In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a mandatory shift from in-person instruction to online learning for many young children. Teachers needed to adjust to virtual teaching, children were isolated from their peers, and parents played a bigger role in learning during the pandemic. In 2021, the shift back to in-person learning occurred. Research has…

The transition to five-year-old kindergarten is a pivotal time in children's development, setting the tone for the children's and their families' subsequent formal education experiences. Establishing connections between home and school is a key to creating a supportive learning environment for every child. This dissertation examines how home…

Prekindergarten forms an important transition between home and formal learning in kindergarten, and prekindergarten teachers are essential contributors and influencers in their students' readiness into formal schooling. The problem addressed in this study was early childhood educators in one state in the southwestern United States are challenged…

Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) have grown in popularity over the past decade due to the Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge Grant offered by the U.S. Department of Education in 2015. This study addresses kindergarten teachers' perceptions of data from North Carolina's school readiness assessment and their perceptions of what…

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of kindergarten teachers concerning the skills that demonstrate the five components of readiness as organized by the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) and to identify which skills kindergarten teachers believe are most important for students to be successful. In November 2023, 136…

Self-regulation is arguably one of the most crucial predictors of school readiness, academic achievement, and lifelong well-being. While educators in the prior-to-school years have a pivotal role to play in stimulating growth in early self-regulation, less is known about their knowledge and practices in this area. This interview study was…

Research Findings: The study examined the latent profiles of approaches to learning (ATL) in Chinese preschoolers and the association of profile membership with their academic school readiness. A total of 235 preschoolers (M[subscript age] = 58.07 months, SD = 10.09 months) were sampled and evaluated with the School Readiness Composite (SRC) of…

Educators and families frequently use children's picture books to introduce young children to unfamiliar experiences, including the start of school. In this study, we examine 52 U.S. picture books portraying the transition to kindergarten. Specifically, this content analysis explores the depiction of kindergarten teachers, including the…

The problem that was the focus of this study is that only half of the students entering kindergarten in the United States are considered kindergarten ready. This problem is important because children who are successful in kindergarten are more likely to continue to be successful in elementary school. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was…

NORC at the University of Chicago designed and implemented an impact evaluation of the SEEDS of Learning (SEEDS) professional development (PD) program on behalf of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, in collaboration with Kidango. SEEDS of Learning is an evidence-based PD program that prepares early childhood educators to help children develop the…

Kindergarten requirements are changing across the world as early school readiness has been linked to future school success. However, smaller European countries like Slovakia often lack a research base of their own, relying instead on research in other countries, particularly the US. The purpose of this study was to understand perceptions of…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenology was to describe pre-school teachers' lived experiences embracing challenges in preparing students for kindergarten at a public school district in Mid-Atlantic State. The theory that guides this study was Vygotsky's sociocultural theory keying in on the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which…

This study examined selected parameters of two newly developed measures called AEPS-3 Ready-Set and Ready-Set Family Assessment of Children's Skills (FACS). Ready-Set is a school readiness measure designed to gather information from teachers or other professionals on children's kindergarten school readiness skills across important developmental…

This ethnographic study examines kindergarten teachers' perceptions and practices of "school readiness" in kindergartens in low-SES settings in northern Israel, with the aim of illuminating the ways in which global educational ideas are appropriated by teachers in their daily work. Data collection included participant observation,…

Research Findings: This study explores the inter-rater reliability of WaKIDS, Washington State's kindergarten entry assessment (KEA). Specifically, we analyze (1) the extent to which teachers' assessments are in agreement with a master code, (2) how often inaccurate assessment decisions lead to misidentification of school readiness, and (3)…