Oklahoma School Readiness Reach-by-Risk

The Oklahoma School Readiness Reach-by-Risk project is a three year series intended to provide policy makers and other early childhood education stakeholders with data on school readiness risk factors across multiple domains, and the reach of services provided in each of the state's 77 counties. The three reports (2014, 2015, and 2016) assess identical issues of early childhood development indicators. It is a continued effort to highlight counties whose children are at the greatest risk of starting kindergarten unprepared to learn, and counties that are underrepresented in terms of quality early childhood education and child care services. All three reports are divided into two main sections, Risk and Reach. The Risk section consists of an analysis of nine socioeconomic and demographic indicators found by empirical research to increase a county's risk for poor school preparedness. The Reach section assesses the county-level service density of six early childhood programs and services designed to contribute to the cognitive and social-emotional development of young children. The reports provide data on factors that place children at risk of being unprepared for school compared to the reach of several services and programs that promote school readiness. The ultimate goal is to promote informed policy and funding decisions related to early childhood education. It is published by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Statistics (DHS-ORPS).