• Introduction
• National Data on Entrance and Placement Testing Prior to Kindergarten
• Findings
• Summary
• References

Many schools across the nation administer entrance and placement tests to young children as they enter or are about to enter kindergarten, and schools use the information for several different purposes. They use test information, along with the child’s age, to decide whether a child is ready to begin kindergarten. The information from tests may also be used to support a decision on whether to admit a child who is old enough, or who is too young, according to the age cut-off set by the state, school district, or school. Test information is also used to help structure instruction to meet the needs of individual children or groups of children and to identify children who may need additional evaluation and testing.

A survey of state education departments was conducted between October 1999 and January 2000 to collect information on state policies and practices pertaining to the assessment of kindergarten children (Saluja, Scott-Little, and Clifford 2000). According to the findings from this survey, 18 states reported that they had statewide screening or assessment of children beginning kindergarten; 26 states responded that though there was no statewide assessment effort, some local districts were assessing children before or as they entered kindergarten; 16 states said they were working toward a statewide assessment program; and 6 states responded that there was no assessment effort at either the state or local level. The most often cited use of the information from these tests was to improve instruction by providing teachers with information about their incoming kindergarten class (12 states). The data were also used for school improvement purposes by helping to identify high-need schools (7 states) and to identify children with special needs (6 states).

Because many states give local school officials the authority to make decisions about whether or not to assess kindergarten children, how to assess these children, and how to use the information from these assessments, it is important to know more about these practices at the school level. This report uses data from the base-year (kindergarten) collection of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education. The report describes the use of entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten by schools in the United States that offer kindergarten classes. It examines the use of assessment tests by public and private schools, by schools with different concentrations of low-income children,¹ by schools with different levels of instruction (grade levels taught in the school), and by schools with different numbers of children enrolled.

The ECLS-K is following a nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten through fifth grade, collecting information from children, their families, teachers, and schools. The ECLS-K includes data from a nationally representative sample of schools offering kindergarten. The “School Administrator Questionnaire” component of the ECLS-K collects information from the principal/headmaster of these schools on a wide range of topics, including school and student body characteristics, school facilities and resources, community characteristics and school safety, school policies and practices, school-family-community connections, school programs for special populations, staffing and teacher characteristics, school governance and climate, and principal characteristics. This report uses the information principals provided about their schools’ use of entrance or placement tests for kindergarten-age children in 1998–99.

This report examines schools’ use of entrance or placement tests by school type, school level, school size, and school poverty.² School type refers to whether the school is a public or a private school (both religious and nonreligious). School level is the instructional level within the school or the grade range taught (i.e., ends with kindergarten; primary, in which the highest grade is first, second, or third; elementary, highest grade is fourth, fifth, or sixth; and combined, in which the highest grade is seventh through twelfth). School size refers to the number of students enrolled or school enrollment (i.e., less than 150, 150–299, 300–499, 500–749, and 750 and above). In terms of school poverty, low-income schools are identified by the presence of a schoolwide Title I program. In 1998–99, in order to have a schoolwide Title I program, at least 50 percent of the student body had to be from families in poverty. Since this is highly unlikely for private schools, the comparisons by school poverty are limited to public schools.

The ECLS-K data show that 61 percent of schools administer entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten (figure 1). Schools are more likely to use information from such tests to evaluate the needs of children and to help guide instruction than to make decisions about whether children should be allowed to enter school or not. These findings are described below in greater detail.

A higher percentage of public schools (69 percent) than private schools (47 percent) administer entrance or placement tests to children prior to kindergarten (figure 2). Combined (71 percent), elementary (65 percent), and primary (68 percent) schools are more likely than schools that end with kindergarten (21 percent) to administer entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten (table 1). Schools with larger student enrollments (more than 300 students) are more likely to administer entrance or placement tests (69 to 72 percent) than schools with enrollments of less than 150 students (44 percent). Among public schools, no differences were detected in the use of entrance or placement testing by school poverty.

Schools use tests prior to kindergarten to inform admission decisions (Rafoth 1997). For example, if a child is age-ineligible for kindergarten (i.e., younger than the district’s kindergarten cut-off age) but the parent wishes the child to attend, a test may be administered to inform the decision regarding whether to admit the child.

Thirteen percent of all schools with kindergarten programs use entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten to inform entry decisions when a child is below the cut-off age (figure 1). No significant differences were detected in the use of tests for this purpose by school type or level of instruction (table 1). Also, no clear pattern of difference was detected by school size. Among public schools, no differences were detected by school poverty in schools’ use of testing to determine eligibility when a child is below the cut-off age.

Testing to determine children’s class placement can have two meanings. It can mean that children are assessed prior to entering kindergarten and assigned to homogeneous ability groups in a classroom. Or, it can mean that children are identified early as having special needs and assigned to classrooms that are equipped to serve these children’s needs. The latter interpretation may fall more accurately under the use of testing to identify children who need further evaluation or individualized instruction and is discussed later in this report.

