To What Extent Are At-Risk Preschoolers Effectively Prepared For Kindergarten?

<p>The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent Kinder Hearts School’s at-risk preschoolers are effectively prepared with readiness skills for kindergarten academic success. Based on schoolwide assessments, program mandates, and policy changes, an evaluation of this specific program in a Midwest school could determine whether the instructional model used was indeed effective. This study consisted of analyzing data from three student categories: children who attended private preschool programming, children who attended the school’s at-risk program, and children who had no schooling. The data collected was used to determine professional development needed, grant funding allocation, and program delivery model to use.</p> <p>The results of the study showed an academic difference in kindergarten between children who attended this school’s state-funded, play-based preschool at-risk program and children who attended private programming. Results did not suggest that children who attended the school’s at-risk preschool program were behind in their kindergarten readiness skills in comparison to other subgroups but did suggest a difference between the groups. This study indicated that a play-based model developmentally targets the whole child, and also leads to the overall developmental growth of the child.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Santos Lopez, Eliza

Contributors dc:contributor

• Elizabeth Minor
• Donald Angelaccio

• at-risk
• preschool
• readiness skills
• kindergarten
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Early Childhood Education
• Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
• Elementary Education
• Language and Literacy Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/638

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1682