have remained relatively steady.

Student readiness dropped from 74% of Seattle students last academic year to 67% this school year — possibly because this cohort underwent a key development period during the pandemic, according to DEEL.

Still, SPP and DEEL officials say they’re encouraged by the data they see and are committed to improving student outcomes.

Since SPP’s launch, city-funded analyses indicate that the program has kept pace with some of the country’s most established pre-K systems and that participating students and their needs are increasingly diverse. The city has been lauded nationally for funding the program, and in 2018, voters renewed funding through the end of this year.

“Kids are using their math skills and their literacy skills and their social-emotional skills and their gross motor and their fine motor skills just in play,” said Nicholson, of Launch. The goal, she said, is to “keep little hands and brains engaged.”