Preschool to kindergarten transition activities: involvement and satisfaction of families and teachers.

Abstract. This paper describes a preschool to kindergarten transition project in which families and teachers participated as part of the National Center/or Early Learning and Development's Kindergarten Transition Project. Over 80 high-risk children and families were followed from preschool through kindergarten. Family workers employed by the school system facilitated transition activities such as parent orientations, newsletters, and interactions with kindergarten teachers. Families and teachers were interviewed, and they completed questionnaires about their participation in and satisfaction with these activities. Results indicated that, when offered the opportunity, the vast majority of families participated in transition activities. Work schedules were the greatest barrier to families' participation. With respect to teachers, the majority of preschool teachers visited kindergarten classrooms with their preschool children. Although kindergarten teachers were involved in these visits, fewer kindergarten teach ers reported participating in transition activities overall. Kindergarten teachers reported summer work not supported by salaries and class lists being generated too late as the greatest barriers to participating in transition activities. Results are discussed in relation to parent involvement with schools, and have implications for the implementation of transition plans in preschools and kindergartens.

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The transition to kindergarten presents a major change for both children and families. Discontinuity in the form of differing contexts and differing demands exists for children and families as they leave the preschool year and enter kindergarten (Love, Logue, Trudeau, & Thayer, 1992). The results from a nationwide survey of kindergarten teachers in the United States indicate that although 95% of teachers implement practices to facilitate the transition from preschool to kindergarten for children and families, the vast majority of such practices are implemented after school starts and involve minimal contact with individual children and/or families (Pianta, Cox, Taylor, & Early, 1999). While teachers may send letters home or talk with children's parents after school starts, transition activities that link elementary schools with local preschools and early educational settings, and that establish effective communication with families and children before the start of school, are the exception, despite educators' recommendations for precisely these kinds of practices (e.g., National Education Goals Panel, 1998).

The importance of the transition to formal schooling is well-documented (Entwisle & Alexander, 1999; Love et al., 1992; Pianta, et al., 1999). Kindergarten provides children the experiences to draw conclusions about school and their abilities as learners in school (Pianta & Cox, 1999). Trajectories of school performance tend to remain relatively stable over time; children who experience success early on in school generally continue to demonstrate success in social competence and academic achievement (Alexander & Entwisle, 1988; Ramey & Campbell, 1991; Schweinhart, Weikart, & Larner, 1986). However, children who have a difficult transition to school and difficulty in adjusting to school usually have trouble catching up with their peers (Alexander & Entwisle, 1988).

Children's adjustment in the transition to school relies upon relationships with, and within, a wide array of contexts and persons, including the family, elementary schools and teachers, peers, and preschools and preschool teachers (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000). Interactions among these contexts and persons can be important sources of support that foster early school success, particularly for children who may find transition to school to be a particular challenge (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000). Within this framework, the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) undertook a two-year kindergarten transition intervention project that involved establishing informational and personal links among persons and settings involved in high-risk children's transition to kindergarten.

NCEDL designed an approach to assist in fostering successful transitions, using a conceptual model of the transition process that is based on research in early childhood and elementary education, as well as on theories that emphasize and describe the ecology of child development, using a systems theory model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1997; Pianta & Walsh, 1996; Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 1999; Sameroff, 1995). This approach expands from a focus on children's "readiness" skills as the key to transition success to an emphasis on relationships within and across contexts, as well as the continuity (or discontinuity) in these relationships overtime. For example, if parents have positive relationships with their children's teachers, then teachers and parents can work more effectively together to support children's educational progress, regardless of children's skill levels (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000). A network of connections can support children and families during the transition to school and serve as a resource for children. These types of social connections support competencies in young children that aid in their school success (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000). Peer connections that continue from children's preschool years into kindergarten also can help ease children's transition to school by being a source of familiarity and an avenue for building social competencies (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000).

