California's investment in Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) reflects a commitment to providing access to UTK for all 4-year-olds in public schools by the 2025-2026 academic year. However, the implementation of transitional kindergarten (TK) presents challenges for districts in aligning this new grade coherently with existing grade levels…

Transitional kindergarten (TK) is a relatively recent entrant into the US early education landscape, combining features of public pre-K and regular kindergarten. We provide the first estimates of the impact of Michigan's TK program on third-grade test scores. Using an augmented regression discontinuity design, we find that TK improves third-grade…

Transitional Kindergarten (TK) is a relatively recent entrant into the U.S. early education landscape, combining features of public pre-K and regular kindergarten. We provide the first estimates of the impact of Michigan's TK program on 3rd grade test scores. Using an augmented regression discontinuity design, we find that TK improves 3rd grade…

To support efforts for a transformational kindergarten year, the U.S Department of Education (Department) is launching a multistate community of practice: Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge Learning Community. State educational agencies (SEAs)and local educational agencies (LEAs) will have the opportunity to participate in peer learning, receive technical…

The transition from primary school to secondary school can be a difficult time for young people, yet little is known about what schools do to support the social, emotional and mental wellbeing (SEMWB) of their pupils during this period. The purpose of this research is to explore the ways in which an urban Scottish secondary school and two of its…

Background: The primary-secondary transition is recognised as a challenging time for students, and poor transition processes can negatively affect the students' development. School professionals play an important role in enhancing the students' transition experience, but international literature calls for more research concerning their perspective…

The Understanding Children's Transitions from Head Start to Kindergarten (HS2K) Project was a multi-year project funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. The purpose of this project was to better understand how to improve children's…

The present study aimed to identify commonalities and points of divergence in the ways that parents, teachers, and administrators characterize children's transition from public pre-K into kindergarten within a large, diverse school district. A wide range of transition practices were in use across the district, including practices designed to…

This paper presents an account of a cross-sectorial study investigating whether shared understandings of practices might enhance continuity during transitions to school. Applying an ontological lens to cross-sectorial leading practices, the paper sheds light on the contextualised realities of transitions to school as a site specific lived…

Transition refers to the process of change and encompasses the events and experiences that occur when a child moves from one setting to another. It also marks the time when children are separated from a familiar routine and environment and placed into an environment of uncertainty, changing roles and expectations. Transitions are important because…

This paper interrogates the complexity of language use at the Grade Three-Four transition, using the South African context as a microcosm of similar educational systems. The paper describes the complex nature of the transition, particularly within a second language (L2) instructional context. It explores the dissonance between and among theory,…

Early childhood educators are concerned about a "shovedown" of elementary school expectations, standards, and curriculum on to young children due to policy-makers' moves towards utilising preschool programmes to address disparities in academic achievement. This study employs interviews and classroom observations to contrast the…

This study focuses on parents' and teachers' perceptions of practices aimed at easing the transition to formal schooling (e.g., familiarization with the school, discussions about the school entrants). A total of 230 preschool teachers, 131 elementary school teachers, and 2,662 mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire containing items on how…

This article investigates children's elementary school experiences, exploring how they become autonomous, rational individuals--the type of person envisioned in the European Enlightenment and generally imagined as the outcome of Western schooling. Drawing on ethnographic research that followed one cohort of Latinx children across five years, we…

In November 2017, the National Center for Special Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences convened a group of experts to discuss and provide input on research needs for improving outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The discussion focused on four major topics of inquiry: (1) What do we know about…