The Role of Partnerships in Transition to Kindergarten

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The Role of Partnerships in Transition to
Kindergarten
Sharon Rosenkoetter, Ph.D. Oregon State
University sharon.rosenkoetter_at_oregonstate.edu

• Ready Schools Council of Chief State School
  Officers
• November 3, 2005
• Atlanta, Georgia

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. --Bandei
Proverb
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• National Early Childhood Transition Center
• USDE-funded Center
• Research training
• Children with disabilities
• --In general
• --Cultural/linguistic differences
• --Significant disabilities
• Based at UKY
• 5 universities
• --LSU Medical Center
• --University of North CarolinaChapel Hill
• --Oregon State University
• --University of WisconsinMilwaukee
• Builds on many years of work by principal
  researchers as well as transition work by many
  others

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Also

• Early Childhood Leadership Directions
• -- USDE leadership development model featuring
  collaboration
• Oregon SIG Project on building systems capacity
• -- SAMHSA model called
• Starting Early Starting Smart

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Purpose Develop systems of support
partnerships --during the years before and after
transition to ? Engage families of young
children in their childrens learning
? Build families strengths support their
victory over challenges through ongoing
community supports, and ? Help build
stronger learning opportunities
for their children
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Transition to Kindergarten (1st Grade)

• Practice for a lifetime of change
• Milestone for children and families
• Beginning of an on-the-record trajectory for
  success or failure in school
• Can employ effective practices that have been
  widely shared for 25 years
• Collaborative planning, involving families,
  preparing/welcoming children are key elements
• --Pianta Cox, 1999 Rosenkoetter et al., 1994

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Our Vision of Successful Transition.

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Nevertheless

• Transition has numerous organizational
  complexities
• These often result in problems for
• -- Children (especially those with
  challenges)
• -- Families (especially those who dont
  feel comfortable in school), and
• -- Professionals who provide services

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National Early Childhood Transition Center
From Rous, Hallam, Harbin, McCormick, Jung, 2005
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From Rous, Hallam, Harbin, McCormick, Jung, 2005
Complex interactions among multiple systems
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Most work has been here appropriately so!


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Kagan Keynote
From Rous, Hallam, Harbin, McCormick, Jung, 2005
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Essential of Partnerships for Transition in
Ready Schools

• 1. Relationships
• with families
• 2. Interagency
• structures
• 3. Interagency
• communication
• relationships

Opening the door to success. --National Early
Childhood Transition Center
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1. Research on partnerships with families

• Significant finding Parent involvement is a
  major influence on childrens school achievement
  involvement with school involvement with
  childrens learning
• Parent involvement is an important component of
  successful transition to kindergarten both a
  predictor for a result of successful transition
• Research shows that most school-family
  communications are formalized school-directed.
• -- Christenson, 1999 Dogaru, 2005 Ramey et
  al., 2000 Pianta Cox, 1999

READY SCHOOLS smooth the transition between home
school
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Two views of the role of families in schools

• 1. Schools guide parents to help attain
  the schools agenda for the child
• most common approach of elementary schools
• OR
• 2. Shared responsibility for nurturing
  children, mutual support, emphasis on
  partnership -- approach of many
  prekindergartens, some schools
• -- Dogaru, 2005 Ramey et al., 2000 Pianta
  Cox, 1999

It is in the shelter of each other that people
live. -- Irish Proverb
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Differences in expectations for family roles

• Can be very difficult for some families
• Head Start families are used to partnership
• Challenges are greatest for families from other
  cultures, who speak a language other than
  English, or who have special concerns about their
  children i.e., families less comfortable with
  the schools ways services
• Research says Teachers agree that recommended
  transition practices for relating to families are
  sound but say that they do not have time
• --Vaughn, Reiss, Rothlein, Hughes, 1999

