Illustrating major points with specific examples (including a "Doonesbury cartoon), the main article faults schools' organizational efficiency and educators' ignorance of child development for forcing young children to work beyond their developmental readiness. An inset article presents the 19th century kindergarten as a haven for children to grow…

Argues that "redshirting" in kindergarten (or maintaining children in grade) can be a positive intervention if (1) the concept is used to enhance ability rather than underline failure and (2) the time periods children spend in the primary grades are made more flexible (to accommodate children's different rates of mastering skills). (KS)

Tips are offered on how to ease the transition of students from elementary to middle level or junior high schools. A teacher-advisor program is proposed, and staff development modules are suggested to help teachers assist students in the transition process. (TE)

The Minnesota Child Development Inventory was used to obtain parent observations on 59 children before the start of the kindergarten year. Results indicated that the parent report on a number of variables from the MCDI correlated highly with postkindergarten success in reading. (Author)

Most colleges and high schools in states served by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) have reports each year on how high school graduates perform as college freshmen. These reports can help college faculty and high school teachers work together to improve student learning in college preparatory courses, and the information in the reports…

Throughout the past decade, questions of how young children should be prepared for school and how schools should best serve them have been an important part of the national agenda. This change brief defines the problem of children's school readiness and discusses what can be done to give young children better early care and education. The brief…

The author reacts to the impending reauthorization of the Head Start program by questioning evidence of its long-term impact and making several recommendations for reform: (1) Strengthen Head Start school readiness standards; (2) Guarantee civil rights protections for faith-based providers; (3) Encourage state innovation and improvement; and (4)…

The issue of high standards and high expectations for public school students has even reached the kindergarten level of instruction. The paper suggests that the informal readiness approach can be used with a more formal curriculum in order to prepare students for state mandated testing to ensure readiness for first grade. Many educators believe…

This newsletter discusses transition and outcome issues for young children with disabilities. Topics discussed include issues related to transition program administration, staff, families, and services. (KB)

This paper contends that, historically and today, "readiness" functions as a key symbol in discourses of early childhood. Schools and teachers need to make "ready" for different children in a very different world than that in which many people grew up. The interest in the paper, however, is not only in individual difference but…

The widely recognized developmental age differences between boys and girls of the same chronological age is almost universally ignored in educational planning for children in their early school years. (Author)

Investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status and readiness for school among 49 predominantly middle-class four- to six-year-old children enrolled in kindergarten at the Florida State University Developmental Research School. Of the variables investigated (father's education, mother's education, and family income), only father's…

Examines the psychosocial and academic problems resulting from overplacement or premature enrollment of primary school children. The educational system compounds the problem by ignoring the differences in maturation levels among children of the same age. The possibility of speeding up maturation rates and suggestions for preventing overplacement…

The Screening Test of Academic Readiness (STAR) was administered to three samples of kindergarten pupils. A series of factor analyses was performed to determine whether the STAR could be used for individualized diagnosis and remediation. Results showed that two oblique factors emerged which had limited meaning. (Author/BW)

The Koppitz Human Figure Drawing (HFD) Test was examined for use in early identification of academically not-ready kindergarten children. HFD scores of children who later "passed" the Metropolitan Readiness Test were compared with HFD scores of children who later "failed." Results indicate that HFD scores are useful in…