ASHLAND — Data showing three fourths of Kentucky children are unprepared when they enter kindergarten don’t necessarily mean they won’t finish kindergarten ready for first grade, some education experts say.

Rather, teachers will use the data to make sure they are teaching what children most need to learn.

The data, collected when children in more than 100 Kentucky school districts took a test called the Brigance kindergarten screen, show 24 to 28 percent of Kentucky children have the skills they need to enter kindergarten.

From the screening, teachers get a more accurate look at the readiness of incoming pupils so they can plan their curriculum, said Elizabeth McLaren, an associate professor of education at Morehead State University.

“We don’t want people to think the test is a gate to keep kids out. Instead, schools should be ready for children to come in,” she said.

Using the information in the screening, teachers can individualize instruction, said Kim Roberts, an early-childhood specialist for the Ashland Early Childhood Regional Training Center. The center works with teachers in 34 eastern Kentucky districts.

For instance, knowing which children need more work on letter recognition helps teachers decide whether to emphasize that skill. “Knowing where children are and where they need to go with them, teachers can decide which areas to hit hard,” she said.

Ashland is one of the districts that used the screening. All districts will use it next year and in the future. “The screener is a snapshot of where children are on that particular day, and they may or may not perform to the best of their ability,” Roberts said.

Because it was the first time the screening was administered in Kentucky it would be difficult to make any assumptions yet, warned Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross.

One issue is not all children get preschool, she said. Children are eligible for state-funded preschool based on income and disability. About 25,000 3- and 4-year-olds are in state preschools, which means more than half of children entering kindergarten don’t go.

That doesn’t include private preschools and the state doesn’t have figures for that.

Clearly, getting more kids in preschool is the answer, according to McLaren. “Research over decades has shown that high-quality early childhood programs like public preschool and kindergarten do help children be prepared for success in kindergarten,” she said.

By high quality McLaren is referring to programs conducted by certified teachers and following appropriate curricula.

Staff at private child care facilities often don’t have the same level of training, she said.

“The crux is that children’s success in kindergarten is largely based on their prior experiences — be that attending state-funded preschool, Head Start, private child care or staying at home with a parent/relative,” McLaren wrote in an email. “If the child’s prior experiences were stimulating and enriching, the child will most likely be ‘ready’ for kindergarten. If the experience is not enriching, the child may be lacking skills to make him or her as successful in the school setting.”

While high-quality preschool represents the ideal solution, there appears to be no clear answer on how to provide it to all children. Only about 30 or 40 Kentucky districts provide it.

When families are struggling to provide food and shelter, basic needs come first, Roberts said. But there are ways the community can step up.

One might be increasing awareness and expansion of free and low-cost programs like library storytime, she said.

If more people are paying attention to kindergarten readiness, that could lead to more public support for preschool services and more motivation to get children enrolled, according to Gross.

The education anticipates a better readiness percentage once all districts start administering the screening, Gross said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.