School administrators across the country reported that 19 percent of schools administer placement tests to determine children’s class placements (figure 1). While no differences were detected in this use of tests by school type or school size, differences were detected by the school’s level of instruction (table 1). Combined (23 percent) and elementary (19 percent) schools are more likely to administer entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten to determine children’s class placement compared to schools ending with kindergarten (6 percent). This finding is not entirely unexpected, for schools ending with kindergarten (i.e., preschools terminating with kindergarten) tend to be smaller and may not contain as many kindergarten classrooms; therefore, testing for this purpose may be a nonissue. Public schools with a high percentage of low-income children are more likely than public schools with fewer low-income children to use tests to determine children’s class placements.

Schools may use placement test information to identify children who need additional evaluation for possible receipt of special services. In fact, the initial purpose of using entrance and placement tests was to identify children with special needs. Developmental assessments are used to help ensure that children with disabilities receive appropriate services (Shepard 1994).

Overall, 47 percent of schools use tests to identify children who may need additional evaluation (figure 1). Public schools (55 percent) are more likely than private schools (33 percent) to administer entrance or placement tests for this purpose (figure 2). Primary (57 percent), elementary (51 percent), and combined (50 percent) schools are more likely than schools that end with kindergarten (22 percent) to administer entrance or placement tests for this purpose (table 1). Also, a higher percentage of schools with between 300 and 499 students (57 percent) use these types of tests to identify children who may need additional evaluation, compared to schools with less than 150 students (35 percent). Among public schools, low-income schools are more likely than non-low-income schools to use tests to identify children who may need additional evaluation.

Tests can help teachers to understand specific children’s learning needs and can be used by teachers to individualize instruction. About half of all schools (52 percent) use entrance and placement testing for this purpose (figure 1).

Public schools (59 percent) are more likely than private schools (38 percent) to administer entrance and placement tests to help teachers individualize instruction (figure 2). Primary (54 percent), elementary (57 percent), and combined (54 percent) schools are more likely to administer entrance or placement tests to help teachers individualize instruction than schools that end with kindergarten (24 percent) (table 1). Small schools (less than 150 students, 37 percent) are less likely to administer entrance or placement tests to help teachers individualize instruction than larger schools (300–499 students, 58 percent; 500–749 students, 60 percent; 750 or more students, 58 percent). Among public schools, no differences were detected by school poverty in the use of testing to help teachers individualize instruction.

Schools may administer tests prior to kindergarten to support a recommendation to delay a child’s entry to kindergarten (May and Kundert 1997). Here, the child meets the age requirement to begin kindergarten, but the child’s parents or school, or both, may have a concern about the child’s readiness for school. About one-quarter of schools (27 percent) use tests to support recommendations that children be held out of kindergarten (figure 1). No differences by school type were detected for this use of testing. Combined schools (38 percent) and elementary schools (26 percent) are more likely than schools ending with kindergarten (10 percent) to administer tests for this purpose (table 1). Schools with enrollments of 300–499 students (33 percent) are more likely than schools with 500–749 students (19 percent) to administer entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten for this purpose. Among public schools, no differences were detected by school property in schools’ use of tests to support a recommendation for delay of entry.

Figure 1. Percent of schools that give a kindergarten entrance or placement test prior to kindergarten and how the test information is used: 1998–99

Figure 2. Percent of schools that give a kindergarten entrance or placement test prior to kindergarten and how the test information is used, by school type: 1998–99

Table 1. Percent of schools that give a kindergarten readiness or placement test prior to kindergarten and how that test information is used, by school characteristics: 1998–99

More than half (61 percent) of our nation’s schools use some form of entrance or placement tests for kindergarten-age children. The administration of such tests and how the information from these tests is used varies by several school characteristics, such as school type, the grade levels taught, and school size. For example, schools that end with kindergarten differ from primary, elementary, and combined schools in their use of such tests (e.g., use of test information to individualize instruction). Schools that end with kindergarten are significantly less likely to use entrance and placement tests in general (21 percent vs. 65 to 71 percent). Therefore, it is not surprising that they also differ in how they use the information from these tests.

Whether or not these patterns of use are different from the past is difficult to judge. The 1999–2000 survey results reported by Saluja, Scott-Little, and Clifford (2000) and results from earlier surveys conducted in the mid-1990s (Shepard, Kagan, and Taylor 1996) and mid-1980s (Gnezda and Bolig 1988) focus on the policies and practices of states (not schools). The ECLS-K provides information about schools’ use of assessments. However, both at the state level and at the school level, the findings seem consistent. Specifically, it seems that test information is more likely to be used to evaluate the needs of children and to help guide instruction than to make decisions about whether children should be allowed to enter school.

¹ In this report, low-income concentration is defined by the presence of a schoolwide Title I program. Schoolwide Title I programs in 1998–99 were intended for schools with poverty levels of 50 percent or more.

² The ECLS-K sample does not support estimates at the state level. For information on state assessment efforts, see Saluja, Scott-Little, and Clifford (2000).