The Galileo School Readiness Scale

Research shows that the social, physical, and cognitive environments that a child is exposed to in the first years of life have a lasting impact on how a child develops. The capabilities that children acquire during their formative preschool years have a profound effect on their successful transition to school as well as maintaining success while attending school. One of the fundamental goals of Assessment Technology Incorporated (ATI) is to assist programs in meeting the school readiness needs of children. To help programs target these valued educational goals, ATI has created the Galileo School Readiness Scale.  

What is the Galileo School Readiness Scale?
The Galileo School Readiness Scale is a new developmental scale that consists of capabilities from the essential areas of learning and development reflected in the Galileo G3 Assessment Scales. The capabilities on this new scale reflect valued school readiness goals, which programs may use to benchmark the progress their children are making in getting ready for successful entry into kindergarten.

How were the goals on the Galileo School Readiness Scale selected?
In choosing which capabilities to include on the Galileo School Readiness Scale, ATI analyzed the specific goals in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework, various state early learning standards, and Common Core Kindergarten Standards. Those capabilities that were common among the Framework and standards were identified as the agreed-upon essential performance objectives for preschool-age children transitioning into kindergarten.

Once these standards were identified and analyzed, the developmentally sequenced capabilities that a child must learn to achieve these valued goals were determined and then included in the Galileo School Readiness Scale.

How do teachers use the Galileo School Readiness Scale?
The Galileo School Readiness Scale should be used in conjunction with the Galileo G3 Assessment Scales. Since the Galileo School Readiness Scale is made up of selected Galileo G3 Assessment Scale capabilities, a teacher may continue to assess their children on the Galileo G3 Assessment Scales. Once a program has access to the Galileo School Readiness Scale, the G3 capabilities a child has already learned will automatically be documented as learned on the Galileo School Readiness Scale. In the future, as a teacher documents a child’s learning on the Galileo G3 Assessment Scales, the like-capabilities on the Galileo School Readiness Scale will also be updated as learned, meaning no additional work for the teacher.

How do administrators use the Galileo School Readiness Scale?
Administrators may aggregate and analyze Galileo school readiness assessment data at multiple points in a year. Periodic data analysis will determine what progress children are making toward meeting these established goals. Reports such as the Progress Report will illustrate the increase in children’s developmental score from one observation period to next, indicating that there has been a gain in ability. The Developmental Profile, when aggregated, will spotlight the particular school readiness capabilities that children have been attaining, and which might need additional attention.  Administrators may use the Galileo school readiness assessment data to inform continuous program improvements related to curriculum, teaching, instructional strategies, and the professional development of staff. Furthermore, data from this scale provides programs the opportunity to share with parents and the local community children’s readiness for kindergarten.

Interested in learning more?
Contact your Galileo Field Services Coordinator at 1.877.358.7611 if you would like to learn more.


Kerridan Smith, B.A.
Professional Development Director