LADD — The Ladd Community School District is one of 64 school districts in Illinois selected for a pilot program to evaluate kindergarten students for school readiness.

On March 4, Illinois Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch announced the school districts selected for the statewide Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) pilot project. The goal of the program is to measure kindergartners’ skills and knowledge levels in order to help inform educators about the learning and development needs of their students, he said.

“Students enter kindergarten with varying ability levels and needs,” Koch said. “KIDS will provide useful, age-appropriate information that will serve as a baseline for measuring students’ development and progress throughout their schooling. Ultimately, we hope KIDS can be another tool to ensure our youngest learners are getting the support and resources necessary to thrive and succeed.”