Columbus parents now have an easy way to find out whether their preschoolers are ready for school.


A citywide initiative that pulls nonprofit agencies, businesses, foundations and the Columbus school district together to screen young children for school readiness has begun. Officials will announce the start of Columbus Kids: Ready, Set, Learn at an event today.

"I don't know of any other place in the country where this is happening," Columbus Superintendent Gene Harris said. "Both short term and long term, this will give those kids a better chance at being successful."

Ready, Set, Learn aims to show parents how to get kids ready for school and to collect data so the district can predict the extent of incoming kids' literacy deficits. The effort targets kids from ages 2 1/2 to 4.

About 50 children from the central city area have been screened so far; officials estimate that about 1,250 kids in that region are likely to attend Columbus schools. Children in other areas of the city will be included in coming years.

The United Way of Central Ohio is running the program, child-care providers and program workers are collecting the information, and the Columbus City Schools Education Foundation and other charitable foundations are paying the $600,000 bill.

Workers already have been visiting the city's opportunity centers, where people can go for job, food or child-care assistance, to screen children on the spot.

"Parents have been very interested right from the start to participate and have their children take a learning checkup," said Cindy Sturni, who oversees the program for the United Way. "The whole idea is to talk with parents, let them know where their children are developmentally."

The screening asks parents whether their children have mastered specific developmental milestones, such as jumping on one foot or holding a crayon well. If kids haven't mastered age-appropriate skills or have difficulties, for example with speech or hearing, workers let parents know and refer them to an agency for help.

Parents understand that they can help their kids develop at home, Harris said.

"But a lot of times they don't know how," she said.

Because the program not only alerts parents but links them to ways to get help, it will make a difference for city children, Sturni said. Ultimately, she said, fewer students should need intervention when they reach kindergarten.