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READY SCHOOLS

• Develop respectful partnerships with families
• --Provide a menu of options for communications
  volunteer opportunities
• --Elicit their dreams for their children,
  family stories
• --Help them find community services that meet
  their needs
• Lead in changing attitudes
• --Share ideas for two-way communication with
  families
• --Consider appointing a volunteer coordinator
• Give special welcome to families from other
  cultures/ languages
• --Use cultural mentors to support staff
  learning about cultural values
  preferences
• --Interpret school practices WHY are we doing
  this?
• --Celebrate diversity in meaningful ways
• Support home learning, by providing
  intergenerational activities, affirming family
  ideas, celebrating family projects - Henderson
  Berla, 1994

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• Schools must be in the business of education,
  prevention intervention

Long term support Special Interventions
Pyramid of Education/Health/Mental Health Services
Short term crisis support- Intervention
Support for all children, all families-- Education
Prevention
An effective service system meets families where
they are with services that families need
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2. Interagency structures for partnership

• Two kinds are relevant
• Community interagency councils related to
  children and families
• Interagency transition planning

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READY SCHOOLS serve children in the community
Community interagency councils for children
families

• Community planning for young children families
  needs input from schools
• Schools need to gain partners in overcoming
  challenges that face our families their
  children
• see list of potential partners
• Many prevention intervention challenges of
  children families need wrap-around services

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Some options

• School personnel can participate in their
  local commissions on children families
• see community self assessment
• Schools can become hubs for a variety of
  services
• -- 21st Century Schools
• -- Communities in Schools
• School personnel can know about community
  services see as their mission to connect
  families to them
• To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting
  oil in it.
• --Mother Teresa

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Some options

• Schools must have 2-way partnerships with many
  different community agencies
• Within schools, participation with other
  community agencies MUST be valued, planned,
  systematic
• People do things for people, not systems.
• --Martha Staker, Early Head Start, KC,KS

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Characteristics of a vigorous community system

• Relationships
• Meaningful tasks and roles
• Learning together

If ever there was a time to stand up, speak out,
and act courageously to defend our children from
fear and want, this is it --Marian
Wright Edelman
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Interagency Transition Planning

• Requires a community plan timelines among preK
  school programs either schools or preK can
  convene meeting see checklist provided in
  notebook
• Plan timelines should be incorporated into a
  memorandum of understanding that is
  reviewed/revised annually
• Collaboratively develop MOU to create stability
  in local transition practices even if personnel
  change
• Each sending receiving program should appoint a
  Transition Coordinator who informs other staff
  contributes to event planning

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Interagency Transition Planning

• Transition events should feature interpreters as
  needed to welcome ASL- or non-English speaking
  families
• Consider how to meet, in the community,
  childrens comprehensive needs that are no longer
  met by the preK program to do this, first assess
  families needs
• Families children should learn in the Spring
  what to expect in the Fall
• Accommodations for children with special needs or
  language challenges should be in place before
  school starts

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Interagency Transition Planning

• Families should know whom to call and that it is
  OK to call if they have questions
• Home visits, individual family-child-teacher time
  prior to school, or at least beginning with
  partial-class-sized group meetings build psoitive
  relationships among children, families,
  teachers
• Transition is a shared success family, sending
  staff, receiving staff, and community partners
• No member of a crew is praised for the rugged
• individuality of his rowing.
• --Ralph Waldo Emerson

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3. Interagency relationships communication

• Participants are cognizant of the different
  cultures of prekindergarten kindergarten
• They reach out to one another with respect,
  shared training, book discussion groups,
  classroom exchanges, joint grant projects
• School personnel work closely with preKs to
  provide continuity and welcome for children
  families
• All look for ways to smooth transition,
  especially for children with limited English
  proficiency disabilities

READY SCHOOLS strive for continuity between early
care education programs elementary schools
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If you want to get an idea across, wrap it up in
a person. -- Ralph Bunche

• Build planning for /with families, interagency
  structures, interagency communication around
  family stories family issues
• Leaders must stress the importance of these
  concepts
• to creating Ready Schools
• Use checklists provided

The key to success is simple. Make people
dream. -- Grard De Nerval
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• Interdisciplinary Human
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