It's no secret to teachers that many are too angry or hungry or unfocused to get off to a good start. Now, efforts are under way to measure young children's readiness to learn.
Researchers hope to learn what it is about families and communities that help children thrive.
The measures are being developed, their proponents say, not to label individual children, but to help understand which communities need help and what kind of help they need. The biggest such effort is the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. This is a test of verbal ability. The survey also looks at low birth weight, which it considers an important indicator of child health. It studies children's temperament between birth and the age of 3, based on parents' descriptions of their children's moods.