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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Legislature's Senate Education Committee on Tuesday endorsed a bill that creates an optional kindergarten enrichment program intended to help struggling students gain the skills they need to perform on grade level by third grade.
HB168, sponsored by Rep. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara, creates a grant program to support kindergarten enrichment programs. The program would be supported by about $200,000 in state funds and more than $2.8 million in federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Family funds.
The optional program would provide additional instruction to some 2,560 kindergartners who perform below peers on kindergarten entry assessments.
Snow said students in Washington School District, some of whom scored 17 on kindergarten entry assessments while their peers scored an average of 80, scored nearly as high — and higher — on exit assessments after receiving additional instruction.
"The results are pretty amazing," Snow said.
Schools that serve a population where at least 10 percent of the students experience generational poverty or half of students are eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch in the previous school year would receive priority in the grant process.
In a committee hearing, Snow said the bill is intended to help children who are at a significant disadvantage in terms of their readiness to learn.
Many children don't how to hold a book, count or their colors, Snow said.
With targeted interventions, many children perform on grade level with their peers as they enter first grade, he said.
The bill is endorsed by the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah PTA, among others. Email: marjorie@deseretnews.com
