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Summary of Questions from Webinar 6:
Ensuring School Readiness Through Successful Transitions

Responses from Speakers and National PIRC Coordination Center

Questions and Answers
Responses written by Sharon Ritchie, Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

1. What specific competencies should teacher and principal preparation programs incorporate into their curriculum to ensure that candidates are committed to and skilled in promoting successful transitions for young children?

Please see our brief on this topic on the First School Web site [www.firstschool.us]

21st Century Teacher Education for First School: A Model of Collaborative Inquiry (New, Ritchie, & Boone, 2009)
Resource available at http://www.firstschool.us/firstschool-briefs-21st-century-teacher-education-firstschool-model-collaborative-inquiry

2. Where are MI Districts participating in the program?

• Lansing School District: Gier Park Elementary and El Shabaaz Academy
• Pontiac School District: Jefferson Whittier Elementary
• Kalkaska County: Birch Street Elementary

3. Please provide more information on the formation and work of family engagement teams?

We use the following actions to foster the formation of family engagement teams:

1. Develop a Family-School Team—this team should be diverse in terms of school leadership, grade level teachers, school personnel, parents, and community members; this team should also be thought of similarly as grade level teams.
2. Collect data through different methods and sources (e.g., focus groups, surveys, etc.).
   1. E.g., conduct a focus group—schools should identify with the help of First School (FS) the subpopulation(s), recruitment strategy, location, logistics, purpose, number of meetings, facilitator(s), transcriber or note-taker, analyst, etc.
   2. E.g., conduct a survey from families and teachers about home-school partnership
   3. E.g., collect other data of interest to address the questions, such as school attendance
3. Analyze all data.
4. Present data in meaningful way:
   1. E.g., snapshot of information at the whole-school level, grade level, subpopulation level
   2. E.g., determine from the Family-School Team the questions and data that can help provide information
5. Summarize findings from all relevant data sources—the purpose is to triangulate all information and note the "key findings" of the data.
6. Family-School Team will identify their focus/foci.
7. Develop a Family-School Partnership Action Plan. The plan will have the strategies identified by the Family-School Team and the individuals who will implement the strategies, including how, how much, and when. Finally, the plan will have a monitoring and evaluation component to ensure that the strategy is being implemented as intended and progress and outcomes will be assessed.
8. Repeat the steps the following year ensuring that the focus/foci and strategies from Year 1 are built into the data collection.

Questions and Answers
Responses written by Whitcomb Hayslip, Early Childhood Education Consultant and Former Assistant Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District

1. What makes the CA standards among the most rigorous in the nation?

California is in the process of adopting /adapting the Common Core Standards which will result in new standards for kindergarten. There are many steps in this process including revision of curriculum and assessment materials meaning that full implementation will occur over a number of years. The current California Kindergarten Standards in Language Arts and Math were adopted in 1997 and reflect a skill level that previously would have been expected in the first grade.

A copy of those standards available on the California Department of Education web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

2. What is the age level for the transitional kindergarten program?

The new California legislation mandates that the program be provided for children who turn five between September 1st and December 2nd of their enrollment year. There are more than 120,000 children each year in California who fall within that age range. The legislation, however, also allows for the enrollment of older children who turn five prior to September 1st if the family and the school district agree that transitional kindergarten is the appropriate program.

3. What assessment tools are used in the program?

At this point there are no mandated statewide assessment tools in California for the transitional kindergarten program. The Los Angeles Unified School District is using a variety of assessment tools including

• Children’s Progress Academic Assessment© (CPAA)
  Information on this assessment available at http://www.childrensprogress.com/
• preLAS2000®
  Information on this assessment available at http://www.ctb.com/ctb.com/control/ctbProductViewAction?p=products&productId=808
• California Desired Results Developmental Profile–School Readiness© (DRDP-SR, Field Study Version)
  Information on the Desired Results’ assessment approach available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/desiredresults.asp
  Reference materials and forms for the Desired Results’ available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/drdpforms.asp

4. In what ways could collaborations between transitional kindergartens and other preK programs (i.e., Head Start or other state or local preschool programs) create a stronger base of support for very young children?

There is growing acknowledgement of the importance of coordinating educational programs for children across the preschool through third grade level (P-3). This is much more than a single “hand-off” at transition from preschool to kindergarten. It includes aligning strategies and resources within and across grade levels and joint planning and professional development for staff. California State Early Childhood Advisory Councils across the country are developing models for this P-3 collaboration. The following resources can also help to support this approach:

• Resources from the Foundation for Child Development available at http://www.fcd-us.org/our-work/prek-3rd-education
• Resources from the Annie Casey Foundation available at http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Education/EarlyChildhoodSchoolReadiness.aspx.

Frequently Asked Questions and Family and Community Engagement Suggestions and Resources
Responses created by National PIRC Coordination Center

1. What strategies help to bring a program to scale?

The following resources provide information on scaling up program efforts:

2. What strategies would you recommend to support parent liaisons?

The following resources provide information on effective strategies for using parent liaisons:

3. What does “decoding” mean when a child learns to read?

When children successfully decode words—pronounce words correctly, they demonstrate their understanding of letter-sound relationships. The U.S. Department of Education publication, Put Reading First: Kindergarten Through Grade 3 (Armbruster, Lehr,& Osborn, 2008), provides detailed information and examples of the necessary knowledge and skills that children need to learn to read.