This project was carried out in two different types of programs: a centralized city program for 4-year-olds and a county program located in four distinct elementary schools. Families in these programs were paired with a "family worker" who facilitated transition activities that were consistent with four organizing principles for involving families in positive relationships with schools (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000). The transition activities offered to families and teachers were selected from a menu organized around family-school connections, child-school connections, peer connections, and community connections. Through preschool and the beginning of kindergarten, families reported whether or not they participated in transition activities sponsored by the school, such as visiting a kindergarten teacher, attending kindergarten registration, or touring the elementary school. Families also reported the activities they participated in at home that would assist in preparing both their child and family for kindergar ten, such as practicing the daily routine of getting ready for school, reading stories to their child about starting kindergarten, and talking with other parents of school-age children. Preschool and kindergarten teachers reported the transition activities that they participated in as well as those activities that children in their classrooms participated in, such as visiting a kindergarten classroom. Both families and teachers also reported the "helpfulness" of the activities in which they participated, as well as barriers to their participation in transition-related activities.

Thus, as noted above, this article presents descriptive findings on what types of transition activities are used by a range of personnel under conditions in which there is substantial support and encouragement to design and use such practices, and the extent to which usage varies as a function of program organization. Specifically, the paper addressed the following questions: 1) When offered a range of transition activities and provided with support to engage in them, in which transition activities do families participate to prepare their children for kindergarten and which ones do they find helpful? 2) What barriers do families report with regard to participating in transition activities? 3) In what transition activities do preschool and kindergarten teachers participate, and which of these activities do they find helpful?, and 4) What barriers do kindergarten teachers report with regard to participating in transition activities? Program differences in relation to these questions also were examined. As a des cription of constituents' use and satisfaction with transition activities under conditions of support and facilitation provided by project staff, the results of this study provide information on the receptivity of parents and teachers to alter and expand their involvement in transition, as well as on the feasibility of initiatives to enrich transition opportunities. These results can be informative for localities or professionals interested in enhancing their transition activities, consistent with initiatives aimed at improving school readiness and integrating early childhood education with K through 12.

Method

Participants

This project enrolled over 100 children from two preschool programs, their families, and their teachers in a study of the implementation of a comprehensive set of transition activities. The goal was to understand how parents and teachers would participate in transition activities, given appropriate opportunities and support. Families became involved in the project as their children entered preschool, and they were followed through their children's kindergarten year. Teachers and family workers from the preschool programs, as well as kindergarten teachers in elementary schools, were involved in the project. Family workers were hired and funded (partially by the project) to provide support and facilitate the implementation of transition activities throughout the year. These personnel assisted in the actual implementation of such transition activities as taking groups of children to kindergarten classrooms, developing and maintaining relationships with families, and fostering parents' use of readiness-enhancing practices at home. During home visits, for example, family workers facilitated math and literacy activities with children and their parents, and they provided books and other materials for families' continued use.

Child and family characteristics. The original cohort consisted of 110 children (62 males, and 48 females); 70 were African American, 31 Caucasian, 3 were Hispanic, and 6 had other ethnic backgrounds. During the preschool year, 15 children dropped out of the study due to moving out of the area, declining to participate in the study, or dropping out of the preschool program. Therefore, data were collected on 95 families during the preschool year. Through attrition, largely due to family mobility, a total of 24 children (22%) of the original cohort of 110 eventually left the project. As a result, data were collected from 86 children and families during the kindergarten year.

Ninety-one of the original children qualified for the free or reduced lunch program. Over 50% of the children did not have their biological father or mother's partner living with them at any time. Twenty-three percent of the mothers had depression scores from the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff, 1977) that ranged in the top quartile. A risk index was calculated from these data by assigning a score of 0 or 1 for each of the following potential risk factors: eligibility for free/reduced lunch, child's father or mother's partner ever living in the home, and mother's score on the CES-D being in the top quartile of the sample. The risk variable ranged from 0-3 for each child and family. Overall, 48% of the families had a risk score of 0 or 1 and 52% had a risk score of 2 or 3. Families in the centralized preschool program were generally considered a riskier group, 17% of these families had a risk score of 3 and 50% had a risk score of 2. In the school-based program, 6% of famili es had a risk score of 3 and 34% had a risk score of 2.

Teacher characteristics. Ten preschool teachers in 10 preschool classrooms participated during the first year. Eight were Caucasian and two were African American. All 10 were female. Seven had bachelor's degrees, and three had master's degrees. Teachers' level of experience ranged from one to 26 years, with a mean of 10 years' experience. Thirty-seven kindergarten teachers from 12 elementary schools participated in the second year. All were women; 36 were Caucasian and one had another ethnic background. Twenty-six had bachelor's degrees, 10 had master's degrees, and one had an Ed.D. degree. Kindergarten teachers' years of experience ranged from three to 28, with a mean of 16 years' experience.

