Transitions for Young Children (Creating Connections Across Early Childhood Systems)

Smooth early childhood transitions are key to ensuring positive outcomes for young children the world over—but in today's fragmented early education systems, it's difficult to ensure continuity among programs and services. Early childhood professionals will help change that with this book, the first to propose a comprehensive, practical framework for repairing fissures in the system and making transitions successful for young children globally.

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.