"Extending Education" focused on national education goals of readiness for school and retention until graduation and on strategies outlined in the American 2000 plan. The formal education system helps young children acquire basic knowledge and competencies. However, national educational goals identified needs for: (1) greater linkages…

This study investigated predictive relations between preschoolers' (N=310) behavioral regulation and emergent literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Behavioral regulation was assessed using a direct measure called the Head-to-Toes Task, which taps inhibitory control, attention, and working memory, and requires children to perform the opposite…

This article documents the challenges that young children face as they move from kindergarten to first grade and the important role that elementary school counselors can play in working with students, parents/caregivers, and teachers during this critical period of development. Research- and practitioner-based recommendations for effective…

The school readiness goal of the America 2000 educational reform program admits that not all children start school ready to learn, but implies that with proper and adequate interventions, all children can start with the requisite cognitive and social adaptive skills that will enable them to learn. This paper discusses and analyzes critical skills…

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that are leading the way in ensuring children receive a continuum of care starting at birth and extending throughout childhood so that they can move seamlessly from home to child care to preschool to school, and then from grade to grade. That means children have to be ready for school. It also means that…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of preschool on children's school readiness in connection with their intellectual abilities, language competence and parents' education. The sample included 219 children from 68 to 83 months old attending the first year of primary school, differentiated by whether or not they had attended…

Unfortunately, too many low-income students enter college academically under-prepared, and too few find the support they need to succeed in college. As a result, their rates of completing four-year degrees continue to lag behind those of more-affluent students. The gap has not diminished in recent years--indeed it may have increased somewhat over…

This report makes a number of recommendations on new directions for the development of child well-being indicators. For developmental transitions throughout early childhood, the authors call for standardizing birth records across states, collecting additional data at immunization visits, and creating common assessments at kindergarten entry. For…

There is emerging consensus that the United States faces major higher education challenges, including: (1) America's fall from first to tenth place internationally in the percentage of the population with higher education degrees at a time when the country faces increased global economic competition in a knowledge-intensive economy; (2) Education…

Nearly one third of the more than six million students with disabilities in U.S. public schools are of traditional high school age. Though research indicates that the majority of high school-age students with disabilities and their parents are satisfied with the services they receive, many still face barriers and challenges to receiving an…

The Children's Services Council (CSC) of Palm Beach County funded Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to conduct a 6-year longitudinal study to examine the use and effectiveness of an array of services in the county in promoting school readiness and school success and improving family functioning among children and families most in need of…

As part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) annual assessment of achievement, the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) were administered to approximately 14,768 first-grade pupils in the fall of 1983. The mean scaled scores of the DoDDS first graders clustered around the national mean of 150. The DoDDS mean scores in the various…

This study examines the degree of correlation between the age of a child on entering kindergarten and the child's academic achievement. A review of literature provides evidence that premature learning may actually create a block to later learning. One study reported that many chronologically young children who had a higher than average I.Q. failed…

Briefly described are certain childhood attitudes, abilities, and experiences likely to help children succeed in school. Parents are advised that children will have a better school experience if they are familiar with the school building, the bus route, and their teacher; if they know other children attending their school; if they have good…

This study hypothesizes that while the mental age most effectively predicts reading readiness, deficits in information processing at the automatic level decrease the efficiency of the prediction. Conclusions support this hypothesis. (Author/HMV)