The 2016-2017 academic year marks the second year of statewide implementation of the North Carolina K-3 Formative Assessment Process: Kindergarten Entry Assessment (FAPKEA). The assessment, developed and implemented by the Office of Early Learning (OEL) at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, is a comprehensive formative assessment…

Research Findings: Children's readiness to handle the expectations of elementary school depends heavily on their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation includes both cognitive and behavioral elements; however, past studies have typically looked at cognitive and behavioral self-regulation in isolation or as a composite score rather than examining…

California is on the cusp of implementing universal preschool--a step that could help level the playing eld for young children. Over the next few years, all four-year-olds will become eligible for Transitional Kindergarten (TK), which has been part of the state's early learning programs since 2012. In this report, the authors examine the…

Racial disparities are evident across Washington's K-12 education system. This report provides an analysis of Washington K-12 education data and reveals that there are consistent opportunity gaps for students of color. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need to address racial disparities as communities of color have faced disproportionate…

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on preschool children's school readiness skills remains understudied. This research investigates Head Start preschool children's early numeracy, literacy, and executive function outcomes during a pandemic-affected school year, using a novel virtual assessment methodology. Study children (N = 336; mean age = 51…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) and the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (AIAN FACES) are separate studies done successively over time. One goal for these studies is to provide a national picture of children's readiness for school. In this research brief, the authors use…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study designed to measure trends in mathematics and science achievement at grades 4 and 8, as well as to collect information about educational contexts (such as students' schools, teachers, and homes) that may be related to student achievement. TIMSS has…

Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood curriculum "Te Whariki" includes the explanation that "A weaver weaves in new strands of harakeke or pandanus as their wha¯riki expands…" (Ministry of Education, 2017, inside cover). The joining of new material to the whariki symbolises new learning. This metaphor of a continued weaving…

This study examined the latent developmental patterns for classroom learning behaviors among children from underresourced families. Based on standardized teacher observations, a large sample (N = 2,152) of children was assessed for manifestations of Competence Motivation and Attentional Persistence twice annually through Head Start, kindergarten,…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in 2015, succeeded in weakening the least popular parts of the No Child Left Behind act. But, argues Jack Jennings, it's a purely reactive piece of legislation, offering no positive vision for the federal government's role in addressing K-12 education's most urgent problems. ESSA is still young, he…

In early childhood education, a long-standing debate exists around issues related to school readiness and the transition to school. This paper describes an action research project implemented by teachers in an urban Australian preschool which gathered multiple stakeholder perspectives about school transition. The project was initiated to support…

Factors that affect children's school readiness potential are evident from birth. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses that certain factors related to family risk conditions, the quality of prenatal care, maternal health during pregnancy, and the health status of the child at birth mediate children's readiness for school.…

We present evidence of a positive relationship between school starting age and children's cognitive development from age 6 to 18 using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and large-scale population-level birth and school data from the state of Florida. We estimate effects of being old for grade (being born in September versus August) that are…

This guide to understanding school readiness in young children is essential reading for early years practitioners. It explores the concept of school readiness by unpicking what the term means for children and how we can define it in the context of the characteristics of effective learning. This includes ideas for promoting playing and exploring,…

Sharing and integrating data across the variety of public systems, including public health insurance, child care subsidies, and food assistance, accessed by children and families is crucial to providing decision-makers with complete and accurate information that they can use to shape and improve services. This brief highlights projects implemented…