About the Ready by Five Evaluation
The Ready by Five Early Childhood Millage is serving thousands of young children in communities where early investment can have the greatest impact. That is a key takeaway from an independent evaluation conducted by Basis Policy Research and consulting partner Advancing Communities for Equity (ACE).
The independent evaluation, which began in 2021, assesses the implementation of programs funded by Ready by Five and their impact on children and families across the lifecycle of the millage.
The Ready by Five evaluation addresses the following questions:
- To what extent did Ready by Five providers implement services with fidelity?
- What types of Ready by Five services are related to improved health and academic outcomes?
- What is the impact of Ready by Five services on participants’ health and academic outcomes?
- How do the benefits of Ready by Five services compare to the financial investment of the Ready by Five Millage?
2024 Evaluation
Key findings for the evaluation of the 2024 program year: (1)
Ready by Five-funded programs served approximately 15,000 total individuals (90% young children, 10% expectant parents). (2)
Thousands of additional families received information about early childhood and community resources.
Young children and parents from every zip code in Kent County participated in Ready by Five-funded programs.
The number served continues to increase each year since implementation began in 2021.
A significant majority of those served live in Kent County zip codes in which there is the most opportunity to improve school readiness with high-quality early childhood programming. (3)
(1) Ready by Five moved from a calendar year to the Kent County fiscal year (October 2023 – September 2024). Because of the one-time shift, much of the program data includes nine months, rather than a full 12.
(2) The totals served are not unique individuals collectively; they are unique to each provider. A child or expectant parent who is participating in services provided by two different organizations is counted twice.
(3) Basis researchers created an “early childhood opportunity spectrum” for Kent County based on community-level measures associated with kindergarten readiness and categorized zip codes as “most,” “significant,” “moderate,” and “modest” opportunity.
All Kids Healthy, Thriving, and Ready
Readiness for kindergarten is a multifaceted concept that encompasses various domains of child development: physical, sensory motor, social and emotional, language, and cognitive development. These domains ensure children are prepared in every way for the structured environment of a classroom.
Readiness for kindergarten can’t be assessed by a single test or any one measure, but we do know what contributes to a “ready child.”
- Being born healthy, with continued preventive care for physical and behavioral health
- Being developmentally on track, with early identification of delays and disabilities and early treatment, if needed
- Being ready to learn, with early education experiences–at home and/or in another setting–that nurture all facets of development
Ready by Five and other early childhood investments direct funding to programs that impact health, development, and readiness to learn.
