28 Jun 2017
Spotlight

How Transitional Kindergarten Helps Younger Children Prepare for School

Created in 2010 by the Kindergarten Readiness Act, transitional kindergarten offers younger children in California additional time to prepare for school. Transitional kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students with birthdays between September and December, provides an additional year of early education to thousands of children each year, with the goal of promoting their school readiness.

Supported by its partners, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and First 5 California, AIR is studying the impact of transitional kindergarten in California on children’s academic and social-emotional skills in kindergarten, and how these impacts are related to program quality characteristics.

Key findings from the final report show that students who attend California’s transitional kindergarten program enter kindergarten with stronger mathematics and literacy skills and are more engaged in their learning than students who did not attend transitional kindergarten. The program shows an advantage for all students, with particular benefits for English learners and low-income students, and its benefits hold up regardless of variations in instructional practices or classroom structure.

Infographic: Transitional Kindergarten Improves Literacy and Math Skills

Explore additional resources that show what we’ve learned about transitional kindergarten so far:

Related Projects

Project

Study of California's Transitional Kindergarten Program

With the 2012-2013 school year, California established a new grade level called Transitional Kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students who turn five between September 2 and December 2. When fully implemented, TK is intended to provide an additional year of early education for these children, with the goal of promoting their success in school. The Heising-Simons Foundation and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation are partnering with AIR to study the impact of TK on children’s academic and social-emotional skills in kindergarten, and how these impacts are related to program quality characteristics.

Related Work

18 Apr 2018
Q & A

Transitional Kindergarten Q&A with Karen Manship

Created in 2010 by the Kindergarten Readiness Act, transitional kindergarten (TK) offers younger children in California additional time to prepare for school. AIR undertook a five-year evaluation study of the TK program in 2012. In light of conversations across the country about increasing access to high-quality early childhood education, AIR’s Karen Manship answered a few questions about the TK study and its findings.
teacher reading to exuberant young students
30 Jun 2017
Video

Transitional Kindergarten: Growing Children’s Early Academic Skills

Transitional kindergarten is a universal, age-based early childhood program in California that is intended to prepare five-year-olds for kindergarten. Karen Manship explains how student outcomes compare between those who attend transitional kindergarten and those who do not and how the program helps ensure children receive a strong start to their educational careers.
28 Jun 2017
Report

The Impact of Transitional Kindergarten on California Students

California’s Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff for entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1. This final report from the program’s evaluation focuses on results from a five-year study. The study used a rigorous regression discontinuity design to examine whether TK, as a new approach to prekindergarten education for age-eligible students, leads to positive outcomes, for which students, and under what conditions.
Infographic based on results from a study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten program compares literacy and math scores of students entering kindergarten
21 Jun 2017
Infographic

Does Transitional Kindergarten Improve School Readiness?

Transitional kindergarten is a universal, age-based early childhood program in California that is intended to prepare five-year-olds for kindergarten.
12 May 2017
Brief

The Impact of Transitional Kindergarten on English Learner Students

This fifth brief in a series highlighting findings from the Study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program summarizes what we have learned about the impact of TK on EL students’ school readiness skills, including mathematics skills, language and literacy skills, and English proficiency.
22 Jun 2016
Report

What Do Transitional Kindergarten Classrooms Look Like in the Third Year of the Program’s Implementation?

California’s Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff. This fifth short report in a series highlighting findings from the Study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program focuses on what we have learned about the structure, teachers, and instruction in TK classrooms in the 2014–15 school year.
1 Dec 2015
Report

Impact of California's Transitional Kindergarten Program, 2013-14

Transitional kindergarten—the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2—is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. AIR researchers examined the success of the program by determining the impact of transitional kindergarten on students’ readiness for kindergarten in language, literacy, mathematics, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills.
Kindergarten students
1 Dec 2015
Brief

The Impact of Transitional Kindergarten on Kindergarten Readiness

Transitional kindergarten—the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for California children born between September 2 and December 2—is intended to better prepare young five-year-olds for kindergarten and ensure a strong start to their educational career. The goal of this study was to measure the success of the program by determining the impact of transitional kindergarten on students’ readiness for kindergarten in several areas. This brief outlines the results of the study, Impact of California's Transitional Kindergarten Program, 2013-14, and suggests next steps for further research.
Infographic: Transitional Kindergarten
30 Nov 2015
Infographic

Transitional Kindergarten Improves Literacy and Math Skills

California students who had attended Transitional Kindergarten were more advanced than their peers in language, literacy, mathematics and executive function, early results of a study by AIR show, as shown in this infographic.
Karen Manship and Heather Quick
30 Nov 2015
Blog Post

Transitional Kindergarten: A Unique Approach to Pre-Kindergarten in California, but Is it Effective?

A December 2015 AIR study finds that Transitional Kindergarten, the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for young five-year-olds in California, appears to improve children’s school readiness in critical areas of academic learning and development. Researchers Karen Manship and Heather Quick explain how and suggest next steps.
Two kindergarten girls
11 Mar 2015
Brief

Transitional Kindergarten in California: Early Outreach, Enrollment, and Parent Perspectives

With the 2012-2013 school year, California established a new grade level—Transitional Kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students who turn five between September 2 and December 2. When TK began, there were many questions from parents and other stakeholders. This is the third in a series of briefs investigating TK implementation in Year 1, and focuses on district outreach efforts, parent perceptions of TK, and TK student demographics.
21 Oct 2014
Brief

Transitional Kindergarten in California: Comparing Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms

The rollout of California's Kindergarten Readiness Act has given rise to questions about how transitional kindergarten is being implemented in districts throughout California. This second research brief in a series highlighting findings from the study focuses on characteristics of transitional kindergarten classrooms compared with those of kindergarten classrooms.
Image of Susan Muenchow
6 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Research and the Public Prekindergarten Debate

Early learning has few detractors, but publicly supported prekindergarten has many. In this blog post, Susan Muenchow cites a recent AIR study that refutes the main objections and makes the case for free early childhood programs.
23 Apr 2014
Report

Study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program: Report on the First Year of Implementation

A study looking at the first year of transitional kindergarten in California finds that most districts implemented the new grade level, and that approaches varied widely. Overall, transitional kindergarten appears to provide a different experience than traditional kindergarten. The results are shared in AIR's "Study of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Program: Report on the First Year of Implementation."
11 Jun 2013
Brief

Transitional Kindergarten in California: A Review of the First Year

Transitional kindergarten aims to provide an additional year of early education to California’s youngest students to ensure that they obtain the necessary preparation to succeed in school. This research brief provides an initial glimpse of transitional kindergarten in its first year of statewide implementation.

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Further Reading