Increased emphasis has been placed on children's ability to enter kindergarten ready to learn, a concept referred to as "school readiness." School readiness has been defined by the Maryland State Department of Education as "the stage of human development that enables a child to engage in, and benefit from, primary learning…

Described here is a study on the efficacy of a media-rich curriculum based on the idea that children can learn best from "media synergy," that is, when children have opportunities to learn a focused set of skills by engaging in repeated practice with them in many different formats and media. Participants in this study were low-income…

Each year, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their teachers. It includes valuable trend data about…

Each year, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report, which is unique in its kind nationally, provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their…

In order to better establish baseline information on the social, physical, linguistic, and cognitive skills of children entering Maryland kindergartens, the state selected the Work Sampling System (WSS), a component of the Maryland Model for School Readiness, as the early childhood assessment system for evaluating entering kindergartners' skills…

This study was made to find out to what extent kindergartens contribute to school readiness. Ninety children with a mean chronological age of 4.9 were tested with the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT), the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), and a Behavior Rating Scale and were retested one year later. During the intervening year,…

Predictive validity of a school readiness test (Preschool Screening System (PSS)) was investigated through a teacher rating scale (Rhode Island Pupil Identification Scale) to six groups of kindergarten children of both sexes (N=245). The most powerful predictor in every group was the "Information Processing" score of the PSS. (Author)

In order to better establish baseline information on the social, physical, linguistic, and cognitive skills of children entering Maryland kindergartens, the state selected the Work Sampling System (WSS), a component of the Maryland Model for School Readiness, as the early childhood assessment system for evaluating entering kindergartners' skills…

The intent of this study was to determine if attendance in a good quality prekindergarten program using developmentally appropriate activities had a positive effect on kindergarten mathematics readiness skills and achievement. Participating were 80 children, 4 to 6 years old, divided into two experimental and two control groups. Standardized test…

The exploratory investigation was guided by four research questions: (1) what are the similarities and differences in the readiness status between rural and urban first graders; (2) what is the relationship between the readiness status and socioeconomic status of rural and urban first graders; (3) what are the similarities and differences in the…

This document reports the preliminary results of the Fall, 1980 administration of the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB) to all first grade students in South Carolina. This battery was administered in accordance with the mandate of the 1978 Act 631 of the state legislature. The CSAB is an individually administered readiness battery…

Noting that many American children enter elementary school without a critical foundation of informal mathematical knowledge, this study examined the impact of a prekindergarten mathematics curriculum grounded in research on early mathematical cognition. A project-developed instrument, the Child Math Assessment, was used on a pre-post basis to…

This study compared the academic progress of children who had been recommended for and attended a Readiness program with those children whose parents had declined the Readiness program placement for their children. Participating were 215 students chosen over an 11 year period who had been recommended for a Readiness program and a comparison group…

Examined cognitive competencies and motivation in economically advantaged and disadvantaged preschoolers and kindergartners over a two-year period. Found that disadvantaged children had poorer cognitive scores than advantaged children. Cognitive gains were equal after one or two years in school, with socioeconomic status (SES) differences…

This paper extends the previously reported findings of the Starting School Research Project in Australia as to what various stakeholders see as important in children's transition to school; the current study considers responses from parents, preschool educators, and school teachers to 20 statements summarizing beliefs and expectations about…