This book examines the issue of school readiness, focusing on children's readiness for entrance into kindergarten and promotion to first grade. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on school readiness, exploring trends in policy related to readiness and readiness as a child-centered characteristic. Chapter 2 examines various theoretical frameworks for studying readiness. The research approach used in the study is outlined in chapter 3. Chapter 4 examines the kindergarten curriculum objectives and the district report card of a specific school district. Chapters 5 through 7 evaluate kindergarten programs at three different schools in the above-mentioned district. In these chapters, a discussion of the meaning of kindergarten uses information derived from classroom observations and interviews with administrators, teachers, parents, and students. In chapter 8, the meanings of kindergarten readiness in the three schools are compared, and some general conclusions about readiness and the kindergarten experience are presented. Six appendixes present: (1) the study design and elements; (2) school district core conceptual objectives for kindergarten; (3) examples of mathematics objectives; (4) a district kindergarten report card; (5) a tabular comparison of core conceptual objectives and the kindergarten report card objectives; and (6) a curriculum for early prevention of school failure. Contains 140 references. (MDM)