Children’s Institute, in partnership with the Rochester City School District Office of Early Childhood, is pleased to announce the publication of the 26th annual report of the Rochester Early Childhood Assessment Partnership (RECAP) - Children's Institute Technical Report T23-001.

Since 1992, RECAP has been a key partner in Rochester, NY’s early care and education system, which ranks among the highest in the United States. RECAP plays a foundational role in promoting positive child outcomes and program quality improvements in our community by documenting and contributing to the achievements of high-performing early care and education systems.

Key findings from the report include: 

1. Classrooms have maintained high levels of quality despite challenges posed by the post-COVID environment. Using the ECERS-3 measurement tool, RCSD pre-K classroom quality scored an average of  5.4 out of 7, which is considered “good”.  
2. The 2022-2023 pre-K class had significant developmental needs. On the New Entrants Screening, more than half of all students were flagged in at least one area (vision, hearing, motor, and language). 
3. There were 40% of pre-K-3 students in fall and 36% in spring who had multiple domains of social-emotional risk (including task orientation, behavior control, peer social skills, and assertive social skills). There were 32% of pre-K-4 students in fall and 29% in spring who had multiple areas of social emotional risk. 
4. There were 46% of pre-K-4 students who were kindergarten ready in spring 2023. This was a 2% improvement from the previous year, but still lower than historic, pre-COVID levels.   
5. Attendance was a critical problem in 2022-23: Most children (54% of 3-year-olds and 51% of 4-year-olds) were considered chronically absent (missing 20% or more school days). 
6. Pre-K students and their families have more needs than ever before. In RECAP’s annual Family Survey, caregivers reported needs in the areas of childcare (16%), reliable transportation (15%), and food (11%). Further, 1 out of every 5 students experienced the death of a close family member in the past year. 
7. Results on the pre-K bilingual classrooms are promising! The data showed that English Language Learners in these classrooms had more growth in their English language skills compared to English Language Learners in non-bilingual classrooms.

Children’s Institute Technical Report T23-001: Duprey, E.B., Embt, K.M., Macgowan, A., McFall, J., Strano, L., White, A.M., Peelle, D., Whittington, R., Hooper, R., Van Wagner, G., Murray, L., Cone, G., Avery, K. (2023). 

Rochester Early Childhood Assessment Partnership 2022-2023 twenty-sixth annual report

Facts-at-a-Glance

Statistical Supplementary Materials