The Texas Literacy Initiative (TLI) was first implemented in Austin Independent School District during the 2012-2013 school. This report summarizes Spring 2014 survey responses from administrators at TLI campuses.

Research Findings: Policymakers preschool reforms that are to prepare young children for school success have sparked important conversations within the field of early childhood education over how these programs are to ready young children for school. This article presents findings from a case study that examined this issue of school readiness…

The purpose of this study was to examine the necessity levels of children's school readiness skills held by Jordanian kindergarten teachers. The sample consisted of 347 teachers drawn from the public and private kindergarten education sectors. The school readiness data collection instrument included seven readiness domains with a total of 39…

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a South Central Pennsylvania public school's pre-kindergarten program in preparing young children for the transition to kindergarten. Despite the growing interest in pre-kindergarten education, no researcher had yet seriously examined the efficacy of providing a minimal amount of…

This mixed-method phenomenological study was conducted in 2 concurrent phases. The quantitative phase consisted of a researcher designed questionnaire conducted with 103 public school kindergarten teachers in California. Thirty-five close-ended and 2 open-ended questions were included. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to find…

This program evaluation focused on one year of Bridges to Tomorrow, a multi-year initiative designed by Metro United Way to better prepare at-risk children for academic success upon entering kindergarten. Bridges to Tomorrow provided three child care centers operating in at-risk neighborhoods with interventions that included a structured…

Research suggests that many typically developing children in the United States experience problems during the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Despite the fact that early school experiences impact educational trajectories, few empirical studies investigate the effect of kindergarten preparation variables on child outcomes. The primary…

Evidence shows that the Matthew effect is a persistent problem among early education interventions. The current study examined the degree to which the "ExCELL" ("Ex"ceptional "C"oaching for "E"arly "L"anguage and "L"iteracy) language and literacy professional development intervention for…

More than 98 percent of children in Finland attend preschool, where different kinds of projects are carried out in order to strengthen the children's abilities. This article focuses on the effects of one arts education project from a school readiness point of view. The main question was, How did the Helsinki arts education project affect the…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law. The law changed the kindergarten entry cutoff so that children must turn five by September 1 to enter kindergarten. The law also established a new grade level--Transitional Kindergarten (TK)--which is the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for…

The purpose of this research is to examine the efficacy of "Tools of the Mind". Specifically, the aims of the research are to: (1) Evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of Tools of the Mind, designed to promote school readiness for Latino preschoolers who are English Language Learners and at risk for later school difficulties; (2)…

This study describes the results of an evaluation of the Individualized Learning Intervention (ILI), a mentoring program for early childhood educators that is built upon adult self-directed learning experiences and the collaborative support of others. Sixteen Mentor and 16 Protege teachers in Head Start classrooms were selected for participation…

Early childhood programs are increasingly using new curricula that emphasize skills related to school readiness. It is the teachers in these programs who have the major responsibility for implementing a new curriculum and for sustaining its use. In this study, we interviewed 43 Head Start and prekindergarten teachers to see how many teachers…

It is the responsibility of every early childhood program director to support the development of staff, to ensure that teachers and caregivers have the skills and understanding they need to provide the highest quality of services to children. For Head Start directors, this same responsibility is intensified by federal mandates and a mission…

The majority of early education programs promote children's learning through a mix of experiences in child- and teacher-managed contexts. The current study examined time spent in child- and teacher-managed contexts and the nature of children's experiences with teachers in these contexts as they relate to children's skill development. Participants…