Governors recognize that promoting school readiness is a key strategy for preventing school failure and subsequent costs to society in the form of remedial education services, health and social services, criminal justice services, and lost tax revenue. Supporting the readiness of young children at risk for school failure is critical to the…

The purpose of this report is to examine results in mathematics for the ACT Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS) in schools nationwide. EPAS consists of three programs: EXPLORE[R] (for students in grade 8 or 9), PLAN[R] (for students in grade 10), and the ACT[R] test (for students in grade 11 or 12). The following questions are…

Background: School readiness, conceptualized as three components including emotional self-regulation, social competence, and family/school involvement, as well as absence of conduct problems play a key role in young children's future interpersonal adjustment and academic success. Unfortunately, exposure to multiple poverty-related risks increases…

One hundred and sixty-four children from a rural county in the state of Maryland, USA, were followed longitudinally from birth until kindergarten entry, tracking their participation in a home visiting program designed to enhance parent child interaction and school readiness. Results suggest that duration of home visiting had a positive, direct…

The primary goal of the Words Work (WW) early literacy initiative was to prepare diverse students to become successful learners in school. Four groups of students were followed over 6 years: students from traditional Head Start (HS) centers, students from augmented HS centers (WW students), students eligible for HS but not enrolled (waitlist or…

This article presents the New England Journal of Higher Education (NEJHE) Trends & Indicators in Higher Education, featuring 64 tables and charts exploring New England's demography, high school performance and graduation, college enrollment, college graduation rates and degree production, higher education financing, and university research.…

Noting that the latest messages communicated to the public about the learning problems of American children emphasize children's lack of social maturity and premature school entry, this book examines the many complex issues surrounding school readiness and entry. The 15 chapters are divided into 4 sections. The first section includes an…

In the 1983-84 school year, the Michigan State Board of Education conducted a survey of early childhood programs in all of the state's school districts. A total of 518 districts, or 93 percent, responded. Of these, 161 districts indicated that they had a 2-year developmental program for children who were old enough to enter kindergarten but were…

In the United States, a psychometric psychology dominates the thinking of educators. For traditional, political, and social reasons, developmental psychology rarely informs educational practices. This is the case even though studies show that the inducing of cognitive learning before a child is ready will reduce the child's learning potential and…

Included in this paper is a sample of comments made by parents in response to the idea of instituting all-day, every-day kindergarten schedules in several suburban and small-town school districts in western New York. Those in favor of all-day programs emphasize that many children attending nursery schools and other programs are in need of a…

To assist parents and their children in making a smooth transition when the children leave home to enter school, this handbook describes a series of school-related skills and activities. Eight brief sections compose the document, one intended for parents and seven focusing on children and reflecting common kindergarten experiences. The section for…

Results suggest that the STAR or MRT, coupled with teacher observations and the BGT, can provide a school system with an adequate screening readiness battery. Of the several skills measured by readiness tests, letter knowledge is the most predictive of actual first grade achievement. (Author)

The validity of the Lollipop Test: A Diagnostic Screening Test of School Readiness was examined for 129 pre-kindergarten subjects using the Developmental Indicator for the Assessment of Learning as the criterion. Concurrent validity was demonstrated across the test batteries. The Lollipop Test appears to be an attractive alternative…

Family involvement is a viable strategy to address transition issues related to school readiness. The school-family connection can help ensure that the potential of each child is fulfilled as well as bridge the achievement gap. This document utilizes a "School Snapshot" to illustrate that, with careful planning, schools can engage families in…

This brief introduces the first results from a rural analysis of selected national datasets. Provided are key findings concerning kindergarten readiness of rural children from an analysis of the Kindergarten Cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). Future briefs will summarize the findings concerning the health of the Kindergarten…