Transitions to Enhance School Readiness Early school years are a critical period for learning and development Preschool and early experiences enhance school success How quickly children adjust across settings increases their success so supporting success across the transition ID: 425362
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Slide1
Effective
Transitions to Enhance School ReadinessSlide2
Early school years are
a “critical period” for learning and developmentPreschool and early experiences enhance school successHow quickly children adjust across settings increases their success – so supporting success across the transition is important
Why is early school success so important?Slide3
Transitions Across the Lifespan
Becoming a new parentGoing to (or back to) collegeMoving to a new townStarting a new jobExperiencing an empty nest
Retirement from a career
Getting marriedSlide4
Elements to foster successful adjustment
Information
Relationships
Alignment
Successful AdjustmentSlide5
What we know from research and practice about:
Children’s adjustment to kindergartenThe transition experiences and its effects on children“Best practice” model of transition
What do we know about transitions?Slide6
How successfully are children entering kindergarten?
Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta & Cox, 2000Slide7
Teachers who
say “half my class or more” exhibit these problems entering kindergarten
0
10
20
30
40
50
Difficulty communicating/
language problems
Problems with social skills
Difficulty working as part of a group
Difficulty working independently
Lack of academic skills
Difficulty following directions
14%
21%
31%
35%
36%
46%
Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta & Cox, 2000Slide8
School readiness and transition:
A child-focused viewChild
Child
Pre-K
KindergartenSlide9
School readiness and transition:
When connections are the focus
Early Experiences
Child
Peers
Family
Community
Teachers
Kindergarten
Child
Peers
Family
Community
Teachers
Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000Slide10
Setting Changes
LaParo et al., 2009Slide11
Transition experiences
“
His teacher called several days before school started; it was great and really made Nate feel great.
”
“
At the beginning I got her excited by talking about starting school six months before it started… it made the transition easy… Before school started I took her to the classroom to get her adjusted to it.
”
“I am pleased… the teacher called after the first two days of school to say how well she was doing.”Slide12
Transition experiences
“
On a more personal level, my son spends eight hours a day with his teacher and his best friend. I want to know those people. I
don’t
want it to be a once-every-three-months-for-report-card thing. I want to have more interaction.
”
“
The teacher called the first week of school to say he is the biggest clown in the class.”Slide13
Transition experiences
“
The teacher called me the first week of school and said she should have been evaluated for Ritalin because she
can’t
teach her.
”
“
We weren’t sure about sending him, he may be too young. His teacher called to say he’s way behind and should go back to preschool.”“I’m not happy with it… I sent in notes but got no response from the teacher… The first day of school I sent him with a dollar for lunch but he didn’t eat all day… something got mixed up. I tried again with a dollar the next day, but he didn’t eat that day either. He wet his pants. The teacher is young and she’s not very organized. I’m anxious about this year.
”Slide14
Misalignments and Shifts in the Transition to Kindergarten
Changes in academic demands / curricula
Less family connection with school
Complexity
of social environment (peers and adults)
Less time with teacher(s) Slide15
It’s
a process, not a programSupportive relationships are resources for childrenDifferent sets of relationships fit different needs – some are supportive, some informationalConnections serve as a bridge for child, family, and school across time and contexts
Successful Transition: Guiding PrinciplesSlide16
Transition connections
Child-school connections
Family-school connections
School-school connections
Community-school connectionsSlide17
Child-School Connections
Goal: To foster children’s familiarity with the classroom setting and those people within it Increased comfort and decreased anxiety
Building teacher-child relationships
Exposure
to new setting prior to school startingSlide18
Emily:
. . . it's a big, big, big school and there's more kids. Because there's hundred and hundreds and hundreds. And there's kids that don't know each other's names. Everyone knows names here. JS:
Are you ready to go to kindergarten next year?
Marcy: Yeah.
JS:
How do you know you're ready?
