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The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perceptions of children entering kindergarten and their understanding of school readiness. In this collective case study, drawing on parent interviews and artifact sampling and guided by discourse analysis (Gee, 2015), I employed Saldaña's (2021) cycle coding methods to explore the themes of what parents perceive and co-construct as 'school readiness'. Data collected for this study includes video recorded interviews of four participants as well as artifacts of their child(ren)'s classroom assessments, parent-teacher conference forms and packets, and a checklist shared by the parents. The findings of the study showed parents' perception of school readiness is a limited list of basic skills, emotional skills, social skills, and "doing school behaviors". Furthermore, parents can co-construct with their child's teacher a better understanding of school readiness and believe that assessments do not adequately measure their child's school readiness. This study is useful to professionals in the early childhood field by showing ways to close the discrepancy between what parents believe school readiness is and what schools expect of incoming kindergarten students.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to long-term closures of schools and drastic changes in the way educational services were delivered. While children of all ages were affected, those in pre-kindergarten were arguably affected the most severely. The intent of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) is to prepare children for the academic rigors of kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness is described as the minimum set of skills necessary to enable a young child to successfully transition into kindergarten. The educational progress of the children who were temporarily taught at home during COVID-19 depended largely on the ability of their parents to adequately foster education. However, education was not the only vital school-based service interrupted. School closures meant that many children also missed out on free or reduced-priced meals provided by schools, increasing the risk of hunger for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The present study, therefore, conducted timely empirical research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kindergarten readiness. This study examined the change in kindergarten readiness pass rates from 70 Florida school districts for the school years 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, and whether or not reliance on free and reduced lunch affected these rates. Mean pass rates increased during the three years. The 2018 school year had a mean pass rate of 51.9 percent, followed by 53 percent in 2019, and 53.9 percent in the 2020 school year. However, the only statistically significant difference was between the academic years of 2018 and 2020. As rates of children receiving free or reduced-price meals increased, pass rates generally decreased. The current study indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic did not negatively impact kindergarten readiness in Florida but being of lower socioeconomic status (SES) negatively impacted the pass rates. Additional research is needed to further investigate findings, including examining the 2021-2022 school year data to learn how the pandemic and SES affect long-term kindergarten readiness.

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Research Findings: This study evaluated the effects of an early mathematics intervention designed to engage preschool children, their teachers, and their families in an interactive mathematics game. Previous research shows that playing this specific type of linear board game results in increased numerical skills and understanding in young children under controlled conditions. The current study explores the game’s effectiveness under more natural conditions–a classroom-based intervention with teachers and a related family engagement component. A pilot study informed a larger-scale experiment, comparing outcomes in multiple skill domains (verbal counting, counting on, number line estimation, numeral magnitude, and numeral recognition) with those of control group children who played memory matching games. The analysis sample included 256 children in classrooms that were randomly selected from volunteer teachers and randomly assigned within 10 centers to either the treatment group (mathematics games, 23 teachers) or the comparison condition (matching games, 22 teachers). The intervention resulted in positive impacts for numeral identification, but not the other domains. The number of math games played was positively associated with verbal counting. No impact of family game play was found; however, implementation challenges could have influenced this finding. Practice or Policy: Including simple, research-informed mathematics board games in the preschool classroom can support mathematical learning. Future work must include families and educators in the design of these supports.

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The purpose of this study was to compare three groups of students: (1) those who were served in a transitional first grade program by a teacher having an interactionist philosophy, (2) those who were previously retained in grade, and (3) a random sample of regularly promoted students. This study used the philosophical orientation of the teacher as the indicator for the type of transitional program (independent variable). The age of the student (birthdate) was also used as an independent variable. The dependent variables used to make these comparisons were ability scores, achievement scores, self-esteem scores, and attendance.;Findings indicate that no significant difference occurred between students formerly served in a transitional program and students who had been retained for any of the dependent variables measured. Regularly promoted students had significantly higher achievement scores and ability scores normed by age than the other two groups. Grade level comparisons revealed no significant difference for measures of ability. There was no birthdate effect present on achievement test scores for the students in this study. There was no interaction present between the group and the student's birthdate. There were no significant differences found among the three groups on self-concept and motivation scores, nor did the students in these three groups differ on the number of days absent from school. Several conclusions were drawn. First, there was no evidence found from this study to indicate that being served in a transitional program was any more beneficial than being retained. Second, successful transitional programs found in the literature had the characteristics of interactionism. From this study, a teacher with an interactionist philosophy, in and of itself, was not enough to produce achievement results for students in a transitional program comparable to those of regularly promoted students. Third, it is recommended that the student's ability be a primary consideration for placement into a transitional program. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

The COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted the entire world. Teachers have been challenged throughout this time to adapt their teaching practices amidst a constantly changing environment. The purpose of this study was to answer the research questions: (1) how did teachers' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic vary between the United States and Venezuela? And (2) what do teachers perceive they need to better support children in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic? This research used an interpretive, case study approach through kindergarten teacher interviews and curricula analysis. Teachers were included in the study if they had taught for more than five years and less than 15; served between 15 and 30 children in their classrooms during the pandemic; were lead teachers during the pandemic; and had a bachelor's degree in education. To respond to the pandemic, teachers experienced changes between the initial response and subsequent teaching approaches, they acquired new skills, used different forms of technology, were influenced by students' ages, had challenges with the home environment, found support from families, had to provide support to families, they required support, utilized school resources, and developed COVID-19 safety measures. Teachers in both countries had to provide increased support for children's wellbeing, but, in Venezuela, teachers had a stronger academic emphasis. To support children beyond the pandemic, teachers from both countries spoke about requiring materials, professional support, and comprehension from administrators towards their work. Teachers from both countries demonstrated low concerns about the future of young children.