From the ECS State Policy Database P-3 Kindergarten

This database is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Most entries are legislative, although rules/regulations and executive orders that make substantive changes are included. Every effort is made to collect the latest available version of policies; in some instances, recent changes might not be reflected. For expediency purposes minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) and format. Please cite use of the database as: Education Commission of the States (ECS) State Policy Database, retrieved [date]. State Status/Date Level Summary OR Signed into law 08/2013 P-12 Early Learning Screening, Risk Assessment, Prental Care, and Special Education Inclusion H.B. 2013 (Section 1) Requires the Early Learning Council and the Department of Education to assist school districts in implementing a process that assesses children for kindergarten readiness. Requires the assistance include training on goals and implementation of the process, th... More... OR Signed into law 08/2013 P-12 Early Learning Kindergarten Readiness Partnership and Innovation Program H.B. 2013 (Section 3) Establishes the Early Learning Kindergarten Readiness Partnership and Innovation Program to improve the readiness of children for kindergarten and will be administered by the Early Learning Council. Directs the Early Learning Council to provide grants which m... More... CT Signed into law 07/2013 P-12 Reading Assessments for Teachers and State-Wide Reading Plan S.B. 1097 Requires K-3 teachers biennially to take a survey on reading instruction based on reading instruction examination approved by SBE or an alternative yet comparable reading instruction examination that is equivalent to the examination approved by the State Board... More... CT Signed into law 06/2013 P-12 Student Assessments - Readiness, 3-8, 10-11 H.B. 6623 Allows students to take their final mastery examination in grade 11 as an alternative to grade 10 beginning in the 2013-14 school year. Eliminates testing requirements for endowed or incorporated high schools, but permits such schools to base promotion or grad... More... AZ Signed into law 06/2013 P-12 Kindergarten S.B. 1447 Provides that a school district or charter school is not eligible to receive basic state aid for pupils that had not reached five years of age before September 1 of the current school year and who repeats kindergarten in the following school year. Allows scho... More... AZ Signed into law 06/2013 P-12 Kindergarten Instruction Time S.B. 1447 Redefines half-day Kindergarten attendance from 356 hours (up from 346) to 712 (up from 692) instructional hours. http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/1r/laws/0251.pdf... More... NV Signed into law 06/2013 P-12 School Readiness Pilot S.B. 486 Appropriates state funds to create a pilot program for the assessment of school readiness and for the coordination between early childhood education programs through college and workforce readiness. http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Bills/SB/SB486_EN... More... IA Signed into law 06/2013 P-12 Additional Uses for Preschool Aid; Kindergarten Readiness Assmt. H.F. 215 - Division XIV Defines additional uses for preschool aid money. Allows for community-based providers to use the money for professional development, instructional equipment, materials, and other direct costs. Unused preschool money at the end of the year is to be used to buil... More... NE Signed into law 05/2013 P-12 Change in Kindergarten Cut-Off Age L.B. 410 - School Entrance The cutoff date remains five years on or before July 31 of the calendar year in which the school year for which the child is seeking admission begins. However, this bill changes from allowing to requiring admission of children who turn 5 between August 1 and ... More... MN Signed into law 05/2013 P-12 Early Learning Provisions H.F. 630 Defines the minimum annual number of instructional hours for half-day and full-day kindergarten (425 and 850 hours, respectively). Empowers districts to adopt early admissions policy for kindergartners. Describes the process for comprehensive cognitive, social... More... UT Signed into law 04/2013 P-12 Enhanced Kindergarten and Early Intervention Interactive Computer Software Program S.B. 260 - Enhanced Kindergarten and Early Intervention Interactive Computer Software Program Primarily from bill summary: Modifies the distribution of funds for enhanced kindergarten programs to districts and charter schools. Requires the state board to select technology providers for the early intervention interactive computer software program by S... More... ID Signed into law 03/2013 P-12 Allowance for Teachers to Visit Student Parents S.B. 1057 Allows district to utilize a portion of the instructional staff allowance for teachers to visit the parents or guardians of students during the first week of the kindergarten school year. Such visits may take place at school, at the student's home or at anothe... More... CA Vetoed 09/2012 