The current study investigated the role of theory of mind development in school readiness among 120 low-income preschool and kindergarten children. A short-term longitudinal design was used to examine relations among theory of mind, the understanding of teaching, and learning behaviors and their collective role in children's literacy and numeracy…

The purpose of this research is to examine preschool and first grade teachers' opinions on the effects of school readiness to classroom management. The participants of this research consisted of the 18 preschool and 22 first grade teachers who work at public and private schools in the cities of Konya, Ankara and Kayseri in Turkey. Phenomenological…

The purpose of this study was to report preliminary reliability and validity data from the Conversation Compass© Communication Screener (CCCS), a teacher-reported language screener intended to capture children's skills related to classroom conversations with peers and teachers. Three preschool teachers completed the CCCS and the Child Observation…

This study examined the benefit of utilizing one-item academic and one-item behavior readiness teacher-rated screeners at the beginning of the school year to predict end-of-school year outcomes for middle school students. The Middle School Academic and Behavior Readiness (M-ABR) screeners were developed to provide an efficient and effective way to…

Preschool children's use of decontextualized language, or talk about abstract topics beyond the here-and-now, is predictive of their kindergarten readiness and is associated with the frequency of parents' own use of decontextualized language. Does a brief, parent-focused intervention conveying the importance of decontextualized language cause…

Nurturing experiences in preparation for prospective early childhood educators' work with families during their training are critical for establishing empowering relationships. This article details a qualitative case study of 77 prospective early childhood educators engaged with the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Simulation. An electronic…

Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large…

Despite the increasing attendance of children with food allergy in schools in Australia and globally, little is known about how affected families manage their children's transition to school. This paper discusses the experiences and support needs of ten mothers during their child's transition to school in Sydney, Australia, drawn from the thematic…

We examined the associations between preschool attendance and academic school readiness at kindergarten entry among 5-year-old children of immigrant mothers in the United States using data from a US nationally representative sample (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, N = 1650). Comparing children who were in preschool (Head Start,…

Play researchers and theorists have cautioned that children's early play is changing in a manner that is detrimental to their development. Meanwhile U.S. governmental pressures and increasingly higher standards for education are changing the landscape of kindergarten and early learning. This study investigates the relationship between children's…

Global education agendas frequently draw on the construct of 'school readiness', indexing the developmental trajectories of children to the expectations of school systems. Through in-depth ethnographic research in a village in Bihar, India, this paper examines how normative discourses of 'school readiness' govern family strategies for early…

Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC) began as a year-long initiative to support early learning for very young children and families. The program has grown into a self-sustaining, nonprofit, place-based organization committed to improving the lives of children and families in the underresourced neighborhoods of Grand Rapids, MI.…

The Head Start Act mandates that each Head Start grantee receive a monitoring review at least once every 3 years; each newly designated grantee be reviewed after the completion of its first year (and then at least once every 3 years thereafter); and all grantees that "fail to meet the standards" receive Follow-up reviews. Reviewers…

Research has shown that early interventions are most successful when they have a comprehensive focus that is individualized to children's needs. The present study employed a person-centered approach to identify profiles, or subgroups, of children displaying early patterns of peer play behaviors in an ethnically and linguistically diverse Head…

This study investigated teachers' perceptions of the implantation of a new first grade policy based on the new Turkish education standards during the 2012-2013 academic year. The study was based on a phenomenological case study design utilizing a structured interview protocol. Ten teachers discussed opportunities and challenges of implementing the…