Early life experiences are critical to a child's development. Research has shown that, for a variety of reasons, children born into low-income families are at a disadvantage when compared to their higher-income peers. Fortunately, research has also shown a positive association between high quality child care and the academic and social-emotional…

This paper presents an expanded definition of school readiness that includes the skills children possess as they begin formal school as well as the ways that family backgrounds, preschool experiences, and primary-grade classrooms interact with children to point them toward school success or failure. The paper notes five dimensions of school…