Resource available in PDF format at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf

4. What are the basic components of an early literacy program?

The U.S. Department of Education has a collection of information publications and helpful tools for parents and for those who work with parents to encourage early literacy development including the following:

• Early Beginnings: Early Literacy Knowledge and Instruction (2009) provides detailed information and extensive investigation of research on the implications of early childhood education on student achievement.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/NELPEarlyBeginnings09.pdf
  
  Learning to Talk and Listen: An Oral Language Resource for Early Childhood Caregivers (2010) includes background information and practical strategies to help young children develop literacy skills.
  Resource available at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/LearningtoTalkandListen.pdf
• A Child Becomes a Reader: Proven Ideas from Research for Parents: Birth Through Preschool (2006) offers suggestions for actions parents can take to support early literacy.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/reading_pre.pdf
• Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (2009) provides detailed information on effective practices that support literacy development for young children and recommendations for improvement.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/NELPSummary.pdf
• Literacy Begins at Home: Teach them to Read (2007) is a quick reference for parents as they support reading at home.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/Literacy_Home.pdf

5. How can family and community engagement provide greater support to early childhood programs?

The following SEDL resources provide information on effective family engagement in early childhood programs:

• Readiness: School, Family, and Community Connections (2004) reports on the findings from 48 research studies related to child readiness for school.
  Synthesis available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
• Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Can Schools Do to Address Child Readiness (2005) provides a basic review of the research and suggested strategies for supporting a child’s readiness for school.
  Research brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html
• How Can Schools Involve Family and Community Members in Supporting a Child's Readiness for School (2006) is an online, interactive module providing information on key issues and strategies to promote readiness.
  Online interactive brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/interactive-briefs.html

The following Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) resources provide information on preparing young children for school:

• In The Transition to Kindergarten: A Review of Current Research and Promising Practices to Involve Families, Bohan-Baker and Little (2002) present a review of current research and suggested practices for family involvement in children's transition to kindergarten.
  Article available at http://www.hfrp.org/content/download/1165/48670/file/bohan.pdf
• Created for the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, Ongoing Child Assessment and Family Engagement: New Opportunities to Engage Families in Children’s Learning and Development (2011) describes the importance of child assessment data as a tool for increasing meaningful family and community engagement.
  Article available in PDF format at http://www.hfrp.org/content/download/3877/105942/file/NCPFCE-OngoingChild%20Assessment-2011.pdf
• The Evaluation Exchange, Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation (2004, Summer) provides information on the following early childhood topics: (1) effective strategies, (2) policy, and (3) bridging the achievement gap.
  Article available in PDF format at http://www.hfrp.org/var/hfrp/storage/original/application/f2dd8f1de9603d4c6971851bf8c24ce5.pdf

6. What tools can we use to improve our program evaluations?

The following resources provide information and suggestions for developing effective evaluations:

• The American Evaluation Association has developed standards to help strengthen the evaluation process.
  Standards summary available at http://www.eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesPrintable.asp
• The National Parenting Education Network Web page, Brief Introduction to Evaluation, provides information on (1) what a systemic evaluation means, (2) standards and guiding principles for evaluation, (3) suggestions for developing logic models in evaluation, and (4) elements of an effective evaluation design.
  Web site available at http://npen.org/parent-educators/evaluating/intro.html#oneb
• Harvard Family Research Project’s Winter 2004/2005 Evaluation Exchange presents detailed information, examples, and suggested practices for evaluation of family involvement programs.
  Exchange available in PDF format at http://www.hfrp.org/var/hfrp/storage/original/application/66deb326cc2a3844f386c49d98e18758.pdf
• Developing An Effective Evaluation Strategy: Suggestions for Federal and State Education Officials (2007) provides specific information on six issues to consider in planning an evaluation process.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://evidencebasedpolicy.org/docs/Developing-a-successful-program-evaluation-strategy.pdf
• Six Steps to Effective Evaluation (2007) describes six issues to consider in planning an evaluation process.
  Resource available in PDF format at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/digitisation/SixStepsHandbook.pdf

7. What are some examples of schools getting ready for students instead of students getting ready for school?

A ready school fosters a welcoming culture for students and their families and is committed to ensuring that every child has a quality education. The following resources provide information on efforts to create ready schools:

• The North Carolina Ready School Initiative Web site provides detailed information on (1) a definition and pathways to a ready school; (2) assessment and planning for ready schools; and (3) ready school models. The site also contains archives of presentation materials that provide additional information on this program.
  Web site available at http://www.ncreadyschools.org//index.html
• Linking Ready Kids to Ready Schools: A Report on Policy Insights From the Governors’ Forum Series (2009) presents information and lessons on efforts in Arizona, Connecticut, Mississippi, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to transition young children into school.
  Report is available in PDF format at http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED507714
• The October 2001 Child Trends Research Brief is devoted to issues related to school readiness. The brief defines school readiness and ready schools and provides a framework for community engagement to ensure that every child has a quality education.
  Brief available in PDF format at http://www.childtrends.org/files/schoolreadiness.pdf
• Continuity in Early Childhood: A Framework for Home, School, and Community Linkages (2002) presents information on a wide range of early childhood issues, including ready schools.
  Guide available in PDF format at http://www.terrifictransitions.org/TT/Continuity%20in%20Early.pdf
• Nine Pathways to Ready Schools (Kellogg Foundation, 2007) provides a list of characteristics for effective programs.
  List available in PDF format at http://ww2.wkkf.org/DesktopModules/WKF.00_DmaSupport/ViewDoc.aspx?LanguageID=0&CID=168&ListID=28&ItemID=5000310&fld=PDFFile