Preschool program characteristics. Two state-funded preschool programs for 4-year-old children were included in the intervention. Children's eligibility for enrollment in these preschool programs was based on developmental, behavioral, health, or family needs. Developmental and behavioral needs were identified through cognitive, motor, speech/language, and social/behavioral screenings of the children. The criteria for family needs included family eligibility for free and reduced lunch, parents' educational level, and family involvement with community agencies, such as the social services and health departments.

One school-based preschool program served residents in a large geographical area surrounding a central city, consisting of four classrooms in four separate elementary schools. As these preschool classrooms were located in the elementary school building or on the school campus, the children thus were generally in close physical proximity to the kindergarten classroom that they would be attending the following year. The second program involved a centralized preschool center serving city residents with six classrooms for 4-year-old children. To foster family and peer connections, the children in these classrooms were grouped according to their anticipated enrollment in a specific elementary school. Of the original cohort, 63 children attended the school-based program; 47 children attended the centralized program.

Family worker characteristics. Eight family workers participated in the project during the preschool year. All were female. Seven were Caucasian and one was African American. Five family workers had master's degrees, one had a bachelor's degree, and one had a specialization in special education. Years of experience as a family worker or teacher ranged from .3 to 3.5 years.

Family workers assigned to the school-based preschool programs continued to work with the same families through elementary school. In the centralized program, different program personnel took on the role of family worker; one preschool family worker continued to follow several families through kindergarten, a former teacher at one of the participating elementary schools followed another group in the preschool year and the elementary school guidance counselor served this function in kindergarten, and a final group was followed by the program coordinator for the project.

Intervention Design

The NCEDL transition intervention was developed as a collaborative effort with local schools. A team that included preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, family workers, principals, other community representatives, and NCEDL staff collaboratively designed and oversaw implementation of transition activities. The transition activities were consistent with the ecological conceptualization of transition and focused on the relationships and contexts involved in the transition process. A key component of the intervention project was the availability of family workers who served as a bridge of continuity for families from preschool through kindergarten and assisted in data collection by interviewing the families.

Transition activities were developed in four categories: family-school connections, child-school connections, peer connections, and community connections. The team recommended a "menu-based" approach to implementation of transition activities that offered families a wide variety of experiences consistent with general principles of effective transition activities (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000), rather than a standardized program in which all participants were exposed to the same approach. An array of transition activities to promote familyschool connections was implemented, including parent meetings to discuss transition issues, informal activities for families at elementary schools to connect families (e.g., Thanksgiving lunches), and school orientations (e.g., Back-to-School Night). Child-school connections were established by having the preschoolers visit kindergarten classrooms, including the specific classroom where they were expected to be placed the following year. Preschool children also visited the elem entary school during special school-wide assemblies and spring fairs. Peer connections were fostered by activities such as the assignment of children to preschool classrooms based on their expected kindergarten classroom placements and linking preschoolers with kindergarten "buddies." Kindergarten children visited the preschool, and preschoolers visited the kindergarten class. Community connections were promoted through inter-school collaboration about classroom practices, curriculum, and specific children. A manual describing the framework and key principles of the transition plan, along with a menu of transition activities, was used as a training tool and made available to all participants (Kraft-Sayre & Pianta, 2000).

Data Collection and Instrumentation 

Data collection involved parent interviews and teacher questionnaires, beginning in the fall of 1998 and continuing through the winter of 2000. Information was gathered concerning families' and teachers' experiences with the intervention, including their participation in, and perceptions of, transition activities. Measures were designed to be sensitive to participants' use of the transition activities offered to them as well as experiences that arose as the child moved through preschool to kindergarten.

The Kindergarten Transition Project Parent Interviews were conducted through face-to-face interviews by school family workers, generally during a home visit. These interviews were completed in the fall, winter, and spring of the preschool year, and in the fall and winter during the kindergarten year. These interviews served the dual purpose of engaging families in relationships with schools, and gathering descriptions of transition-related activities in which they were involved. The parent interviews were based on questions included in national surveys (Love et al., 1992; Pianta et al., 1999) and on smaller scale research with similar families (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 1999). The family workers collaborated in the development of these interviews and also met on several occasions to practice conducting the interviews in a uniform manner, using a standard set of probes, and recording responses consistently.

