The plans for junior kindergarten programs at public schools are a hopeful sign that greater attention is being paid to the early education needs of Hawai'i's children. And the greatest hope is that the forward motion won't stop with this incremental first step by the state Department of Education.

Beginning next fall, a pilot program at 37 schools is due to expand statewide aimed at the youngest kindergartners — those who enroll at age 4 but turn 5 by the end of the year. These children will receive a somewhat altered approach aimed at helping them gain skills they'll need to come into step with their older classmates.

That approach will be far from uniform at the state's elementary schools, which in itself is not a bad thing. Individual schools face their own challenges, based on the makeup of the student body and other community needs.

Some campuses seem to have assigned greater priority to the program than others. At some schools, the junior kindergarten is split off into a class separate from the older group, with some of the children bound to enroll for an additional full year in standard kindergarten.

Elsewhere, the children will mingle in a single classroom, with the juniors receiving a tailored curriculum for only part of the year.

What's more important than a uniform approach is a standard for evaluating the children's progress, to ensure their readiness for first grade. That suggests a strong need for accountability and review of how the students fare in their respective schools.

The public schools, struggling under enormous financial constraints and performance demands, are to be commended for contributing at least some measured improvement to Hawai'i's patchwork early education system. Every step moves the Islands closer toward the ultimate goal of having a good preschool educational foundation available to every keiki.