Several large-scale research efforts imply that improving instructional quality rather than assessing student readiness is a better way to promote student performance in the early grades. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/MLF)

Research has shown that preschool education is a sound investment--academically, socially, and economically. Offers some options for integrating the existing patchwork of U.S. public and private programs into a uniform system that provides a high-quality early education to all young children. (Contains 13 references.) (MLF)

Model early education programs in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Leadville, Colorado, identify ingredients for success: serve families as well as children, collaborate with social service agencies, secure diverse funding, have universal eligibility, make programs part of the school system, seek parent input, and deal fairly with competitors. (SK)

Accomplishing the readiness (National Education) goal is contingent on cooperation with families, nonschool providers of care and education to young children (including Head Start, family day care, and for-profit programs), other community institutions (including health and nutrition, social services, welfare, employment and training, civic and…

Surveyed 31 state preschool programs to determine whether entrusting Head Start to the states would be a sound policy decision. Findings suggest that state initiatives vary widely in design, implementation, and quality. Finds reasons for serious concern regarding devolution of Head Start from federal to state control. (SLD)

Summarizes recent ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) documents and journal articles that discuss issues related to children's age at entry into school. Includes details about ERIC and ordering ERIC documents. (EV)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently introduced a tool kit, "Changing the Scene," to help school personnel and community leaders change attitudes toward health and nutrition in public schools. The kit provides information on how the school environment affects children's eating and physical activity. (MLH)

The purpose of the current study is to describe the development and validation of a new measure of temperament, the Preschool Temperament Classification System (PTCS). The PTCS was developed as a typological measure that identifies children's temperament styles as undercontrolled, resilient, or overcontrolled. The PTCS is a time efficient…

We examined the role of the teacher-child relationship quality (close, dependent, and conflictive) on preschoolers' (N=95) academic readiness for kindergarten, and we tested children's prosocial and aggressive behavior and peer group exclusion as mediators of this relation. A unique feature of this study is the ethnically and socio-economically…

The purpose of this study was to learn more about the transition experiences of one group of high school students (N = 75) as they began attending one alternative pathway: an Early College High School program on a community college campus. A four-part conceptual framework of college readiness provided a structure from which to explore the…

This volume explores whether the nation's early childhood programs are boosting child development and preparing children for schooling and proposes reforms that would improve the programs. The volume contains contrasting papers on the success of Head Start, Early Head Start, and home-visiting programs and on policies that would improve these three…

In this appendix to our Occasional Paper, we review 14 recent rigorous studies on how entrance age affects student outcomes in the short and long term, paying particular attention to aspects that are most relevant to state-level policy decisions. We summarize findings related to elementary and secondary academic achievement, grade retention,…

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature…

The issue of children's school readiness concerns parents and teachers worldwide. Kindergarten teachers have reported that approximately one-third of U.S. children entering school are ill-prepared to achieve success. Experts also warn that many children are entering school lacking the fundamental skills to achieve academic success. It is…

This report summarizes the impact of Georgia's Prekindergarten Program on two cohorts of children and families. About half of Cohort 1, 214 children and families, now in first grade, attended the Prekindergarten Program for less than 1 year when it was a pilot program. Half of Cohort 2, 534 children and families, now in kindergarten, had a full…