P-12 Teacher Credentialing and Transitional Kindergarten A.B. 1853 From bill summary: Authorizes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to convene a workgroup of specified members to develop program standards for the issuance of a recognition of study in transitional kindergarten (defined as the 1st year of a two-year kinder... More... MI Signed into law 07/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Entrance Ages H.B. 4513 Updates cut-off date for entrance ages into kindergarten. For the 2013-14 school year, a child must be five years of age by November 1. For the 2014-15 school year, the child must be five years of age by October 1. For the 2015-16 school year, the child must ... More... NY Signed into law 07/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Attendance May Be Mandated in NYC A.B. 9861 Authorizes the New York City board of education to require children who turn five by December 1 to attend kindergarten. Provides exceptions. http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=%0D%0A&bn=A09861&term=&Summary=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y... More... HI Signed into law 06/2012 P-12 Early Learning System S.B. 2545 Provides legislative findings. Establishes the executive office on early learning, to be temporarily placed in the office of the governor, and permanently established within the department of education for administrative purposes only, effective July 2015. Est... More... OH Signed into law 06/2012 P-12 Kindergarten, 1st Grade Entrance S.B. 316 - Kindergarten, 1st Grade Entrance Repeals existing requirements providing exceptions to minimum ages for admission to kindergarten or 1st grade. Replaces with provision providing an exception for a child recommended for early admittance in accordance with the district's acceleration policy. Re... More... OH Signed into law 06/2012 P-12 Birth through 3rd Grade Literacy Education S.B. 316 - Birth through 3rd Grade Literacy Education Directs the state board and the early childhood advisory council, in consultation with the governor's office of 21st century education, to develop legislative recommendations regarding the state's policies on literacy education for birth through 3rd grade with... More... DE Signed into law 06/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment H.B. 317 Provides that the Department of Education establish a statewide readiness tool that will review a child's readiness for learning when they enter kindergarten. The tool will be phased in starting in Fall 2012 with statewide implementation no later than Fall 201... More... HI Adopted 06/2012 P-12 Research on the Correlation Between Late-Born Children and Educational Outcomes S.C.R. 80 Requests that the department of education conduct research on the correlation between children who are late-born (born after August 1) and educational outcomes. Resolves the report on the research conducted may include the raw numbers and percentages of dropou... More... IL Adopted 06/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Readiness Survey Implementation, "K" in State Standards 23 IL ADC 1.420; 23 IL ADC 1.APP. D From Illinois Register: This rulemaking resulted from the State Board of Education's application for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant to design and implement ... More... IA Signed into law 05/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Requirement S.F. 2284 - Division XIII This section requires that a student who is enrolled in a district and is age 5 by 9/15 be considered of compulsory attendance age unless the parent files in writing an intent to remove the child from school. http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/linc/84/external/g... More... TN Signed into law 05/2012 P-12 Kindergarten Age H.B. 2566 Sets kindergarten entrance age. Children entering kindergarten shall be five years of age on or before August 31 for the 2013-2014 school year and on or before August 15 for all school years thereafter. http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/107/pub/pc0991.pdf... More... IL Adopted 05/2012 P-12 Early Childhood Block Grant 23 IL ADC 235.20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70; 23 IL ADC 235.APP. A, B, C From Illinois Register: This rulemaking resulted from the state board's application for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to design and implement early learning and development systems that are comprehensive in scope and c... More... CO Signed into law 05/2012 P-12 Early Literacy Assessment Tool H.B. 1345 (sec. 7) Requires the education department to issue request for proposals for the purchase of an early literacy assessment tool that teachers may use to obtain real-time assessments of the reading skill levels of K-3 students, and, based on the results, create interven... More... GA Signed into law 04/2012 P-12 Age for Kindergarten or First Grade Entry for Children Moving from Abroad H.B. 706 - Age for Kindergarten or First Grade Entry for Children Moving from Abroad Clarifies