This report provides an overview of kindergarten readiness of six Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) kindergarten cohorts from the 2016-17 to the 2021-22 school year. This report is accompanied by the Annual Digest of City Schools Kindergarten Statistics, 2022 Edition (Baltimore Education Research Consortium [BERC], 2022), which provides…

Researchers and policy analysts have documented the challenges in collecting pre-K and other early childhood data, and reports on disparities in full-day kindergarten from the Education Commission of the States and the Children's Defense Fund place the disorganized state of kindergarten data on full display. But in both cases, organizations have…

A growing number of children are entering kindergarten without the skills that enable them to be successful in an academic setting. However, it is not children's cognitive skills that concern educators; it is their social and emotional skill deficits that are most troublesome. This article discusses how family and community risk factors can…

Kindergarten has changed radically in the last two decades in ways that few Americans are aware of. Children now spend far more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. The implications of these radical changes in early…

Kindergarten has changed significantly in the last two decades: children now spend more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. Many kindergartens use highly prescriptive curricula geared to new state standards and linked to…

Each year, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their teachers. It includes valuable trend data about…

The promotion of creativity in young children has been included in the agenda of the educational authorities in mainland China since 2001. Since then, attempts to implement this policy have appeared in different forms. The educational bureaux take measures by publishing documents and guidelines on the subject. While some kindergartens endeavour to…

Effective mathematics education for young children (approximately ages 3 to 5) seems to hold great promise for improving later achievement, particularly in low-SES students who are at risk of inferior education from preschool onwards. Yet there is limited understanding of what preschool and kindergarten mathematics education entails and what is…

When it comes to teacher preparation, the support provided to new teachers, and ongoing professional development for working teachers, Grades K-12 and the field of early care and education (ECE) are two very different worlds. While both worlds assume that teachers' classroom skills and behavior can be influenced at multiple points in time (through…

This paper aims to broaden the discussion about effective teacher preparation by exploring three hypotheses designed to expand the early care and education (ECE) research agenda: (1) Both the content and the method of delivery of an educational degree influence teacher practices; (2) Teachers' ability to apply knowledge and skills effectively…

Language and literacy skills are critical to success in school. For low-income preschoolers, increasing early literacy and math skills is vital to closing the achievement gap between them and their more advantaged peers. New research shows that an intentional curriculum and professional development and supports for teachers are important…

Each year, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report, which is unique in its kind nationally, provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their…

State policymakers should ensure learning standards for kindergarten are created and aligned both with early learning standards and standards for 1st grade and beyond. Learning standards for kindergarten should be implemented comprehensively across five key domains: physical and motor development, social/emotional development, approaches toward…

The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) was appointed in 2002 and carried out its work under the auspices of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL). NELP's primary goal was to identify interventions, parenting activities, and instructional practices that promote the development of children's early literacy skills. The National Institute…

The study explored the effects of two kindergarten program organization factors--length of school day and class size--on kindergartners' reading, math and general knowledge achievement at the end of the kindergarten year. Two waves of data were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) with an…