Effective transitions to kindergarten engage families and ease children into new environments. Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK), a program in a southeastern U.S. state that serves more than 1,000 children each year and is grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, partners kindergarten teachers and families to facilitate effective…

Kindergarten transition programs support successful school transitions for families and may reduce disparities in academic readiness upon school entry. Yet, access and participation in high-quality summer transition programs are lower among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study examined the impact of a summer kindergarten transition…

This study examined the impact of a virtual parenting intervention designed to support parents of incoming kindergartners (N = 45) by bolstering their parental self-efficacy during the summer of 2020, immediately following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this group-based intervention provided parents with weekly psychoeducation…

Based on the intersection of different systems at school entry, children and families often experience uncertainty about their preparedness and impending shift from other early childhood settings. This study used a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design and investigated the perspectives of parents and caregivers on kindergarten readiness with…

Many school districts provide one-time transition events to help students prepare for the rigors of kindergarten; yet, research shows families desire additional information and opportunities to help their children thrive once school begins. Researchers for this study interviewed 39 parents whose children participated in a three-week structured…

Intervention research in education investigates whether and how particular educational programs help students learn. Treatment effect heterogeneity, or variation in a program's impact, makes this effort more complicated, because it means more work must be done to understand what works, for whom, and in what contexts. This dissertation consists of…

The Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK) program was developed to increase family awareness of kindergarten expectations, create a positive relationship with families, and support smooth school transition and kindergarten readiness for children who were from diverse backgrounds and/or had adverse experiences. We used a mixed methods design to study the…

Transition to kindergarten is an important developmental milestone for children and families. This study explored factors associated with kindergarten readiness focusing on the impact of a summer kindergarten transition program. A mixed-method design was employed, and the qualitative data from interviews with 16 randomly selected kindergarten…

This longitudinal quantitative study determined the impact of a summer mathematics academy for early learners on their number sense and how their number sense compared to that of their peers who did not attend the academy. The Texas Early Mathematics Inventory -- Progress Monitoring (TEMI-PM) was used to measure students' number sense. Results…

Research Findings: The global COVID-19 pandemic prevented the implementation of in-person summer learning programs designed to improve school readiness for entering kindergartners. Thus, we conducted the current study examining the feasibility, social validity, and preliminary impacts of a virtual summer learning program. Ninety-one preschoolers…

During a school day, children make several transitions between activities, which can take away from instructional time and result in challenging behaviors. This study investigates the impact positive engagement and behavioral supports have on children's behavior while transitioning. Participants (N = 40; 77.5% Male; 92.5% Hispanic) were enrolled…

Research Findings: This study evaluated the impacts of the Summer Preschools Program on 5-to-6-year-old Syrian refugee and local children from vulnerable communities of Turkey. Developed as a community-based contextually sensitive early intervention model, the program aimed to promote developmental well-being and school readiness of children from…

This report examines the beginning-of-year (BOY) reading performance of English learners (ELs) who attended summer school in June 2019. Summer school ELs' performance on the Texas Kindergarten Entry Assessment (TX-KEA) and iStation Indicators of Progress (ISIP) was compared to that of similar ELs who did not attend summer school. Spanish-speaking…

As the availability of high-quality, center-based prekindergarten (pre-K) has increased, so too has the attention given to children's learning experiences in the summer between pre-K and kindergarten. Investment in summer learning programs may help sustain the effects of pre-K and also boost the outcomes of children who don't enroll in a formal…

This quasi-experimental pilot study examined the use of the Preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum during the summer prior to kindergarten entry for preschool-age children. The purpose of the study was to examine if participation in the summer Preschool PATHS curriculum would lead to increased levels of…