Children Entering Kindergarten Evaluation

Children's Institute recently completed the Community Report on Children Entering Kindergarten, which highlights over 50 items related to children's health, motor, speech and language, behavioral, and social-emotional status.

The report is the result of community collaboration in Rochester, New York. The Monroe County Health Department, Children's Institute, and Rochester City School District wanted to develop a more efficient, more comprehensive system for parents to communicate important information about chilren to child care and education providers. So in September of 1998, the collaborators introduced an instrument called the Parent Appraisal of Child's Experiences, or PACE, in public and parochial schools in the city of Rochester. The information collected from the parents of 2,052 children produced many findings, including the following:

• 95% of children in Rochester have medical insurance
• 79% of children in Rochester live with either their mother or their ..father
• Most parents feel their child has strong language, school, fine motor,.gross motor, and social skills
• 40% of children were breastfed for one month or more while 60% were never -breastfed
• 62% of parents feel their child1s general health status is excellent

Community Report on Children Entering School in 2003-2004 Rochester, New York