Marcy: Because I feel so happy.Child perspective of kindergarten
Interviews by Jim Squires, Preschoolers Conversations about School Readiness Slide19
A school connecting with children
An example of how one school reached out to children to help create a successful transition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMf1mveot3I&feature=related
LINK TO ONLINE VIDEOSlide20
Family-School Connections
Goal: To foster family collaboration and involvement with the school and the transition process Share information about individual children Get parents familiar with school routines Become partners in the processSlide21
Child & family connections with school: Transition activities families found useful
% of families who used the activity and found it helpful
Transition activity
Had child visit a kindergarten classroom
Met with a kindergarten teacher
Met with the principal
Took a tour of the school
Talked with preschool staff about kindergarten
Visited the kindergarten classroom
Talked with parents of child
’
s new classmates
Participated in elementary school-wide activities
Attended a workshop for parents
Met with child
’
s anticipated kindergarten teacher
Attended an orientation to kindergarten
99
89
95
100
99
97
97
100
98
92
96
Pianta et al., 1999Slide22
School-School Connections
GOAL: To provide children with stable high quality classroom experiences across timeIncrease consistency for children across contexts through alignment of: Routines CurriculaLearning standardsAssessmentsSlide23
School-school connections:
Transition activities teachers found useful
Preschool teachers
K teachers
Transition activity
% who found the activity helpful
% who found the activity helpful
Prek children visiting their kindergarten classroom
Prek teachers visiting a kindergarten classroom
Holding an elementary school-wide activity with prek children
Having a spring orientation about kindergarten for parents of preschool children
Having an individual meeting between a teacher and a parent of the preschool child
Sharing written records
100
100
83
100
100
100
96
100
100
100
100
100Slide24
Kindergarten, Head Start, and preschool teachers
Meet four times a year focusing on aligning experiences for children Outcomes:Increased participation in transition opportunities like K campChildren, families, and teachers more preparedIncreased consistency between settings related to routines and expectationsPre-k teachers felt their knowledge of children and families was valued
K teachers felt children more socially and academically prepared
Increased awareness of the community needs for more spaces for children
An additional preschool class is being considered to be added to the elementary school
School to school example: Early childhood
professionals working together
Smart Beginnings, 2011Slide25
Community-School Connections
Goal: To facilitate the transition process within the community Getting the word out Providing resources where they are neededSlide26
Clarify community needs and expectations regarding schools and transition
Inter-agency connections with key playersCommunicate information effectively
Community-School ConnectionsSlide27
Community in ActionSlide28
Preparation for parents
A public service announcementhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grZc0lcliTQ
LINK TO ONLINE VIDEOSlide29
Preparation for parents
The Health Science Channel helps prepare parents for the transitionhttp://www.healthsciencechannel.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.main&SearchTxt=kindergarten&SearchBtn
LINK TO ONLINE VIDEOSlide30
Preparing the communitySlide31
Kindergarten camps
Child, family, school, and community, connections
Improved social adjustment to kindergarten
Improved familiarity with routines for kids with same teacher
Reading benefits
Berlin, Dunning & Dodge, 2010;
Borman
, Goetz & Dowling, 2009Slide32
SO WHY DO WE NEED TO DO ALL OF THIS?Slide33
In the NCEDL project, more transition activities were associated with all of the following child outcomes at the beginning of kindergarten:
Greater frustration toleranceBetter social skillsFewer conduct problemsFewer learning problemsMore positive approaches to learningTransition activities were
most
helpful for children from disadvantaged families.
