HI SCR107

Department of Education, in collaboration with the Early Learning Council, is requested to report to the Legislature on the public school junior kindergarten program established in 2004.

Report must include aggregate enrollment data on junior kindergarten children since program inception, including school-by-school data where possible, and data on retention and promotion rates to kindergarten or grade one.

Report must address the status of curriculum accommodations, assessment methods for promotion/retention decisions, and preparation of junior kindergarten teachers.

Report must include long-term and longitudinal data on the impact of junior kindergarten participation on subsequent academic progress through grade three, including data from the Hawaii Educational Policy Center.

Interim findings and recommendations with proposed legislation due twenty days before the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions; final report due twenty days before the 2013 legislative session.