|
|
Transitions
Entering kindergarten is a momentous experience for a young child- even if they have spent time in preschool. Kindergarten classes are usually larger than preschool classes, the classroom is more structured, and the learning expectations are higher. But efforts to make the transition a smooth one are often inconsistent from school to school, and even teacher to teacher.
According to a 1996 survey conducted by the National Center for Early Development and Learning, the most common transition activities -holding an open house, sending a letter home to parents, or sending a brochure home-were conducted after the school year began.
Teachers were far less likely to call the student before the beginning of the year, or visit the family’s home or their preschool class.
But experts recommend these kinds of advance activities in order to build a bridge between preschool or home and formal schooling.
|
Kristie Kauerz
Program Director, Early Learning
Education Commission of the States
(303) 299-3662
kkauerz@ecs.org
Works to bring early-childhood education into discussions about school reform and is a good resource on trends in preschool and kindergarten.
|
|
Martha Cox
Professor, Director of the Center for Developmental Science
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
(919) 966-3509
martha_cox@unc.edu
Early-childhood researcher who has studiedtransition into kindergarten.
|
|
Robert C. Pianta
Professor
University of Virginia
(434) 243-5483
rcp4p@Virginia.EDU
Early education researcher who is part of the ongoing federalStudy of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Has also focused research on transition into kindergarten.
|
|
Early Ed Watch Blog
The Early Ed Watch Blog provides up-to-the-minute analysis, reporting, and commentary focused on policies that affect children's access to high-quality, aligned PK-3 educational programs for our children from ages 3 through 8.
|
|
National Institute for Early Education Research
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, N.J.
(732) 932-4350
Think tank that collects information andresearch on early-childhood education, making it available to policymakers, journalists, and educators.
|
Kindergarten Readiness Data: Improving Children's Success in School
Essential to successful kindergarten transition is the collecting and sharing of meaningful school readiness data, so teachers have the ability to gauge entering students’ strengths and areas for growth. School readiness data also provide families, schools and communities information to determine how best to help young students succeed. Children Now, June, 2009
|
|
Implementing Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion
This policy brief makes recommendations for solving the issue ofexpulsion from pre-kindergarten. It is a follow-up to the 2005 study "Prekindergartners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Programs" which reports on expulsion rates by program setting, gender, race/ethnicity, and state and shows that expulsion rates are alarmingly high.
Foundation for Child Development - Walter S. Gilliam, 1/10/2008
|
|
Transition to Kindergarten pdf
Provides research and recommendations on easing children's transition into kindergarten
National Center for Early Development and Learning, 1/1/2002
|
|
Entering Kindergarten: Findings from the Condition of Education 2000 pdf
National Center for Education Statistics, 1/1/2001
|
|
The Changing Face of Kindergarten
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week signed Senate Bill 1381, also known as the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010. Officials expect the law to reduce the current 460,000 kindergarten students each year by 120,000 children once it is fully phased in. Current law allows 4-year-olds to enter kindergarten as long as they turn 5 years old by Dec. 2. Hailey Persinger, San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 5, 2010
|
|
Bridging the learning gap early in pre-kindergarten in Providence
By Linda Borg, The Providence Journal
Ready to Learn’s program is one of seven classrooms in four cities taking part in the state’s first publicly funded pre-kindergarten program, a two-year experiment to see whether academically rich classrooms will give students, particularly low-income children, an edge in kindergarten and beyond. June 23, 2010
|
|
A fairer start for kindergarteners?
