Facilitating the Transition to Kindergarten: What ECLS-K Data Tell Us about School Practices Then and Now

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher

Examines how schools use kindergarten transition practices to help children adjust to formal schooling, leveraging two nationally representative ECLS-K cohorts. Finds a modest increase over time in the number of transition practices offered, but fewer are provided in traditionally underserved schools. Analyzes eight ways schools smooth the transition and discusses how readiness assessments are used to identify skills and needs for additional testing.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research focus and transition practice categories

Literature Review

Evidence on early educational experiences

Findings and implications

Trends across cohorts and underserved schools

AERA Open July-September 2016, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 1–18 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858416655766 © The Author(s) 2016. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com) Facilitating the Transition to Kindergarten: What ECLS-K Data Tell Us about School Practices Then and Now Michael H. Little Lora Cohen-Vogel University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill F. Chris Curran University of Maryland Leveraging data from two nationally representative cohorts from the ECLS-K (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study– Kindergarten), we examine the types of transition practices that schools use to ease children’s adjustment to formal schooling. The transition to kindergarten is a critical juncture in a child’s life that entails a host of social, behavioral, and academic changes. We find a modest increase between the two cohorts in the number of transition practices that schools offer children and their families, although we also find that fewer of these practices are offered in traditionally underserved schools. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings and suggest areas for future research. Keywords: ECLS-K, kindergarten transition, school readiness, kindergarten readiness assessment The transition to kindergarten represents a critical juncture in the lives of children (LoCasale-Crouch et al. , 2012; McIntyre, Eckert, Fiese, DiGennaro, & Wildenger, 2007; Pianta, Cox, Taylor, & Early, 1999) . When children first step foot into their kindergarten classrooms, they are often entering a new world that entails unfamiliar social, behavioral, and academic expectations (Pianta & Cox, 1999) . Given a robust body of evidence suggesting that children’s early educational experiences can have cascading effects on school and later life outcomes, schools have a strong incentive for helping to smooth this transition (Barnett, 2011; Chetty, Friedman, Hilger, et al. , 2011; Chetty, Friedman, & Rockoff, 2011; Claessens, Duncan,& Engel, 2009; Duncan & Magnuson, 2013; Jenkins, Farkas, Duncan, Burchinal, & Vandell, 2016; Magnuson, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2007a, 2007b) . In this article, we focus on two types of transition practices: (a) the transition activities that elementary schools offer children and their families prior to and at the beginning of the kindergarten year, as well as (b) schools’use of readiness assessments to identify the skills that students bring with them. Between these two categories of transition practices, we examine the use of eight ways in which schools seek to smooth the transition into kindergarten. By drawing on data from two nationally representative cohorts in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten (ECLS-K), we further examine changes in schools’transition practices over time. The purpose of this article is not to evaluate the efficacy of transition practices for improving academic and noncognitive skills in early grades. That will need to be addressed by others using a different study design. Here, we are interested in revealing the prevalence of different transition practices, the distribution of those practices across varied school settings, and any changes in their use over time. Consistent with previous studies, our findings suggest that schools continue to be much more likely to report using low-intensity practices, such as sending information home to parents, than high-intensity practices, such as having a preschool class visit a kindergarten classroom. Additionally, we find that the use of readiness assessments is common among elementary school principals, who report using assessment results to individualize instruction and to identify children in need of additional testing. We also find a modest increase in the overall number of transition activities used by elementary schools between 1998–1999 and 2010–2011, as well as changes in the proportion of schools using specific types of transition activities. Apart from changes in the types of activities used, we find substantive shifts in

FAQs

What does the study examine about kindergarten transitions?

It examines the types of transition practices schools use to help children adjust to kindergarten and how schools use readiness assessments to identify students’ incoming skills.

What trends did the authors find in transition practices over time?

The study reports a modest increase between cohorts in the number of transition practices offered, along with changes in the proportions of schools using specific activity types.

How do underserved schools differ in offering transition practices?

Schools serving traditionally underserved student populations report using fewer transition activities, meaning children who could benefit most are less likely to receive them.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher