Perceptions of Parents, Preschool Teachers, and Kindergarten Teachers Regarding School Readiness

Abstract

The following project encompasses the term school readiness. School readiness is fully examined using definitions, research studies, and a survey compiled from one suburban school district. This study is similar to a study done by Welch and White (1999).The survey used was created from questions in their study. This study had similar results to that of Welch and White (1999). The project consists of four parts including an introduction, a literature review, of 25 related articles and studies, the methodology and data analysis of the survey used, and finally a discussion about school readiness and the results of the survey. The main result of this study found that the school community surveyed had similar results to other studies examined in this project. Results indicated that parents and preschool teachers placed a higher emphasis on academic skills than kindergarten teachers did. Kindergarten teachers placed a greater importance on social skills. The school community surveyed in this project was closely aligned in their beliefs about school readiness. Only four out of the fifteen questions asked had significant differences. Further examination of these questions found that there was a significant difference within the kindergarten teachers group themselves concerning the importance of academic skills. Kindergarten teachers teaching more than ten years placed less importance on academic skills than did kindergarten teachers with less than ten years experience.