During the spring preschool interview, parents were asked about the school activities in which they participated during the preschool year to prepare their children and themselves for kindergarten. Parents were prompted to respond as to whether they or their children participated in family-school transition activities, such as visiting the kindergarten classroom, meeting the kindergarten teacher, or attending a kindergarten orientation. For each activity, parents were asked if they participated in the activity and, if so, whether the activity was "very helpful," "somewhat helpful," "not helpful," or "not applicable." For data analysis purposes, "very helpful" and "somewhat helpful" were collapsed into one category.

In the fall kindergarten interview, parents were asked about home activities that they engaged in over the summer to prepare their children for kindergarten. Parents were asked to respond freely regarding their activities, and then the interviewer followed up with the remaining transition activities listed. These activities pertained to teaching the child school-related skills, preparing parents for kindergarten through specific activities, and orienting the child to school. During the winter kindergarten interview, parents were asked about barriers to involvement with their child's school. Specifically, the interviewer asked the parent, "Please tell me if any of the following have kept you from participating as much as you would like with (child's name)'s school." Parents were asked about various potential barriers, such as their need for child care, work schedules, transition, health problems, or discomfort with school.

In addition to these parent interview items, preschool and kindergarten teachers were asked to complete the Transition to Kindergarten Activities Questionnaire in the spring of the preschool year. This questionnaire asked respondents to indicate their participation with various transition to kindergarten activities and indicate whether the activities were "very useful," "somewhat useful," or "not useful." These activities included those offered through the intervention program during the spring of the preschool year, including preschool visits to either a generic kindergarten classroom or a specific kindergarten classroom, parent contacts with kindergarten teachers, kindergarten orientations, and the exchange of information between preschool and kindergarten teachers. Kindergarten teachers again were asked about their participation in transition activities in the fall of the kindergarten year, to ascertain any activities they may have participated in since the spring of the preschool year.

During the fall of the kindergarten year, the kindergarten teachers were asked about possible barriers to participating in transition activities. Respondents were asked to check any item that applied, such as class lists being generated too late, activities requiring work that were not supported by their salary, lack of parental interest, and lack of funds.

Results

Results are presented in relation to the following questions: 1) When offered a range of transition activities and provided with support to engage in them, in what transition activities do families participate and which activities do they find helpful? 2) What barriers do families report with regard to participating in transition activities? 3) In what transition activities do preschool and kindergarten teachers participate and which of these activities do they find helpful?, and 4) What barriers do kindergarten teachers report with regard to participating in transition activities? Program differences in relation to these questions also were examined.

Transition Activities Used by Families

Table 1 shows the preschool-sponsored transition activities in which families participated. Families are considered inclusive of the child; therefore, if the child participated in a transition activity, such as visiting a kindergarten classroom or meeting with school personnel, it is included under the category of family participation. Again, the transition activities for each program were implemented with the support of a family worker, who coordinated the activities. More than 50% of families reported participating in almost all of the transition activities offered. The transition activity in which most families participated was having their children visit a kindergarten classroom. Almost all children (96%) visited a kindergarten classroom, and over one-third of the children (38%) met their specific teacher for the next year. The transition activity that was reported least frequently by families was attending an orientation to kindergarten; only about one-third of families (31%) participated in this activit y. No significant differences were found between preschool program type (i.e., school-based or centralized) for the percentage of families participating in family-school transition activities, after controlling for family risk factors. Most important, when parents participated in the transition activities offered, the overwhelming majority found these activities to be helpful (see Table 1).

Table 2 displays the activities that families did at home to prepare their child and themselves for the transition to kindergarten. Some of the transition activities listed were offered by the schools, others were activities that families could do on their own. Overall, the majority of parents reported participating in activities separate from, and in addition to, what the school offered. More than two-thirds of parents taught their child school-related skills, such as learning their address and home phone number, in preparation for kindergarten, while more than 85% of parents reported talking with other parents about kindergarten. With regard to orienting children to school, almost all parents (95%) reported discussing behavior expectations with their child, and 92% of parents talked with their child about meeting new classmates. Fewer parents (41%) reported reading stories to their child about starting kindergarten.

