Kindergarten teacher perceptions of kindergarten readiness: The importance of social–emotional skills

Using the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s Transition Practices Survey (1996), Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox (2000) addressed teachers’ judgments of children’s problems at Kindergarten entry. Since then, many changes have occurred in both early childhood education and Kindergarten. For example, pre-Kindergarten has been expanded by private, local, state, and federal agencies to serve the needs of all children and Kindergarten teachers are expected to deliver a more rigorous academic curriculum. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify current Kindergarten teachers’ judgments about children’s Kindergarten readiness and learning-related behaviors at school entry. Findings from Kindergarten teachers (N=531) indicated that teachers placed a high value on social–emotional skills and viewed many children as not having the requisite skills for successful Kindergarten entry. Further, they believed a large number of children were experiencing significant struggles that could hinder their classroom work. Implications for these findings are discussed as is the need for future research on strategies to enhance young children’s behavioral self-regulation and social-emotional skills prior to and during the transition to Kindergarten.First author draf