Transition to Kindergarten and Child Outcomes

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August and September mark the start of the school year for America’s children, and for the more than 3.7 million children who the U.S. Department of Education estimates will enroll in public kindergarten this fall, this time represents a critical period of transition. Child care and early education programs and schools undertake a variety of research-based practices and approaches to facilitate children’s adjustment to kindergarten. Particular attention has been paid to the transitions of children with special needs; the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Early Childhood Transition Center to examine factors that promote successful transitions for young children with disabilities and their families. However, for typically developing children, there has been less research examining the practices and programs that support their kindergarten transitions. This Topic of Interest identifies the reports and journal articles in the Research Connections collection that offer research findings on the relationship of transition practices and programs to the developmental and school outcomes of typically developing children. (author abstract)

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