Barriers to Participating in Transition Activities Reported by Families

Seven possible barriers to participation in transition activities were included in the family interview. Over half of the parents interviewed reported one (30%) or two (24%) barriers to participating in transition-related activities. An overwhelming majority of families (74%) reported that their work schedule interfered with their participation in transition activities for their child. Fewer than 20% of parents reported needing transportation, needing child care, having conflicts with their own school or training schedule, choosing not to participate, or not knowing others at the child's school as barriers to participation in transition activities. Fewer than 10% of families reported feeling uncomfortable at the school or having health problems that interfered with participation.

Transition Activities Used by Preschool and Kindergarten Teachers

Table 3 shows the percentage of preschool and kindergarten teachers who participated in transition activities and the percentage who found these transition activities helpful, if they used them. All of the preschool teachers reported having their children visit a kindergarten classroom, and an overwhelming majority of the preschool teachers (90%) visited the kindergarten classroom as well. Over half of the preschool teachers (60%) reported participating in spring orientation for parents or preschool children. Over half of the preschool teachers (60%) reported sharing written records with elementary school personnel. Fewer than half of the teachers met with kindergarten teachers about specific children or about the kindergarten curriculum. All of the preschool teachers who used these transition activities found nearly all of them to be helpful. Differences between programs were not examined, due to the small number of preschool teachers (n = 10).

The majority of kindergarten teachers reported participating in preschool to kindergarten transition activities involving preschool children and teachers visiting kindergarten classrooms. Fewer than half of kindergarten teachers reported participating in the spring kindergarten orientation. With the exception of school-wide activities, relatively few kindergarten teachers participated in transition activities that involved elementary school teachers or children going to the preschool classrooms. With regard to parent-school transition activities, over half of the kindergarten teachers participated in spring orientation for parents, but less than a quarter of them held a conference with parents of a preschool child. Kindergarten teachers generally did not participate in school-to-school transition activities, such as sharing records or meeting about curriculum, although about half of the kindergarten teachers met with preschool teachers about specific children. Importantly, if the kindergarten teachers partici pated in the transition activity, they found it to be helpful.

Barriers to Participating in Transition Activities Reported by Kindergarten Teachers

Relatively few kindergarten teachers reported multiple barriers to implementing transition activities. Over half of the teachers reported one (24%) or two (32%) of the barriers preventing their participation. The most frequently cited barrier (43%) was that transition activities require work during the summer that is not supported by their salaries. The second most frequently cited barrier (38%) was that class lists are generated too late to implement transition activities. Fewer than 10% of kindergarten teachers reported that danger was a barrier to implementing transition activities. In addition, fewer than 10% of kindergarten teachers reported that choosing not to do transition activities or feeling discouraged from contacting parents prior to the beginning of school were barriers to using transition activities. Preschool teachers were not asked about barriers to participation in transition activities.

Discussion

Under circumstances designed to encourage the use of transition activities, families and teachers engaged in a range of activities to familiarize children and families with kindergarten and school; many of these activities were new and not part of standard practice or experience. Although participation by kindergarten personnel was somewhat lower than for preschool teachers or families, it was clear from the interview responses that both families and teachers found transition activities in which they participated helpful. In this way, the results of this study portray the ecology of transition from preschool to kindergarten under conditions designed to foster connections and relationships. For the most part, these connections and relationships are often nonexistent or not fostered systematically (Christenson, Hurley, Sheridan, & Fenstermacher, 1997; National Household Education Survey ENHESI, 1996; Olson, 1990). However, these findings show that when offered opportunities to interact at multiple levels and in multiple ways, constituents in the transition process nearly always avail themselves of the opportunities and believe that participation in such activities is helpful, despite barriers that may be present. Thus, the results of the present study suggest it is possible and even feasible to initiate policies and practices that provide a richer linkage between preschool and kindergarten, in which schools reach out to families in a personal way before children enter elementary school (Pianta et al., 1999).

