Comprehensive new framework for better transitions

A groundbreaking resource for a wide range of professionals—including principals, school-based administrators, program directors, district supervisors, and curriculum specialists—this book brings together the best thinking on early childhood transitions from leading researchers and practitioners around the world. Focusing on both vertical and horizontal transitions, the expert contributors give readers the in-depth guidance they need to

• develop a coherent, connected framework of curriculum and instruction across the pre-K–Grade 3 continuum
  
  
• enhance transitions for infants and young children with disabilities and their families
  
  
• address the specific issues dual language learners face during transitions
  
  
• align early learning standards, curricula, and assessments
  
  
• improve all aspects of school readiness—ready children, ready schools, and ready families and communities
  
  
• establish continuity between the child's home and school environment
  
  
• support the quality and stability of the early childhood workforce
  
  
• improve transitions through better accountability policies
  
  
• understand how transitions are affected by a wide range of factors, including poverty, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the child's neighborhood

Through the invaluable case studies on diverse programs—both in key U.S. states and around the world—readers will get practical insight into what really works and apply the lessons of real-life success stories. And with the clear and useful analysis of up-to-date research, policy, and practice, professionals will see where the field is today and where it needs to go to support better transitions.

A must-have resource for any early childhood professional who plays a part in shaping high-quality programs and services, this book is also an ideal text for preparing tomorrow's professionals to lead future efforts. Readers will be ready to move the field closer to one of its critical goals: a cohesive system of services that supports effective, meaningful transitions for all young children.

About the Editors
Sharon Lynn Kagan & Kate Tarrant
About the Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments

Introduction

I. Background and Context

1. Seeing "Transition" through a New Prism: Pedagogical, Programmatic, and Policy Alignment
Sharon Lynn Kagan

2. The Transition to School: Concepts, Practices, and Needed Research
Craig T. Ramey & Sharon Landesman Ramey

3. Going to School in the United States: The Shifting Ecology of Transition
Robert C. Pianta

4. Transitions: Perspectives from the Majority World
Kathy Bartlett & Caroline Arnold with Sadaf Shallwani & Saima Gowani

5. Transitions for Children with Disabilities
Mary Beth Bruder

6. Developing and Learning in More than One Language: The Challenges and Opportunities for Transitions in Early Education Settings
Eugene E. Garcia

II. Pedagogical Perspective

7. Aligning the Content of Early Childhood Care and Education
Catherine Scott-Little & Jeanne L. Reid

Case Study—The Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards: An Aligned Approach to the Content of Early Learning Programs
Jeanne L. Reid

Case Study—Early Care and Education in France: A Model of Content Alignment
Kate Tarrant

8. Aligning Curriculum and Teaching: A Child-Focused Approach Sue Bredekamp

Case Study—Aligning Curriculum and Teaching in Red Bank, New Jersey
Aleksandra Holod & Jocelyn Friedlander

Case Study—Step By Step Moldova: Promoting Transitions through Child-Centered Pedagogy
Alejandra Cortazar

III. Programmatic Perspective

9. Ready or Not? Schools' Readiness for Young Children
Sharon Ritchie, Richard Clifford, William W. Malloy, Carolyn Cobb, & Gisele M. Crawford

Case Study—FirstSchool at South Lexington Elementary School
Aleksandra Holod

Case Study—Keiraville Community Preschool: Transition to School Program
Romilla Karnati

10. Families and Transitions
Judy Langford

Case Study—Family and Child Education Program (Face): A Program Fostering Transitions for American Indian Families from Home to School and the Workplace
Aleksandra Holod

Case Study—Turkey's Mother Child Education Program: Supporting Families During the Transition Years
Alejandra Cortazar

11. The Neighborhoods Where Young Children Grow Up
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Case Study—Transition and Alignment through the Eyes of Spark: A Comprehensive Community-Based Strategy for Reform
Tony Berkley & Kimber Bogard

Case Study—East Africa Madrasa Program: A Community Based Approach to Supporting Early Learning
Alejandra Cortazar

IV. Policy Perspective

12. Governance and Transition: Strange Bedfellows
Sharon Lynn Kagan & Kristie A. Kauerz

Case Study—The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning: Innovative Governance to Create Continuity Across Programs
Jeanne L. Reid

Case Study—Early Childhood Governance in Sweden
Caroline Segal

13. Accountability Policies and Transitions
Tom Schultz

Case Study—The Maryland Model for School Readiness: The Development of a Comprehensive Approach to Early Childhood Assessment
Jeanne L. Reid

14. Transitions in Early Childhood: The Case for a Consistent, Competent, and Stable Workforce
Sue Russell & Carol Brunson Day

Case Study—New Mexico's Professional Development Initiative: Workforce Policy that Promotes Alignment
Jocelyn Friedlander & Kate Tarrant

Case Study—Sweden's Integrated Teaching Degree
Alejandra Cortazar

V. Integrating Pedagogy, Programs, & Policy

15. Integrating Pedagogy, Practice, and Policy: A Transitions Agenda
Kate Tarrant & Sharon Lynn Kagan

References
Index