Engaging, focusing, and persisting in the completion of tasks are among the skills needed for school success. Tracking whether a child is learning cognitive problem-solving skills is essential in knowing if they are acquiring skills important for development and school readiness; and if not, how they are responding to early intervention. Use of…

Children enter kindergarten with a wide range of previous education experiences: Some have participated in pre-K programs: private, state-funded, or part of Head Start. Others have spent time in a family child care setting or in informal arrangements with family, friends, and neighbors. Regardless, this transition is fraught with stress and…

The following document is an Executive Position Paper which provides a model that can be followed when implementing a training program for families that teaches them how to support their child's learning by way of reading. All children have the potential to succeed in school and life, and all children deserve to be loved and supported in their…

In the Republic of Ireland there has been substantial investment in Early Years provision. The number of different types of settings for pre-school children and the associated research has grown significantly. This paper contributes to existing knowledge by reporting the findings of a qualitative participatory study carried out in the Republic of…

Research Findings: This study evaluated the impacts of the Summer Preschools Program on 5-to-6-year-old Syrian refugee and local children from vulnerable communities of Turkey. Developed as a community-based contextually sensitive early intervention model, the program aimed to promote developmental well-being and school readiness of children from…

The challenge of educational improvement, due mainly to the complexity of educational systems, is well-known. The aim of this study is to provide knowledge regarding the process of change within schools to better understand how it might depend on cultural context and the characteristics of individual schools. Based on interventions in four…

While most community colleges admit all students who apply for admission, the vast majority have required students to demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before they can take college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using a single placement test, such as the College Board's ACCUPLACER. Colleges--or sometimes…

During a school day, children make several transitions between activities, which can take away from instructional time and result in challenging behaviors. This study investigates the impact positive engagement and behavioral supports have on children's behavior while transitioning. Participants (N = 40; 77.5% Male; 92.5% Hispanic) were enrolled…

Teachers in early childhood education (ECE) settings are central to providing children with high-quality experiences that promote both early development and long-term well-being; unfortunately, rates of teacher turnover are high in ECE settings. There are strong theoretical reasons to assume turnover is negatively linked with children's academic…

In Victoria, Australia, the transition from preschool to compulsory school education is impacted by systemic disconnections in organisation, pedagogical thinking and curricula. These disconnections can create discontinuities in children's experiences, and continuity of learning. At a policy level, attempts have been made to build cooperative…

Will students who have not mastered kindergarten skills benefit from another year of kindergarten before going into grade one? It has been suggested that there is no other topic in education that has such a wide difference of opinion as those researchers who do not advocate retention and those who are convinced that a child should be given another…

Kindergarten has changed. Many believe that it no longer reflects a nurturing environment but, instead, has become a race for children to learn skills so they are ready for the academic achievement tests that they will take continuously throughout their time in school. "Resisting the Kinder-Race" examines how the race came about, why it…

Public schools have a long-established practice of conducting screening assessment of students as they enter kindergarten. The purpose of this study, conducted in spring 2021 by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute at the request of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, is to gain a current list of the assessment…

'Taking time seriously' is an enduring human concern and questions about the nature of time bear heavily on the meaning of childhood. In the context of the continuing debates on "readiness for school," 'taking time seriously' has contributed to policies on 'early interventions' which claim to support children in reaching their full…

Research suggests that kindergarten fine motor (FM) and visual motor (VM) skills predict later school performance. Being able to identify if gaps exist in FM/VM readiness could inform FM/VM programming in the early years. The Early Development Instrument is used to assess school readiness in Canada and other countries. Through a Delphi method, a…