that provisions for child's entry into kindergarten and 1st grade for a child who was a legal resident of one or more states two years immediately prior to moving to Georgia also apply to children residing in one or more countries two years immediate... More... KY Signed into law 04/2012 P-12 School Entrance and Lower Compusory School Ages S.B. 24 Amends school entrance ages and compulsory school ages. Effective with the 2017-18 school year, kindergarten entrance age is 5 by August 1 and lower compulsory school age is 6 by August 1 (previous date for both was October 1). Directs local boards to adopt po... More... UT Signed into law 03/2012 P-12 Enhanced Kindergarten Program for At-Risk Students H.B. 513 Creates an early intervention program to provide funds for applicant school districts and charter schools to offer an enhanced kindergarten program targeted to at-risk students, focused on building age-appropriate literacy and numeracy skills using an evidence... More... WA Signed into law 03/2012 P-12 Statewide Implementation of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills H.B. 2586 Requires the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills, beginning in the 2012-2013 school year and to the extent funds are available, to be administered at the beginning of the school year to all students enrolled in state-funded full-day kinderga... More... SD Signed into law 03/2012 P-12 Fee for Early Childhood Services H.B. 1195 Permits schools to charge a fee for early childhood services for any child who is under the age of compulsory attendance pursuant to § 13-27-1 and is not enrolled in kindergarten or a more advanced grade. http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2012/Bills/HB1195ENR.... More... OH Issued 10/2011 P-12 Early Education Executive Order 2011-21K Creates the position of Early Education and Development Officer ("Officer") within the Governor's Office of 21st Century Education. Directs the Officer to work through and in conjunction with existing state agencies to (1) Define and measure kindergarten readi... More... CT Signed into law 07/2011 P-12 Closing the Achievement Gap/Early Literacy S.B. 929 Sec. 1 - Establishes a task force to address the academic achievement gaps in Connecticut by considering effective approaches to closing the achievement gaps in elementary, middle and high schools. Requires the task force to submit a master plan to the General... More... OR Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Kindergarten S.B. 248 Statutes regarding the provision of half-day and supplemental kindergarten are scheduled to sunset with the 2011-2012 school year. S.B. 248 extends the applicability of law that requires school districts to offer half-day kindergarten and allows school distric... More... LA Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 School Readiness Assessments H.B. 100 Amends and reenacts existing statute relative to school readiness assessment. Provides relative to school readiness tests, inlcuding the selection, type, and content. Addresses the reporting of the results and implementation. http://www.legis.state.la.us/billd... More... FL Signed into law 06/2011 P-12 Voluntary Prekindergarten Program H.B. 1255 - Sec. 12 Revises requirements for a good cause exemption for a Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program provider who fails to meet minimum student readiness rates for kindergarten. Eliminates the cap on the percentage of VPK providers who may fail to meet student readin... More... OK Signed into law 05/2011 P-12 Delays Requirement that Districts Offer Full-Day Kindergarten S.B. 260 The measure delays the requirement for the requirement for districts to provide full-day, free kindergarten until the 2013-14 school year. http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf/2011-12%20ENR/SB/SB260%20ENR.DOC... More... ND Signed into law 05/2011 P-12 Kindergarten S.B. 2150 - Multiple Provisions Requires each board to provide at least a half-day kindergarten program for any student enrolled in the district or pay the tuition required for the student to attend a kindergarten program in another school district. Requires a kindergarten instructional cale... More... AZ Signed into law 04/2011 P-12 Kindergarten S.B. 1256--Kindergarten Finance Arizona Revised Statute 15-821 is clarified. If a child who has not reached the age of five before September 1 of the current school year is admitted to kindergarten but withdraws and re-enroll the following year allows state age to be apportioned between the ... More... OH Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 All-Day Kindergarten H.B. 30 - All-Day Kindergarten Repeals provision requiring districts to provide all-day kindergarten to all students beginning in fiscal year 2011. Permits a district that did not receive for fiscal year 2009 poverty-based assistance for all-day kindergarten to charge tuition or fees for st... More... ND Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 Readiness Testing and Formative Assessments H.B. 