Since 2001, the S.C. Readiness Assessment has been administered by kindergarten and first grade classroom teachers to assess students' skills necessary for success in learning and, thereby, readiness to progress to first and second grades. This assessment is an unobtrusive measure that relies on teacher observation and documentation of personal and social development, math and English/language arts knowledge, and skills tied to the state academic standards.

Table 3 demonstrates that Spartanburg kindergarteners score consistently higher than their counterparts in other counties and higher than their S.C. counterparts on average in all but four categories for readiness. Because Spartanburg County has the lowest percentage of children over-age for grade 3 (12.6%), readiness data reflected in Table 4 are consistent with research findings that kindergartener readiness is a predictor of academic success in the early grades.