Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…

Each year, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their teachers. It includes valuable trend data about…

Each year, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) informs policymakers and practitioners of what children know and are able to do when they start formal education in kindergarten. This report, which is unique in its kind nationally, provides a profile of children's skill levels as they enter school based on the evaluation of their…

This evaluation study examined changes in school readiness among 35 children who participated during the 2002-2003 fiscal year in two programs: (1) Project Family Read, an educational and parent education program operating during the school year for families of children not enrolled in regulated child care in Granville County, North Carolina; and…

This document is a description of the National Children's Study, the largest long-term study of children's health and development ever to be conducted in the United States. The National Children's Study reaffirms the federal government's commitment to the health and well being of children by drawing together the nation's top experts on child…

This videotape, with accompanying discussion guide, addresses issues of young children's learning readiness and the readiness of the school to teach young children. The 50-minute videotape, for use as a stand-alone instruction video in one sitting or as an accompaniment to group discussions or to a self-study program, is geared toward informal…

Argues that Soviet secondary school students' readiness to continue learning is important to pedagogy and the state. Reports research indicating that most tenth grade graduates planned to continue schooling. Concludes that secondary school guidance inadequately promotes some forms of continuing education. Reveals student attitudes about various…

While the notion of starting education early with children has gained momentum in the public's mind, our public policies and investments still do not reflect society's increasing knowledge of how the human brain grows and how very early experiences beginning at birth affect a child's future. Arguing that if policymakers fail to include the needs…

The use of readiness assessment rather than chronological age for admission to kindergarten is proposed. The article examines why this approach is needed, how it might be accomplished, and the relative advantages of admitting by readiness assessment compared to chronological age. (JDD)

Commissioned by the Foundation for Child Development, this report examines the state of universal prekindergarten in the United States and the challenges to its widespread implementation. The report describes socioeconomic and ethnic/racial differences in school readiness and maintains that policymakers need to identify mechanisms in addition to…

While children are ready for school by virtue of having attained the chronological age for school entry established by the state, school readiness refers to the conditions that promote their readiness to succeed in school. Wisconsin is one of 17 states participating in the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative, the aim of which is to…

These hearing transcripts present testimony before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the 105th Congress on early childhood education and related services. Participants provided different perspectives on early education, focusing on the academic achievement of American students, especially in comparison to students in other countries;…

Ensuring that children enter school ready to learn is now a well-established national goal. Dramatic changes over the past three decades in U.S. families and the economy, as well as emerging research on the importance of early brain development, have increased the demand for public investments in early childhood supports and services, especially…

This publication is part of a package of three booklets that synthesize current knowledge about the preconditions for learning in children and discuss ways of fostering these conditions. (The other two booklets are an executive summary of this report and a collection of five vignettes on services for infants, toddlers, and families). This report…

Designed to guide preschool reform efforts and stimulate widespread interest and involvement, this publication calls for statewide, systemic reform to provide a continuum of community-based, family-centered, prevention-oriented services to children and their families. The publication begins by identifying the factors that enhance school readiness.…