This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low-and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families. Keywords kindergarten transition; parent involvement; socioeconomic status; academic achievementThe importance a successful transition to kindergarten cannot be overstated. Kindergarten marks a child's entry into formal schooling, and performance in kindergarten paves the way for future academic success or failure. The relation between children's performance during early elementary school and their later academic achievement has been well documented (Ensminger & Slusarcick, 1992;Entwisle & Alexander, 1998;Entwisle & Hayduck, 1988;Gutman, Sameroff, & Cole, 2003). Recognizing the importance of early school success, the vast majority of schools in the United States implement policies and practices to ease children's transition to kindergarten, but in varying degrees. Commonly used transition practices include meeting with parents, phoning or sending home information about the kindergarten program, and inviting parents and children to visit the kindergarten classroom prior to the start of the school year (Pianta, Cox, Taylor, & Early, 1999). These policies are implicitly designed to nurture parental involvement, especially for disenfranchised families. However, despite the widespread use of transition practices, at present, there is no empirical evidence linking such practices to improved child outcomes (Early, Pianta, Taylor, & Cox, 2001). Therefore, the purposes of this study were to examine whether transition practices have an incremental effect on child outcomes during kindergarten; whether this effect varies across socioeconomic groups; and how this effect is mediated. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe transition to kindergarten can be challenging as it represents a shift on many fronts. Children are moving from a preschool, daycare center, or their own home, where different rates of development had been acceptable, to an elementary school requiring mastery of specific academic skills by p...
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