Suzanne Perez Tobias of the Wichita Eagle Beacon reports that the Kansas Health Foundation is spending $400,000 to develop an assessment of how ready five-year-olds in the state are to start school.The Kansas Health Institute will develop the assessment. "Until now, we haven't really had a systematic way of understanding how 'school-ready' children are," Robert St. Peter, a pediatrician and president of the Institute, told the paper. "This will give us some look at how we're doing, but even more importantly, the ability to track it over time."

Tobias did what many reporters writing such stories do not: she included some specific details of what it means to be "ready" for school. " 'Ready to learn' means using the bathroom by yourself, sharing a toy, listening to a story, being curious. It means holding a pencil correctly, treating books gently, asking questions and taking turns."

She also, however, reports that researchers contend that at least a third of American children are not ready to learn. And she implies that children's brains are virtually complete by the age of five, meaning that their capacity to keep learning is established and set by that age. I'd like to see journalists temper such statements: all children, regardless of their circumstances, are "ready to learn." They simply can't help it. Humans are learning machines.And they keep learning until they die. At least I hope they do.

She also noted that the results of the asssessment would be ready prior to the 2008 legislative session in the state. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius made investing in pre-k a centerpiece of her re-election campaign but offered only modest programs in her legislative agenda. Tobias reports that even these timid efforts are unlikely to be approved. The results of the assessments will no doubt be used to justify more spending. Journalists need to make sure they don't get caught up in campaigns, no matter how worthy.