Kindergarten teachers' beliefs about school readiness

This study sought to examine the relationship between social context of teachers' schools, their race, educational background, and beliefs about school readiness. There are many definitions of school readiness. Some definitions focus on readiness as a within child characteristic and describe it as a level of physical and cognitive development. Other definitions place readiness outside the child and explain it as the result of how well parents, teachers, or the environment have prepared a child for school. Teachers may use one or a combination of these school readiness definitions. Based on their chosen definition of readiness teachers develop standards for readiness and instructional programs to facilitate children's readiness for school. However, it is not clear what influences teachers' beliefs about what readiness is and how children become ready.; In this study 1,339 kindergarten teachers responded to a Fast Response Survey on school readiness. Overall the teachers in the sample believed readiness is acquired through experiential learning and should be measured by social development rather than cognitive development. The results of three analyses of variance revealed some teachers held different beliefs due to social context and race. Teachers in urban schools were undecided about using experiential learning as a means to facilitate children's readiness for school. African-American teachers in this sample did not endorse the use of social or cognitive development to measure children's readiness for school. Teachers with extensive training and experience in early childhood education believed school readiness should be measured by children's level of social development. It was recommended that all kindergarten teachers have specialized training in early childhood education to fully understand all aspects of children's readiness and the environmental and cultural factors that affect children's development. Training in early childhood education will prepare teachers to provide instruction that will help children from all backgrounds become ready for school.