The majority of parents reported preparing their children for school, teaching them the necessary routines, discussing expectations, and talking with other family members and friends about the transition process. These findings are encouraging in light of previous studies that show the importance of family involvement in schools to children's achievement (Epstein, 1987, 1991; Stevenson & Baker, 1987), and with regard to having parents be children's first teachers, a major component under Goal 1 of the National Education Goals (National Education Goals Panel, 1998). In addition, these findings are similar to findings from a large national survey that found that the overwhelming majority of parents spend time involved in educational activities with their children (NHES, 1996).

Families in the present study reported that the overriding barrier to their participation in transition activities was their work schedules. This finding isn't surprising considering that the vast majority of these parents were working outside the home (Eccles & Harold, 1996; Norman & Smith, 1997). This logistical constraint suggests that schools need to respond in creative ways to accommodate parents' demanding work schedules. Offering evening parent-teacher conferences, making phone calls to accommodate parents' schedules, and in general being sensitive to the challenges of balancing family and work can help promote family involvement with schools.

Preschool teachers universally reported having their children visit kindergarten classrooms and visiting these classrooms themselves, as well as participating in a variety of other transition activities. Although kindergarten teachers reported participating in a range of transition activities, fewer of them participated in transition activities than did preschool teachers. Even under the conditions of support provided by the project, kindergarten teachers were involved in transition activities that occur within the elementary school such as having children visit their classroom, but were less involved in transition activities that move outside the school, such as going to visit a preschool classroom or having an individual meeting with parents. Previous research indicates that schools may have a formal culture different from that of the preschool environment (Connors & Epstein, 1995; Pianta & Kraft-Sayre, 1999). Findings from the current study indicate a need for further investigation of the structure of elem entary schools in relation to possible transition activities and connections with preschool.

Preschool and kindergarten teachers' differential use of transition activities suggest a trend in which implementation of such activities may be carried out more by preschool personnel than by teachers and personnel in the elementary school. Preschool teachers often have to get children "ready" for school, while elementary schools may tend to have less of a focus on their own readiness for children (Christenson, 1999; Meisels, 1999; National Education Goals Panel, 1998). This pattern occurred in the present study, even with the supports built into the intervention to foster the preschool-elementary school connections. For example, 90% of preschool teachers reported that they visited kindergarten classrooms, whereas only 19% of kindergarten teachers visited preschool classrooms. It should be noted that data was not collected on the number of kindergarten teachers who visit 1st-grade classrooms in an effort to prepare their children for this transition. However, visits to preschool classrooms often require teac hers to reach out beyond the elementary school limits. It is possible that kindergarten teacher relationships may not be established with preschools; therefore, they may tend to be more reactive than proactive in their approach to these transition activities-for example, they may have children visit their classroom, but not seek out preschool classrooms to visit. In addition, preschool teachers have an existing relationship with the children and families in their class, and the connections that have been established may facilitate the transition; conversely, kindergarten teachers typically are not yet familiar with their upcoming students or, depending on when class lists are generated, even know which children will be in their class next year. However, these constraints should not present an insurmountable problem, but rather call attention to this potential problem and the need to devote resources to developing a comprehensive transition plan.

More than half of kindergarten teachers reported at least two barriers to participation in transition activities. The barrier reported by the greatest percentage of teachers was the lack of compensation for work in the summer (43%). This finding is similar to findings from a national survey in which 35% of teachers responded that a barrier to implementing transition activities was the required summer work for no salary (Pianta et al., 1999). Because teachers are generally not compensated for summer work, there is an even greater need to target practices that can occur during the spring of preschool, such as determining class lists for identified students. Overall, the teacher-reported barriers point to a need for greater collaboration between pre-kindergarten programs and schools (Kagan & Neuman, 1998; Ramey & Ramey, 1999). One possible limitation of this project is that not all transition activities were offered to all children and families. Because this was a menu-driven approach, the activities provided, s uch as visits between preschool children and specific kindergarten teachers, were dependent on the preferences and constraints of the participating teachers and schools. For activities initiated by the schools, parents could only respond to those activities specifically offered to their child. However, this approach also may be a strength of the project. Participation in transition activities varied, depending on the needs and strengths of a given family, school, and community.

Overall, these results suggest that transition activities can be fostered and can attract widespread participation. In general, when families and teachers participate in these types of transition activities, they report that they are helpful. These findings provide support for the work of schools and communities to continue their efforts to build effective transition mechanisms.