1273 Allows districts to conduct readiness testing and formative assessments of incoming kindergarten students (within the regular school calendar or before the regular school calendar). Requires districts to provide to the parents of each incoming kindergarten stu... More... ND Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 Kindergarten Entrance H.B. 1436 Allows exceptions to the kindergarten enrollment cut-off date (age 5 by August 1) unless the child will be 5 by Dec. 1 and can demonstrate, by means of developmental and readiness screening instruments approved by the superintendent of public instruction and a... More... MS Signed into law 03/2011 P-12 Study of Earlier Kindergarten Entrance H.B. 619 Directs the department of education to conduct a survey of public school districts to determine the feasibility of enrolling children in public school kindergarten who attain five years of age on July 1, as opposed to September 1. Requires that a report of the... More... CA Signed into law 09/2010 P-12 Kindergarten Entrance Age S.B. 1381 Changes the required birthday for admission to kindergarten and first grade to November 1 for the 2012–13 school year, October 1 for the 2013–14 school year, and September 1 for the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter. Requires a child whose ad... More... HI Signed into law 06/2010 P-12 Kindergarten Entrance Age and Junior Kindergarten Program S.B. 2068 Amends kindergarten entrance age; provides that beginning with the 2013-14 school year, a child who is at least 5 on the first day of kindergarten may attend a public school kindergarten. Directs the department of education and the early learning council to jo... More... NE Signed into law 03/2010 P-12 Kindergarten Entrance L.B. 1006 Children are eligible for kindergarten if they are 5 years old by July 31, beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Previously, the cutoff date was Oct. 15. The bill includes an exception for children who turn 5 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15 if they perform adequa... More... GA Adopted 12/2008 P-12 State Assessments GAC 160-3-1-.07 Eliminates reference to Georgia Kindergarten Assessment Program - Revised (GKAP-R). Provides all kindergarten students must be assessed using the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS). Eliminates provisions that all students at grades 3, ... More... NH Signed into law 07/2008 P-12 Kindergarten Construction Aid Program S.B. 530 Extends the kindergarten construction aid program until all school districts operate a kindergarten program; allows a school district to elect a construction grant to be applied to the costs of a kindergarten facility; provides classroom transition grants to e... More... GA Adopted 09/2007 P-12 Student Assessment Programs GAC 160-3-1-.07 Adds language regarding the Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs), an English language proficiency test administered annually to all English language learners (ELLs) to determine stu... More... HI Vetoed 07/2007 P-12 Prekindergarten and Kindergarten S.B. 613 Directs the department to encourage inclusionary prekindergarten and kindergarten classes of both special education eligible and general education students, including consideration of the following options: (1) Special education eligible preschool children ma... More... HI Signed into law 07/2004 P-12 Two-tier Kindergarten Program and Kindergarten Entrance Age S.B. 17 Establishes a junior kindergarten and kindergarten program in the department of education; establishes a pilot program for the 2005-2006 school year; requires the establishment of the program in all public elementary schools beginning with the 2006-2007 school... More... CA Signed into law 08/2003 P-12 Postsec. Community College Education Finance A.B. 1754 Relates to reimburse rates under the Child Care and Development Services Act, revenue limits for school districts and county superintendents of schools for 2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal years, school district's school building maintenance account, school district... More... AR Signed into law 04/2003 P-12 Quality Education Act of 2003 - Accountability and Assessment H.B. 2697 (Omnibus Bill) Amends §§ 6-15-402 - 6-15-406. Creates the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program Act; including requiring the State Board of Education to establish standards defining what students should know in content areas and a system for ... More... AR Signed into law 04/2001 P-12 Children Entering Kindergarten H.B. 2195 Requires the Department of Education to develop and conduct readiness testing for children who are entering kindergarten.... More... NH Signed into law 06/2000 P-12 Alternative Kindergarten Programs H.B. 1188 Relates to the establishment of an alternative kindergarten program within a school district; provides that school districts operating an approved alternative kindergarten program shall be eligible to receive adequate education grant distributions; provides fo... More...