HI SB737

Board of Education, in collaboration with University of Hawaii, must develop and adopt a Hawaiian language kindergarten entry assessment to be administered beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

Assessment must be conducted in Hawaiian and administered within the first thirty days of each child's admission into the Ka Papa Kaiapuni (Hawaiian language medium education) program.

Assessment must cover essential domains including language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical well-being and motor development, social and emotional development, and Hawaiian culture and community.

Assessment information shall be used to close school readiness gaps, inform instruction in early elementary grades, and inform parents of their children's status and education decisions.

Department of Education shall share assessment information with Department of Human Services, Executive Office on Early Learning, and state public charter school commission to the extent not prohibited by administrative rule or law.