Table 1

Family Participation in Transition Activities Offered by Schools During
the Preschool Year to prepare Children for Kindergarten (N=95)

Activity                            % of           % of families
                                  families     who used practice and
                                participating    found it helpful

Child visit to a kindergarten        96                 99
 classroom
Meeting with a non-specific          80                 89
 kindergarten teacher
Meeting with elementary school       79                 95
 principal
Tour of school                       78                100
Talking with preschool staff         76                 99
 about kindergarten
Parent visit to kindergarten         68                 97
 classroom
Talking with other parents of        68                 97
 child's classmates
Participation in elementary          58                100
 school-wide activities
Attending workshop for parents       45                 98
Meeting with child's specific        38                 92
 kindergarten teacher
Attending an orientation to          31                 96
 kindergarten

Table 2

Transition Activities That Families Do To Prepare Children for
Kindergarten (N=86)

Activity                             % of participating parents/families

Teaching Child School-Related
 Skills
 Practiced daily routines of                         86
  getting ready for school
 Taught child to tie shoes                           81
 Taught child his/her address                        69
 Taught child his/her phone number                   67
  (if applicable)

Parent Activities for Preparing for
 Kindergarten
 Talked with family members or                       90
  friends who have school-age
  children
 Talked with other parents of                        85
  children from child's school

Orienting Child to School
 Discussed behavior expectations                     95
  with child
 Discussed with child meeting new                    92
  classmates
 Discussed with child what will                      88
  happen on first day of school
 Discussed with child nature of                      86
  school work
 Discussed with child meeting his                    84
  or her new teacher
 Attended school open house                          58
 Took child to play on school                        56
  playground
 Read stories to child about                         41
  starting kindergarten

Table 3

Percent of Preschool (PS) and Kindergarten (K) Teachers Who Participated
in Specific Transition Activites

Transition Activity                  % of PS Teachers  % of PS
                                          (N=10)       helpful

Preschool to Kindergarten Activity
 Preschool children visit a non-           100           100
  specific kindergarten classroom
 Preschool children visit their             50           100
  specific kindergarten classroom
 Preschool teachers visit a                 90           100
  kindergarten classroom
 Spring orientation about                   60           100
  kindergarten for preschool
  children

Kindergarten to Preschool Activity
 Kindergarten teachers visit a              20           100
  preschool classroom
 Elementary school children visit a         40           100
  preschool classroom
 Elementary school-wide activity            60           83
  with preschool children

Parent-School Activity
 Spring orientation about                   50           100
  kindergarten for parents of
  preschool children
 Individual meeting between teacher         50           100
  and parent of preschool child

School-School Activity
 Sharing writen records                     60           100
 Contact between preschool and K
  teachers about specific children          40           100
 Meetings with kindergarten                 20           100
  teachers about curriculum

Transition Activity                  % of K Teachers  % of K
                                         (N=10)       helpful

Preschool to Kindergarten Activity
 Preschool children visit a non-           74           100
  specific kindergarten classroom
 Preschool children visit their            77           96
  specific kindergarten classroom
 Preschool teachers visit a                52           100
  kindergarten classroom
 Spring orientation about                  41           91
  kindergarten for preschool
  children

Kindergarten to Preschool Activity
 Kindergarten teachers visit a             19           100
  preschool classroom
 Elementary school children visit a         3           50
  preschool classroom
 Elementary school-wide activity           65           100
  with preschool children

Parent-School Activity
 Spring orientation about                  58           100
  kindergarten for parents of
  preschool children
 Individual meeting between teacher        23           100
  and parent of preschool child

School-School Activity
 Scharing writen records                   26           100
 Contact between preschool and K
  teachers about specific children         55           100
 Meetings with kindergarten                35           100
  teachers about curriculum

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Authors' Notes: The work reported herein was supported under the Educational Research and Development Centers Program, PR/Award Number R307A60004, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, or the U.S. Department of Education, and readers should not assume endorsement by the U.S. federal government. The authors would like to thank Aileen Walsh and many devoted school personnel for their contributions to this research. Correspondence should be addressed to Karen M. La Paro at University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800784, Charlottesville, VA 22908; E-mail: [e-mail].