Prior research has clearly established the substantial expected payoffs to investments in early childhood education. However, the ability to deliver early childhood programs differs across communities with access to high quality programing especially hard to establish in rural communities. We study one program, Early Steps to School Success, to…

Background/Context: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted family life in myriad ways, including increasing family stress and reducing access to early care and education experiences. Such factors suggest that children's early learning and development may have been negatively impacted, which would have long-term implications for necessary school support.…

Research Findings: Kindergarten is the gateway to education and a point of great variability in children's knowledge and skills. As a result, there is keen interest in kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) to understand and address gaps in early skills. This study rigorously investigated the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Kindergarten Entry…

Background: Early childhood is a formative period during which distinguishable development has projections of bearing desirable outcomes within an individual. Hence, physical, language, cognitive, emotional and social independence are healthy components of a typical child's development that early childhood development (ECD) educators deem…

Ready for Kindergarten! Survey (R4K!S) is a readiness assessment of children entering kindergarten about students' knowledge and skills within the first six to ten weeks of school. There are many interpretations of what constitutes "readiness." Vermont's concept of children's readiness is multidimensional; it includes social and…

In Maryland, one way children's well-being is measured is by looking at the data from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). While the data can illustrate how children perform on various indicators across language and literacy, mathematics, social foundations, and physical well-being and motor development, it is really a reflection of the…

In Maryland, one way children's well-being is measured is by looking at the data from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). While the data can illustrate how children perform on various indicators across language and literacy, mathematics, social foundations, and physical well-being and motor development, it is really a reflection of the…

Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement. This research sought to explore whether a physical intervention programme (Movement for Learning) can improve children's physical development. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd edition,…

Students who enter kindergarten without school readiness skills are more likely to demonstrate academic, behavioral, and social struggles during school. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are particularly at risk for underdeveloped school readiness skills, which can undermine academic achievement and result in poor long-term outcomes.…