Charles Weis, Ph.D., is Ventura County superintendent of schools. 

The achievement gap is a vexing and serious challenge that has been worked on for years in the education system. While we have made many promising strides in addressing these disparities, the achievement gap is still pronounced — and has expensive and serious consequences for our county, state and nation.

The California Preschool Study recently released by the RAND Corp. shows that the achievement gap starts before children ever arrive at the kindergarten door. This report reflects growing recognition that the vast differences in achievement actually start with a readiness gap that is evident in the earliest days of kindergarten.

As reported by RAND, a recent study of 17 school districts in California found that 61 percent of young children enrolled in an early reading program were not proficient in basic skills like rhyming words, letter recognition and consonant and vowel sounds. Another study of California children in 61 California school districts showed that 46 percent of children lacked important social skills like paying attention, eagerness to learn, persistence in finishing tasks, forming and maintaining friendships and showing sensitivity to others.

The consequences of this readiness gap are sobering. Statewide, almost two-thirds of third-graders do not meet state standards in English-language arts and more than 40 percent did not meet standards in math. Some groups of students are falling short by even larger margins: English learners, students whose parents did not graduate from high school, African-Americans, Latinos and economically disadvantaged children.

The good news is that a reform with tremendous promise and a proven track record has shown us how to significantly close the readiness — and achievement — gaps. High-quality early-childhood programs have been shown to improve children's readiness for school. A prekindergarten program available to Oklahoma's children showed significant gains for all children, with Latinos showing the most pronounced progress. Participants were months ahead in spelling, early math and letter- identification skills compared with kids who had not attended preschool.

Ventura County has been at the forefront of creating expanded access to voluntary prekindergarten programs. In partnership with First 5 Ventura County, the county Office of Education, local school districts, Head Start, state preschool and private providers, we have created approximately 1,400 new high-quality preschool spaces to ensure our children have a better opportunity to succeed. Our pilot in the Hueneme district to provide high-quality preschool for 70 percent of all incoming kindergartners is one of nine demonstration sites statewide.

The partnerships that have yielded this success reconvened at the end of October to plan next steps. Forty community leaders from throughout the county signed on to form the "Ventura County Pre-K Coalition." The team is planning to continue to aggressively seek funding for extending this opportunity to more young children.

As the county superintendent, I fully support this goal and am eager to work with our existing partners — and any others in the community who are interested in this idea — to extend the hope and opportunity that high-quality preschool programs offer. The research reinforces what teachers in our schools see every day: Far too many children who start behind stay behind.

Together, we can change this picture and ensure our children have every opportunity to reach their fullest potential.

As the number of high-quality prekindergarten program spaces increases in Ventura County, I anticipate continued closing of the achievement gap.