In response to the first of the National Education Goals (1991), which reads, "all children in America will start school ready to learn," this paper addresses four interpretations of the term "readiness" and the methods that have been devised to assess children's learning at the outset of formal schooling. The idealist or nativist view claims that…

This report, the third in the National Center for Early Development & Learning's (NCEDL) "Spotlight" series, is based on excerpts from a paper presented during a "Kindergarten Transitions" synthesis conference in early 1998. The report addresses defining readiness for school and assessing a child's readiness for school. The report notes that…

Describes inadequacies of three policies intended to enhance child readiness for education: raising the age of school entry, retaining students in kindergarten, and extra-year programs. Argues that they are inconsistent with educational research and potentially harmful. Suggests the use of curriculum-based performance tests to help teachers and…