By Julie Anderson, Omaha World-Herald
The question of when children should start school is by no means a new one, nor is it an easy one to resolve. The latest debate comes as some of Nebraska's early childhood educators are raising concerns about the push for academics in kindergarten. Feb. 9, 2010
|
|
Bill would affect kindergarten entry rules
The Journal Star (NE)
A bill in Nebraska would move up the date used to determine whether children are eligible for kindergarten to earlier in the year. Jan. 20, 2010
|
|
Learning to play
By Lynn Matchan, The Boston Globe
Based on the premise that there’s a connection between parent-child verbal interaction and success in school, the Parent-Child Home Program models reading and play activities to parents who might otherwise not have the ability, or the opportunity, to do it on their own. Jan. 9, 2010
|
|
Video: Solid emotional skills play a critical role for academic success
By Ruth Liao, Statesman Journal (OR)
Early-childhood advocates say that how safe and secure young children feel with their parents and primary caregivers leads them to pay closer attention and feel more confident in school. Dec. 21, 2009
|
|
Tracking children's readiness for school proves complicated
By Ruth Liao, The Statesman Journal
Getting children prepared for kindergarten is a mutual goal for both early childhood providers and schools. But it's a yardstick that Oregon and local officials are having a hard time creating. Dec. 20, 2009
|
|
Video: In preparing kids for school, Oregon suffers 'pilot-itis'
By Ruth Liao, The Statesman Journal
A Statesman Journal analysis found that Oregon's Mid-Valley early childhood landscape disjointed in part because of a lack of quality early childhood programs and resources, weak efforts in developing school readiness assessments and a conglomeration of policy makers with no clear leader. Dec. 20, 2009
|
|
The playtime's the thing
By Emma Brown, The Washington Post
To the untrained eye, play appears to be nothing more than a distraction from the real letters-and-numbers work of school. But research shows that it might be an essential part in determining these children's social and emotional makeup as adults. Nov. 21, 2009
|
|
Study: Preschools Could Save Prison Costs
WFSB-TV, Hartford, CT
The study found that kids who didn’t attend preschool were more likely to be sentenced to jail. The study also found that 28 percent of kids who did attend preschool were sent to jail in their lives while 52 percent of those who didn’t attend preschool went to jail. Nov. 5, 2009
|
|
Report: Tenn. pre-K not effective after second grade
By Lucas L. Johnson II, Associated Press
A new report shows the effectiveness of Tennessee’s pre-kindergarten program diminishes after the second grade, but supporters say it still provides a valuable foundation that will help at-risk children succeed. Nov. 2, 2009
|
Study: Preschool education beneficial
By Jeremy Boren
Among "high-risk" low-income children, the rate of children historically enrolled in special education has been 18 percent placement in special-education programs; but among children in the 21 schools districts participating in the Pre-K Counts program and examined by the study, the figure was only 2 percent.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Oct. 23, 2009
|
Hispanic Immigrants' Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds
By James C. McKinley Jr.
The children of Hispanic immigrants tend to be born healthy and start life on an intellectual par with other American children, but by the age of 2 they begin to lag in linguistic and cognitive skills, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, shows.
The New York Times, Oct. 21, 2009
|
New kindergartners: Many kids not ready to learn
By Jennifer Smith Richards
Children in this pre-kindergarten class at Trevitt Elementary will have a leg up on most of their peers next fall. Across the Columbus, Ohio school district, tests given each fall show that more than three of every four kindergarten students aren't ready to learn.
The Columbus Dispatch Oct. 25, 2009
|
Governor Signs Education Data Bill, Ensuring Access to Federal Funds
The bill will also provide clarity about system linkages between K-12 and pre-K, and between K-12 and higher education, to ensure the state?s longitudinal data system is P-20 comprehensive.
The California Chronicle Oct. 13, 2009
|
It's never too young to learn, advocates say
By Diane D'Amico
As research continues to show how rapidly the brain develops, the definition of early childhood learning is expanding to include newborns and toddlers.
The Press of Atlantic City, Sept. 27, 2009
|
Can the Right Kinds of Play Teach Self-Control?
By Paul Tough
Over the last few years, a new buzz phrase has emerged among scholars and scientists who study early-childhood development, a phrase that sounds more as if it belongs in the boardroom than the classroom: executive function.
The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2009
|
Youngsters who skip preschool because of economy may not be ready for kindergarten
By Colleen Wixon
Preschools and day care centers are seeing a decline in enrollment. Many day cares and preschools along the Treasure Coast are closing because of that declining enrollment.
Vero Beach Press Journal, Sept. 12, 2009
|
Pre-kindergarten programs focusing on literacy
By Diette Courrege
Charleston County students' reading problems begin at a young age. Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley thinks many of these students' troubles begin before they enter school. When children grow up in an environment that doesn't support their language development, they aren't going to be ready for kindergarten, she said.
The Post and Courier Sept. 6, 2009
|
Therapy in Preschools: Can it Have Lasting Benefits?
By Sue Shellenbarger
A growing body of research shows that the programs are benefiting entire classrooms of children by reducing behavior problems and supporting overburdened teachers.
The Wall Street Journal Sept. 8, 2009
|
More late-birthday kids waiting a year for kindergarten
By Jodi Heckel
About 9 percent of children in the first and second grades in the mid-1990s had been held out of kindergarten for an additional year by their parents, according to a 2007 survey by the National Center for Edcuational Statistics.
The News-Gazette (IL) Aug. 9, 2009
|
Teachers: Kindergarteners Are Unprepared for School
By Lori Higgins
Teachers across Michigan were largely united in their concerns that too many students are showing up unprepared for school, according to the results of a survey released today by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
The Detroit Free Press Aug. 11, 2009
|
|
