Helping smooth the transition to kindergarten

The schools and districts profiled in the four communities in this report have taken different steps to help smooth the transition to kindergarten for children and families, with a particular emphasis on promoting equity by focusing on better serving children from low-income families. Because of the historic divide between early learning and the formal K–12 school system, it will require years of dedicated effort to truly establish a system that ensures students and families a transition into a kindergarten classroom that is prepared to receive them and provide them with a high-quality learning experience starting on the very first day of school. While the practices highlighted here are focused on different components of the transition to kindergarten, they all represent promising approaches for helping students begin kindergarten with the greatest chance of success possible, both in kindergarten and in the grades that follow.