Transition from Preschool Services to Kindergarten
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See also: Practice Improvement Tools: Transition
National Centers, Studies and Specialized Projects Resources
Children's Defense Fund
- Full-Day Kindergarten in the States (2012) reported by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) will be updated annually.
- Transition Practices from Preschool to Kindergarten, a Research Brief published by the Curry School of Education (CASTL) at the University of Virginia describes pre-kindergarten teachers' use of kindergarten transition practices.
ECLKC
- Transition to Kindergarten — Site provides videos, guides, and other helpful resources to support program and school efforts to understand the importance of the transition to kindergarten.
- Head Start-Elementary School Shared Language Glossary
ECLKC/NCECDTL
- Collaborations, Connections, and Six Steps to Success — This document outlines a step-by-step approach to build, implement, and evaluate a kindergarten transition plan, and includes sections on:
- The importance of kindergarten transition, forming a transition team, and fostering four types of connections
- Six steps to transition planning
- Successful stories of kindergarten transition
- Resources
- Transition to Kindergarten: Supporting Children Who Are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) — Provides guidance and resources to support children who are dual language learners through their transition to kindergarten.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
- Preschool-to-Kindergarten Transition Patterns for African American Boys, Snapshot January 2014
- Preschool to kindergarten transition patterns for African American boys, Full Study
Harvard Family Research Project
- Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten (2012)
- The Transition to Kindergarten: A Review of Current Research and Promising Practices to Involve Families (2002)
University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development
- Ready Freddy Pathways to Kindergarten Success website
- A New Approach to Transitions: Welcoming Families and Their Ideas into Kindergarten Classrooms, by Ken Smythe-Leistico, featured in the Harvard Family Research Project.
Early Childhood Research and Development Initiative
Resources from the National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC) are now hosted by this project. NECTC investigated and validated practices to enhance the early childhood transition process and support positive school outcomes for children with disabilities.
Planning for Terrific Transitions: A Guide for Transition-to-School Teams
This training tool developed by SERVE Regional Educational Laboratory is designed to help teachers, principals, parents, and other stakeholders improve their transition processes through more effective planning, implementation, and evaluation. The training package includes a trainer's guide, a participant's guide, a CD with all the transparencies needed, and a copy of all the handouts necessary for the training.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
W. K. Kellogg Foundation's initiative entitled SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) (2009)
Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS)
The Pre-elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) funded by the National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences is a multi-year study examining preschool special education transition to kindergarten. (2012) The report entitled Early School Transitions and the Social Behavior of Children with Disabilities: Selected Findings from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (2009) provides selected findings from the first three waves of data collection.
State Resources
Colorado
Connecticut
- What Parents Should Know About Kindergarten Entry, Enrollment, and Attendance — Brochure explaining what parents should know about kindergarten entry, enrollment, and attendance.
- ESSA Student Transition Resources – PreK to Kindergarten — Page provides overview of Connecticut's Transition Support Strategies for PreK-Kindergarten and PreK-Kindergarten Transition Resources for Connecticut Elementary Schools. Information includes a 12-minute webinar offering viewers an overview of select resources.
Georgia
- Bright from the Start includes materials with suggestions for pre-K staff on classroom activities, parent workshops, and maintaining documentation.
Iowa
Program Implementation Coaches with the Iowa City School District share their experiences related to the development and facilitation of a week-long learning lab for kindergarten teachers and district administrators. Teachers and administrators were trained on inclusive strategies used in Pyramid Model preschool classrooms to engage children in daily routines. As a part of the learning experience, participants had the opportunity to role-play as students using the visuals and supports that students would use in the classroom setting. Participants reflected on the experience from a student's perspective. Teams were also provided time to plan, develop materials, and observe the practices in action. This event is an example of an implementation program scaling up to a demonstration site of high-fidelity practices.
Maine
- Transitioning into Public School — Site provides state specific guidance and suggestions for:
- Pre-K and kindergarten educators in planning a quality transition process.
- Community preschool and childcare to understand their role in transitioning children into school, and;
- Families in understanding what to expect from schools and how to support their children's transitions.
Minnesota
- Kindergarten Transition Toolkit — Toolkit designed to provide resources for principals, program administrators, teachers, educators, and families to help support children's kindergarten transition from the year prior to kindergarten entry through the kindergarten school year. Resources in the toolkit include videos, infographics, parent brochure, and a practitioner report. The strategies and resources in the toolkit are designed after Minnesota's kindergarten (school) readiness definition.
North Carolina
- Kindergarten Readiness Resources for Families — North Carolina Office of Early Learning presents a compilation of resources for families of 4 and 5 year old children who are getting ready to go to kindergarten. This includes Let's Get Ready: A Family's Guide to Supporting Kindergarten Readiness. Districts are invited to share these documents as they plan registration, orientation, and end-of-PreK events.
- Terrific Transition: Ensuring Continuity of Services for Children and their Families (2005)
Vermont
- Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Guidance: Superintendents of Schools, Special Education Directors, Principals, Early Childhood Special Education Coordinators, and Teachers (2019) - This guidance document provides information to Local Education Agencies (LEA) for students on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) who will transition to kindergarten for the upcoming school year.
Parent Resources/Handbooks
- A Successful Kindergarten Transition (2020) is a parent resource available from the National Education Association.