Transition Experience Matters
LoCasale-Crouch et al., 2008Slide34
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
(Schulting, Malone & Dodge, 2005)17,212 children, 992 schoolsEffect of Transition Practices
Spring K Academic Skills
=
Fall K Transition
Practices
Even more for children from disadvantaged familiesSlide35
Children more socially ready
Helps them participate more academicallyFamilies more connected to schoolImproved long-term student outcomesTeachers more prepared to support children/familiesBetter relationships that lead to enhanced child outcomes
Financially smart:
Low investment, high yield
Children, Families and Schools Benefit from ConnectionsSlide36
HOW DO WE BUILD SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION EXPERIENCES?Slide37
Six steps to transition planning
1. Assess your partnership: Who is involved?2. Identify the goals of the team around transition and alignment
3
. Assess
what is happening now
4
. Identify data that you have to support these practicesPlan and Prioritize: Reevaluate goals, choose steps to take, assign roles, set deadlines, anticipate barriersImplement and Evaluate Slide38
1. Assessing your partnership
Who is involved?Teachers (pre-k and kindergarten)School leaders (pre-k and kindergarten)Family representative(s)
Community leadersSlide39
2. Identifying the goals of the team
Choose several goals that fit your program’s needsExamples:Support children being ready for school
Help families know more about what they can do at home to help children be ready for school
Get community more involved with childrenSlide40
3. Assessing what is happening now
Sort what you are currently doing into categories What is fostering child-school connections?What is fostering family-school connections?What is fostering school-school connections?
What is fostering community-school connections?Slide41
3. Assessing what is happening nowSlide42
4. Examining data you have
Is what you’re currently doing working? How do you know?Are children adjusting to kindergarten better because their preschool teacher is reading books about kindergarten before they enter?
Are more families registering early for kindergarten because of community efforts to disseminate information?
Are
kindergarten teachers better informed about students because of
school-school collaboration?Slide43
5. Planning and Prioritizing
What are the next steps to take?Reevaluate goals and formulate new onesPlan steps to address new goalsWho is responsible for tasks?
Assign roles within the transition team
When should tasks be implemented?
Set deadlines for tasks and create a timeline
Anticipate barriers and make plans to overcome themSlide44
5. Planning and prioritizingSlide45
Timeline example
PRESCHOOL
SUMMER
KINDERGARTEN
September
Family group
meetings
Inform
parents about home literacy
Activities
Research
locations for K-camp
K-camp fundraising
April
PS & K teachers
transition efforts
Class lists for K
Preschoolers visit
K
K-camp fundraising
Use
community
resources to
spread info about K-camp
June
Remind parents of home literacy
activities
School playground
nights
K-camp enrollment
August
Open houses
K teacher and
parents meet
K
screenings
K-camp
September
Back-to-school
nights
Foster family
connections
w/ teachersSlide46
6. Implementing and Evaluating
Implement the plan you have createdEvaluate: Is what you are doing working? How do you know?Examine data on newly implemented practices – do you see changes?
Modify practices as needed and define new goals Slide47
Resources on the Web
National Head Start Association – “Terrific Transitions”http://center.serve.org/TT/transiti.html
Enhancing the Transition to Kindergarten: Linking Children, Families & Schools
http://www.cpirc.org/vertical/Sites/%7B95025A21-DD4C-45C2-AE37-D35CA63B7AD9%7D/uploads/%7BB2FC278E-5FC7-47FA-9039-E69743ABAF64%7D.PDF
Easing the
Transition from Pre-k to Kindergarten: What Schools and Families Can do to Address Child Readinesshttp://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/rb/rb6-readiness.pdf Durham County’s Transition to Kindergarten Initiativehttp://www.dpfc.net/TransitiontoKindergartenInitiative.aspx Families as Primary Partners in their Child’s Development & School Readiness
www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/families.pdf What is Family Support?http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Families-Parent%20Involvement/Ongoing%20Communication/famcom_lea_09271_062005.html#family Back to School Time: Tips to Help Children Adjusthttp://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/virtual-library/1996/bck2schl.html NECTC Transition Tips: Toolkit of Practices and Strategieshttp://www.hdi.uky.edu/SF/NECTC/practicesearch.aspx Florida’s Transition Projecthttp://www.floridatransitionproject.ucf.edu/Slide48
This document was prepared under Grant #90HC0002 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, by the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning.