HI SB737

Board of Education must collaborate with University of Hawaii to develop a kindergarten entry assessment in Hawaiian language for Ka Papa Kaiapuni (Hawaiian language medium education program) students, to be administered by the Department of Education beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

Hawaiian language assessment must be administered within the first thirty days of kindergarten entry, conducted in Hawaiian, and cover school readiness domains including language and literacy development, cognition, approaches to learning, physical well-being, social-emotional development, and Hawaiian culture and community.

Assessment information shall be used to close the school readiness gap at kindergarten entry, inform early elementary instruction, and inform parents of their children's status and education decisions.

Department of Education shall share assessment information with the Department of Human Services Executive Office on Early Learning and state public charter school commission to the extent permitted by administrative rule or law.

Amends existing kindergarten entry assessment law to clarify that Hawaiian language medium education program students receive their own standardized assessment rather than the English-language statewide assessment.