Eight years after putting in place a tool that gauges kindergarten readiness, more children in Illinois are showing up to elementary school ready to go, but gaps between different groups of students remain and are pronounced, according to a new report on public education in the state.

“The correlation with kindergarten readiness and later success is real, strong and studied,” said Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois, an education policy and advocacy organization. “So, the work there [is] not done.”

The kindergarten readiness analysis is one of the highlights of a report released Wednesday by Advance Illinois.

In 2017, Illinois implemented the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey, an observation-based tool to provide insight into what skills and knowledge students have and

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