Child Care and Early Education Research Connections

Skip to main content

Alignment and misalignment of classroom experiences from Pre-K to kindergarten

Description:

Areas of misalignment between children's experiences in preschool and kindergarten are increasingly viewed as contributing to the fade-out of preschool effects. The current study examined alignment and misalignment of classroom experiences across the transition from public pre-k into kindergarten. As part of a longitudinal cohort study, we examined structural features, process features, and teacher beliefs and practices in 295 public kindergarten classrooms and 117 public pre-K classrooms that feed into them. Analyses revealed a number of differences indicative of potential misalignment, including fewer ethnically and linguistically diverse teachers, more time in teacher-structured activities, and less effective teacher-child interactions in kindergarten. Potential alignment was indicated in some areas, such as more time in kindergarten spent on academics; progression toward more advanced literacy and math content from pre-k to kindergarten; and teachers across both grades reported similarly child-centered ideas about children. Exploratory results by pre-K auspice comparing school-based and center-based pre-K raised further questions about what the meaningful components of alignment are. The field lacks a robust empirical base for defining "good" alignment, thus these descriptive results are discussed in terms of implications for future, predictive research. (author abstract)

Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States

Related resources include summaries, versions, measures (instruments), or other resources in which the current document plays a part. Research products funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation are related to their project records.

- You May Also Like

These resources share similarities with the current selection.

Impact area: Classroom experiences & learning opportunities

Fact Sheets & Briefs

Classroom context and years of teaching experience as predictors of misalignment on ratings of preschoolers' classroom engagement

Reports & Papers

The Bay Area regional QRIS pilot

Fact Sheets & Briefs
Release: 'v1.57.0' | Built: 2024-03-14 09:29:08 EDT