House Bill 695 introducing the Adaptive Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Program
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Education was one of the main points of discussion in Kentucky this election season, and now that the elections are over, legislators are hard at work helping students.
House Bill 695 will establish the Adaptive Kindergarten Readiness Pilot Project, helping young students and their parents get prepared for Kindergarten. Four hundred Kentucky children aged 4 and 5 who have not attended Kindergarten will be eligible to apply.
Forty percent of those spots will be reserved for children in low-income households. If the households do not have access to a laptop or internet, the program will help provide the family with those resources.
State Rep. Kevin Jackson, the bill’s sponsor, says it’s a simple program that can have a big impact on a student’s success.
“It is a computer-based program. If the parents will spend 15 to 20 minutes per day with that child on this program and I’ve seen the program, it’s wonderful. It’s well done. It’s very interesting. It’ll teach reading, math, science, all those kinds of things. But if they’ll spend 15 to 20 minutes on that program per day, then those kids will become Kindergarten-ready in most instances” Jackson said.
The Pilot Program is looking to be active for two years to acquire as much data as they can. For the first year, the Kentucky Department of Education is funding the program for its first year with a leftover budget.
Right now, less than 50% of pre-Kindergarten-aged children are ready for Kindergarten in the state of Kentucky. A startling statistic as legislators look to increase that number.
